Family Dynamics

You had an ok childhood. You love your parents. So why does spending time with them leave you feeling so depleted?

You’ve spent years trying to figure out how to connect with your parents. You’ve practiced communicating calmly, using I-statements and faithfully reciting the healthy communication scripts you learned on Instagram. You’ve tried giving feedback with more energy (aka, yelling). And sometimes it sort of works? Like when your mom comes to you for advice for dealing with your dad or your sibling – it feels good to feel helpful. But it’s also pretty draining, especially when you’re on your 100th conversation about why [insert most recent microaggression] just isn’t ok.

If any of this sounds familiar, you might be dealing with what's sometimes called an emotionally immature parent. That is, someone who loves you but struggles to connect with you as an adult.

Our work together won't change your parents, but it will change how much power they have over you. Clients have found their own strategies for navigating these relationships: limiting situations where they get pulled into managing a parent's emotions, deciding in advance how many attempts at connection feel like enough, and learning when to be the adult in the room by choice rather than by default. Most importantly, many have found a way to become the compassionate, supportive parent to themselves that they never got, and in the process realized that they’re a lot less hard on themselves than they used to be.

Ready to become the grown up you always thought you'd be? Let's talk.