Articles on Estranged Adult Children
Coping with
Estranged Adult Children
In this article, and ones to follow, we will be looking at relationships
between parents and their adult children. In particular, when those
supposed adult-to-adult relationships go horribly wrong. One of the
features of many of these relationships is that the parent does not
know why they are now estranged from their adult children. And, of more
concern, when they try to ask what is wrong, the parent is often met
with a wall of silence... (Read
more)
Estranged
Adult Children: When People Blame the Mother
The phenomenon of estranged adult children is on the rise and affects
more families than statistics indicate. This is largely through the
embarrassment of parents who are hesitant to admit to anyone outside
the immediate family that they have not heard from their adult children
in months or even years. It is seen as a failure on the part of the
parents... (Read
more)
Living
with Difficult Adult Children: The Story of Helen
Helen has three adult daughters. Aged in their 30’s, they act
more like adolescents than adults, regarding their ability to plan and
take responsibility for their lives. These women do not have psychiatric
disorders but they have failed to mature as normally expected. So instead
of being able to relax and enjoy her space from active mothering, Helen
is basically “on call” for every minor trauma or circumstance
that happens in these girls lives. And the word “girl” is
intentional, because in no way are any of these three daughters “women”...
(Read More)
Coping with
Estranged Adult Children (2)
So many of my clients have suffered from the effects of having a relationship
with an estranged son or daughter. The estrangement is not the choice
of the parent – it is a choice of the adult child. When the cause
of the estrangement is obvious, there is less pain on the part of the
parent. However, in the cases I work with, many of these parents (often
it is the mother who seeks counseling) have no real idea of why their
adult son or daughter no longer wishes to have contact with them. Not
only does this cause extreme emotional pain to the mother, but as the
cause is not known, there is nothing that can be done to rectify the
situation... (Read
More)
Hannah and Jeff
– How a Mother coped with her Estranged Son
In the previous article on Hannah and her two sons, we looked how Hannah
dealt with the difficult relationship she had with her younger adult
son, Cam. In today’s article we will be following Hannah as she
works in therapy to decide how best to cope with the estrangement from
her elder son, Jeff... (Read
More)