The month of May. Tulips and daffodils remind us that spring is a time for growth and change. May is not only Mental Health Awareness Month, it is also the month in which many celebrate Mother’s Day.

For me, this year has a particularly poignant meaning. My mom died four years ago to the day on May 13, which this year happens to be Mother’s Day. I am also a mother myself, walking the various tightropes of work-life balance, kid-marriage balance, self-care, and care for others. The day has even more meaning to me as I am adopted, yet I have a birth mother who I celebrate as the person who gave birth to me; she also plays a significant role as grandmother for my two boys after our reunion almost 20 years ago.

I share this with you because the more I speak with friends, family, and people in therapy, the more I realize how complicated Mother’s Day is for many of us. This day can bring a mixed bag of celebration, pride, and gratitude, but also shame, grief, and doubt.

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My overarching message this month is that there is room for all of it. Step back. Breathe. Perhaps there are opportunities for growth, new understanding, and more empathy as we ponder the meaning of Mother’s Day and what it might mean for our own mental health.

Mother’s Day can, for some, be a simple observance with brunch and flowers for the woman who gave birth to and raised us, but as we pan out, there may be many people (not just women) who played the role of “mother” for us. I am aware, for example, that my sons’ teachers step into the role of nurturing figures for them. Many of them are mothers themselves, often missing their own children’s field trips and events because of their obligations to the school. There are also many children raised by aunts, caregivers, foster families, or grandparents. They are certainly playing the role of mother and deserve recognition, celebration, and gratitude.

For many people close to me and for many of my clients, Mother’s Day brings up complicated feelings. For those of us whose moms have died, it may be a day of remembrance and grief. Many people have struggled with mothers who were abusive or mentally and/or physically ill. Some of their mothers struggle(d) with addiction and/or unresolved traumas and were not able to give them care, support, and guidance.

Despite having difficult and complex relationships, many keep in touch with their moms, but some have expressed angst about whether and how to celebrate Mother’s Day. The traditional Hallmark sections often don’t have cards that capture these complicated relationships. “I know you have your own unresolved stuff, Mom, and probably did the best you could; thanks for keeping me alive” doesn’t have the best ring to it.

Whatever Mother’s Day may bring up for you, I invite you to greet it with space, curiosity, and compassion. If it represents beauty, gratitude, and unconditional love, celebrate that! If it brings up feelings of doubt, guilt, or shame, let that have your gentle awareness and know you’re not alone.

On the other side of that, in my role as a mom, this day makes me reflect on the pressure I put on myself in being both a therapist and a mother. Despite knowing I am just another human doing the best I can, I often have an inner critic that says something along the lines of, “You’re a therapist, for crying out loud, you should know all the answers!”

Well, here’s a confession from a therapist mom: I don’t.

Despite my having read probably 20 parenting books, I still do things wrong and feel shame like most mamas out there. Perhaps we look at the Hallmark section ourselves and wonder, “Geez, will my kids feel this magical way about me?” Perhaps you are a mom who struggles with depression or other mental health issues. We get so many messages, usually rooted in shame, that amplify our feelings of not being good enough. We of course want to hold ourselves accountable for our actions, but often, we are so paralyzed by our sense of shame and isolation that we think we are the only ones struggling. (And, of course, you do not even have to be a mom to get shame messages about motherhood: “What do you mean you don’t want to have children?”)

Whatever Mother’s Day may bring up for you, I invite you to greet it with space, curiosity, and compassion. If it represents beauty, gratitude, and unconditional love, celebrate that! If it brings up feelings of doubt, guilt, or shame, let that have your gentle awareness and know you’re not alone. Perhaps it brings up grief of a mother lost or a mother you never had. Perhaps it is “just another day invented by card and flower companies.” This stance might also have a deeper meaning. Just be curious. A therapist can help with this.

There is room for all of it. Be gentle with yourself and the people who bring a nurturing presence in your life. Happy Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day is observed on the second Sunday in May. Greeting card stores and flower shops go to great lengths to remind customers that many people have, or have had, mothers to celebrate. This is a time to send tokens of gratitude to self-sacrificing moms or to honor those who have passed. It’s the one day a year set aside specifically to cherish the mothers who nurtured us, provided for us, taught us, and played with us.

But what about the mothers who don’t have, or never had, much to give?

Children (including adult children) who were raised or abandoned by mothers with mental health issues may have mixed or negative sentiments. They may remember being embarrassed by their mother’s inappropriate behavior in public or around friends. They may wince at painful memories of their mom self-medicating her psychiatric symptoms with drugs or alcohol. They may have tried to forget Mommy Dearest hiding her bizarre thoughts or behaviors behind a cult affiliation or an extreme religious organization. Their mother may have ended up on the streets or spent time in a correctional facility. No matter how the mental health issues played out, her children paid a price.

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As a therapist, I hear many stories from people who survived difficult childhoods. Many had the misfortune of being born to mothers with chronic depression, personality disorders, or unrelenting anxiety. Children whose mothers had schizophrenia, bipolar, schizoaffective disorder, or other diagnoses may remember caring for their mothers rather than the other way around. Adult children who experienced the chaos of an emotionally imbalanced mother often fear they will inherit the condition or act in harmful ways with their own children. Being afraid of becoming one’s mother is the antithesis of what many people celebrate in May.

If you spent part or all of your childhood with a mother who struggled with psychological issues, you’re not alone. Be compassionate toward yourself.

The wounds left by a mother with a personality condition such as narcissism or borderline personality may heal slowly. Even after adults have worked hard to individuate from a toxic mother, they may encounter triggers that bring back difficult emotions.

Sadness

Adult children whose mother had a psychiatric issue often feel sad and may grieve the loss of a nurturing, emotionally safe childhood.

Adult children who experienced the chaos of an emotionally imbalanced mother often fear they will inherit the condition or act in harmful ways with their own children. Being afraid of becoming one’s mother is the antithesis of what many people celebrate in May.

Anger

When someone has been deprived of a caring, attentive mother and they see other families where the mom is connected and engaged with her children, anger can surface.

Fear

Parents who survived a poor relationship with their mother may fear they will not find positive ways to express love to their own kids.

Judgment

When a child has been repeatedly hurt by a mother who was preoccupied with her own mental state, they may carry grudges and resentments for years.

Longing

All humans are born with the need to be loved, nurtured, and protected. If a child’s needs went unmet, they may carry a deep longing to be unconditionally loved and cared for.

Protection

Children who repeatedly experience the fallout of a mother’s breakdown (she went off her medication, self-medicated with drugs, attempted suicide, disappeared for days or weeks, didn’t get out of bed, was physically abusive, was hospitalized, etc.) develop ways to protect themselves. In adulthood, these emotional protections are often interpreted by partners as isolating or distancing.

What to Do If Mother’s Day Is Difficult

If you’re struggling with how to celebrate a less-than-perfect mom this Mother’s Day, here are some tips:

1. Remember you did the best you could in an exceptionally difficult environment (and believe it or not, so did your mother).
2. Celebrate the courage and self-esteem you managed to develop even though your mother was unreliable in her nurturance and maternal affection.
3. Applaud the caring “mom” you have developed within you. Treat yourself like a loving parent would, with praise, loving guidance, and a lot of humor. Your inner child will thank you.
4. Give a gift of gratitude to someone else who provided loving acceptance and guidance to you as a child or teen.
5. If you decide to contact your mother, do, say, or write only what is comfortable for you, and only what you can do without feeling resentment.
6. Forgive yourself for anything you may be holding over yourself. Drop any “shoulds,” “ought-tos,” or “could-haves”—they won’t help anything. Remember you’re doing the best you know how to do. Every day is a chance to learn.
7. Look into meeting with a therapist who can help you work through difficult memories and experiences.

If you had a childhood that was devoid of a stable, caring mother, celebrate your strength and commitment to your own serenity and well-being. No one can take away your self-acceptance. No one knows you better than you. No one can compliment you better than the positive things you say to yourself. If no one else, celebrate you!

Maybe there is an increase of bullying in our society. Maybe there is an increase in awareness. Either way, it is getting a lot of attention these days. Teachers and parents are sensitized to the signs of bullying and are becoming more skilled at breaking the cycle and protecting bullied children. But what happens when the bully is not a classmate or a teammate or a neighbor? What happens when the bully is in the victim’s own home? Recent research in Great Britain suggests the effects are severe and long-term.

Since time immemorial, siblings have pried their way under each other’s skin. Arguing and jockeying for position in the family are part of growing up. The problem is that sometimes parents misunderstand what they are witnessing in their children. What they view as sibling rivalry can actually be bullying. There is a simple way to tell the difference.

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When two children are sparring, it is easy to observe that they are both upset and both engaged in the clash. Parents can intervene and set the rules of engagement, teach the value of mutual respect, and offer children templates for managing disagreements at home and with those they may face in the world outside the home. But when one sibling is bullying another, it is only the bully who is engaged and seeming to delight in the taunting. The bullied child is miserable. The only response for parents is to stop the bullying. Period. There is no false equivalency: they are not equally at fault. There is no need for mutual apology. There is only stopping the aggression and offering solace and protection to the victim.

Most sibling bullying takes the form of name-calling and insults, both of which are passive-aggressive behaviors the bully can deny when confronted. “She’s taking it too seriously!” “She started it!” “If she weren’t such a brat, this would not have happened.” It is never the bully’s fault. The bully loves to play the role of victim. And the bully can be very convincing to parents who are too distracted or too exhausted to figure out what is really going on.

Meanwhile, the victim—for the purposes of this article, we’ll use young girls as our examples—feels unsafe in her own home. She returns from school with dread every day, emotionally defended and prepared for a shellacking by her sister, who can be older or younger than she is. She learns that her parents cannot or will not intervene on her behalf. She feels defenseless and begins to doubt her own perception. It is a form of gaslighting: the bully sibling makes the victim wonder whether she really is the nasty, incompetent, bratty person the bully is telling her she is.

The likely victim in sibling bullying is the child who is sensitive and thoughtful. The bully is likely to have problems which the parents do not see. These can be related to being bullied herself at school, for example, or they can be the result of transferring the effects of her own trauma onto someone else. Often in dysfunctional families where a child feels unsupported or ignored, that child will take it out on a sibling because for any number of reasons she fears that going directly at the parent would crash her own fragile world, regardless of how unpleasant it may be.

There are also other, less obvious, explanations for bullying a sibling. Children can have personality conditions, just as adults can. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) offers a diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder to describe children under the age of 18 who exhibit behaviors devoid of compassion and empathy for others. The adult version of this is antisocial personality. This is a potentially serious problem.

It is a daunting situation for a parent to face the possibility that a child might need psychotherapeutic care. Sometimes, it is more than parents can bear to face. They feel ashamed, somehow responsible, for the behavior of their bullying child. Though bullies crop up more often in families with trauma, alcoholism, or other chronic dysfunction, these components are not always in place. Sometimes, with all the best of support and parental supervision, children need help from professionals. Bullies generally are not happy people, as children or as adults.

If you’re a parent, closely monitor your children’s arguing. Be certain that’s actually what you are seeing. If the playing field is not level and one child enjoys the other child’s distress, you are not looking at normal sibling development. You are looking at bullying, and your role as a parent is to stop it immediately.

But there is plenty of material available to parents to help them disarm bullies. My concern here is with the victim. Often, it is the victim who is told by well-meaning parents either to ignore the bully or to fight back. Neither of these approaches feels possible to the typical victim child. And neither is effective, anyway: ignoring a bully is tantamount to goading her, and fighting back is unrealistic advice for a child whose temperament is neither adversarial nor combative.

She is at risk for low self-esteem, depression, and even self-harm as a result of being bullied by a sibling who renders the home an unsafe place. Where is the victim to go? Children have neither the means nor the power to remove themselves from an environment that is so painful. She is stuck enduring the grief until she can manage to leave home for college or move on to the workforce and her own apartment.

But she is insufficiently prepared. She might develop a sarcastic style, for example, which pushes people away from her when she most needs contact with others and trusted friends. She is deeply wounded. She rejects herself the way her bullying sibling rejected her for all those years. She does not feel lovable. She is deeply sad. And she doesn’t understand why. These consequences can go on for a victim’s entire life. She can forever struggle with self-doubt and negative self-talk, taking over the belittling work of the bully long after both have left home.

A sensitive and talented child can remain hobbled if sibling bullying is left unaddressed. It is not unusual for bully and victim roles to continue well into adulthood. If the victim marries and has her own children, and then finally comes to see it is in her best interest to sever relations with her bullying sibling, her own children and family may condemn her for what they do not understand, and which she is unable to adequately explain.

If you’re a parent, closely monitor your children’s arguing. Be certain that’s actually what you are seeing. If the playing field is not level and one child enjoys the other child’s distress, you are not looking at normal sibling development. You are looking at bullying, and your role as a parent is to stop it immediately. This is in the interest of both the victim and the bully.

If you are an adult struggling with the confusing long-term damage of having been bullied at home, supportive counseling can help you understand yourself better. You can address why you were unable to defend yourself as a child (likely because you didn’t understand what was happening) and that it was your parents’ responsibility to intervene and protect you (which they didn’t, for reasons unique to them). You can also unravel the roots of any current problems you may have with confidence and self-worth. Please don’t be surprised if they derive from the way your sibling treated you as a child. And please be alert to the possibility this behavior may be continuing toward you in the present. Counseling can help you identify ongoing toxic relationships in your family of origin and guide you toward setting boundaries in order to stop behaviors that are harmful to you.

It is unlikely you can disarm a sibling who bullied you as a child and who is now an adult. Adult bullies tend to become ever more adept at the plausible deniability inherent in passive-aggressive behavior (“Oh, that’s not what I meant,” for example, when you try, however cautiously, to hold them accountable for poor behavior). This isn’t to say change isn’t possible.

Finally, it is important to remember that no happy person would choose to bully another, regardless of their insistence that they are happy and you are the problem. Compassion you may feel for the bully can only take you so far, however. You must also take steps to guard yourself from the ongoing effects of their continued disrespect toward you.

Reference:

Bowes, L., Wolke, D., Joinson, C., Lereya, S. T., & Lewis, G. (2014, September 8). Sibling bullying and risk of depression, anxiety, and self-harm: A prospective cohort study. Pediatrics. doi: 10.1542/peds.2014-0832

Dear GoodTherapy.org,

My biological parents gave me up for adoption when I was born. I’m sure they had their reasons, and I am probably better for it since I grew up in a very loving family and turned out as well as could be expected. I’ve never wanted for anything. I have a great life, a great career, and a great family of my own now. I’m 45 years old. I don’t feel traumatized. I’m actually relieved my birth parents made the decision they did. I’ve never asked my adoptive parents about them.

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As I have gotten older, though, I have had more and more thoughts about my biological parents. I find myself wondering about the circumstances that led them to give me up, whether they’re still alive, and if so, what they’re like today. I wonder if they think of me, too. And I wonder what it would be like to meet them. I had never felt compelled to go down this road until recently, so I’m not sure what’s bringing these feelings to the surface.

I guess I just don’t know if it’s wise, from the standpoint of my mental health, to pursue this. Like I said, my life is great without them in it. Also, while I wonder if my life could be enhanced by knowing more about the people who gave me life and connecting with them after all these years, I am mindful of the possibility I will only learn upsetting things. Who knows? Maybe they wouldn’t even want anything to do with me.

What do you think? —Left Wondering

Submit Your Own Question to a Therapist

Dear Wondering,

It is only natural you would wonder about who your birth parents are, what they’re like, and why they decided to put you up for adoption. Who wouldn’t be curious? You write that your life, career, and family are satisfying, and perhaps you’d like them to know that. Maybe you also wonder what your life would have been like if you hadn’t been adopted. These days, there are numerous ways to look for people that may help you find your birth family—if you decide you want to.

Many years ago, adoption information was not recorded or, if it was, the records were closed, but since 1980 most adoptive records are open. If you decide to look for more information, you can use social media, genealogy websites, and open records that should give you access to your birth certificate and other information. I personally know one person who found her birth mother on Facebook.

You wonder what it might be like to meet your family of origin. Different people have different experiences, of course. You might find out you have siblings, for example. You might feel you have little in common with your birth family or, on the contrary, there is a lot you share. There is only one way to know the answer, but would the answer be worth the time and emotional energy you expend?

You are worried about how this would affect your mental health. That is a good question, and I suggest this is such a big question that you might want to work with a therapist or professional adoption adviser who could accompany you on your journey. You would be hunting down the past and bringing it into the present. Working out whether you really want to do that, and then how to proceed if you do, may be no simple task. Finding your birth parents and meeting them would likely necessitate a big adjustment on everyone’s part.

You may fear rejection. Many people do. You birth family may have the same fears about you, and you might also reject your birth family once you meet them; there’s no way to know. Your adoptive family could fear losing you. This delicate decision to find your birth parents requires a combination of wisdom and courage.

I don’t know if you ever watched the TV show This Is Us. It has many threads, but one of the important plot lines concerns looking for and finding a birth parent. You might want to watch the show and see what it brings up for you. Chances are, you have plenty of your own fodder.

I wonder if you know other people who have been adopted. If so, you might like to discuss your feelings with them and get to know how they understand their adoption. Talking to your partner is important, too.

It sounds like you never discussed this with your adoptive family. It may feel like a delicate issue to bring up, but they could be enormously helpful in your search and may even feel it is important for all of you.

You may fear rejection. Many people do. You birth family may have the same fears about you, and you might also reject your birth family once you meet them; there’s no way to know. Your adoptive family could fear losing you. This delicate decision to find your birth parents requires a combination of wisdom and courage.

Either decision—to know or not to know—is wise and brave. Only you can decide what is the right path for you. Whatever you choose, I admire your curiosity and your process. You are not taking this lightly, nor should you.

Good luck, and I hope you check back in and let me know what happens.

Take care,

Lynn Somerstein, PhD, E-RYT

Enmeshment, a family dynamic that can be described as blurred boundaries between members, can make it difficult or impossible for a child to develop an individual sense of self because they are overly concerned about others. Family therapist Salvadore Minuchin brought this concept to light in the 1970s, and the topic has become common in psychological discussion of late. But what exactly constitutes enmeshment? How does it develop? And how can it be addressed?

Recognizing Enmeshment

Typically the roots of enmeshment can be traced back to parents who over-identify with a child, a dynamic often passed down through generations. Within this dynamic, boundaries are blurred—and may even be viewed as undesirable—and the parent may regard the child as an extension of the parent, rather than their own person, and treat them accordingly.

As a result, children of enmeshed family systems often develop emotional ties that elicit confusion, and they may fail to develop autonomy. An underdeveloped sense of autonomy may make it difficult for the child to act on desires that differ from the parent’s or lead a child to feel guilty when attempting to act on their own feelings. The enmeshed parent may also take it personally when a child attempts to demonstrate autonomy or independence, which can have a harmful impact on the child and the family dynamic overall. [fat_widget_right]

Enmeshment between a parent and child makes it difficult for the emotions of the child to be separated from the emotions of the parent. It can be said, then, that a child may take on emotional pain the parent carries from enmeshment in their own family of origin. This is not uncommon and is often done unconsciously—a child does not realize they are taking on the parent’s emotional pain or that it is not theirs to carry.

Another way of looking at it is to think in terms of “absorbing” the emotional pain of the parent. A parent who is projecting emotional pain is likely not consciously aware they are doing it but simply repeating the cycle that played out in their childhood.

Avoiding Enmeshment

To avoid becoming enmeshed with their children, parents must have their own sense of purpose in life, their own hobbies and passions separate from their children. A parent’s self-worth cannot rely a child’s behavior or accomplishments.

To avoid becoming enmeshed with their children, parents must have their own sense of purpose in life, their own hobbies and passions separate from their children. A parent’s self-worth cannot rely a child’s behavior or accomplishments. When one’s self-worth is defined by the actions or choices of one’s child, the pressure on the child to perform, to fulfill expectations, becomes heavy and burdensome. A parent’s self-worth is not the child’s responsibility, and children who take on this charge, consciously or unconsciously, often fail to develop self-esteem and/or a sense of personal identity.

Children generally rely on their parents for support. But before a child can expect to receive this support, they generally need to know the parent is emotionally strong and that the parent will support the child as they are, not only as who the parent wants them to be. When a child is secure in this knowledge, they will typically feel free to be themselves and to follow their own passions without feeling responsible for a parent’s emotional pain or disappointment.

In families affected by enmeshment, children may avoid seeking help when they experience difficulty or dilemma in life, fearing that the parent will impose their own agenda rather than offer guidance and support. When parents model good self-care habits, appropriate boundaries, and regulated emotions, on the other hand, children are more likely to desire to spend time with them, as opposed to when a child simply feels obligated to take care of their parent or manage their parent’s emotions. (Experiencing difficulty with dysregulated emotions? A therapist can help.)

Addressing Enmeshment

What can parents do to address enmeshment? Seek the help of a qualified family therapist or counselor if you recognize any of the following signs in your parent-child dynamic:

• Your child is your sole purpose in life.
• You take care of your children at the expense of taking care of yourself.
• Your self-worth is defined by your child’s behavior, accomplishments, or lack of accomplishments.
• Your child is the barometer for your happiness.
• Boundaries between you and your child are blurred or frequently crossed. For example, you find it necessary to know everything about your child’s daily life, such as what they say or do when not in your company.

What can an older child or adult child do to remedy the impact of an enmeshed relationship with a parent?

• Seek professional help from a family therapist who works from a family systems model, once the dynamic of enmeshment is recognized.
• Practice taking responsibility only for individual feelings instead of taking responsibility for the feelings of others.
• Further, practice taking responsibility for individual feelings instead of expecting others to do so.
• Those who recognize the dynamic of enmeshment being repeated in their relationships can work with a therapist who uses a family systems model and take steps to address this pattern and break the cycle.

Children in enmeshed families may view the parent-child relationship as an obligation or burden and, when they reach adulthood, seek out relationships that perpetuate this dynamic. Parents who take responsibility for their own self-worth and emotional pain, however, are likely to have healthier relationships with their children, where the children make the choice to be involved in their parents’ lives and are able to establish their own healthy, independent relationships.

Reference: 

1. Heru, A. M. (2015). Families in psychiatry: Unpacking enmeshment issues. Clinical Psychiatry News, 43(5). Retrieved from https://www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-417736319/families-in-psychiatry-unpacking-enmeshment-issues
2. Lewis, C. (2013, July 8). The enmeshed family: What it is and how to “unmesh.” Retrieved from http://www.mariadroste.org/2013/07/the-enmeshed-family-what-it-is-and-how-to-unmesh

People with narcissistic qualities tend to view life in black-and-white: a world of only losers and winners, victims and victimizers. They loathe feeling like losers or victims. In the case of parents with narcissism, they often shunt those roles onto their children.

Why? Because people with narcissism need to be fed. A person with extreme narcissistic tendencies is like a balloon with a hole, endlessly leaking esteem, always needing a refill. Such a person’s air supply: attention. And who better to provide attention than the captive audience of one’s children?

If you had a parent with narcissism, you may have been trained to focus not on your own feelings and needs, but rather on those of your parent. Parents with narcissism may wheedle, confuse, or bully you into attending to them, ignoring their lies, and tiptoeing around their vulnerabilities. They generally need your life to be about them. Some people with narcissism, feeling empty at their core and lacking a healthy sense of self, may steal from your very relationship with yourself.

But you aren’t a child anymore. You have power and options you never had as a child. Here are six ways you can take back your life after a narcissistic upbringing:

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1. See Beyond the Narcissistic Facade

People with narcissism tend to be pretenders. Dwelling in a cyclone of shame, they live in mortal terror of anybody saying the emperor has no clothes. They fear being seen as flawed or ignorant and hate feeling powerless or embarrassed. These fears tend to drive their behavior. To avoid feeling flawed, they have to be the best and insist on perfection from others. To avoid feeling ignorant, they act like know-it-alls and rarely admit they are wrong. To avoid feeling powerless, they act larger than life. And when they feel embarrassed, their volcanic rage may erupt, burying anyone in their path.

When you know this, you can see what drives their outlandish behaviors. You don’t have to take it personally, wondering what you did wrong.

2. Identify Distortions and Double Standards

When people with narcissism make a mistake, they tend to blame others. When you make a mistake, they blame you. When they succeed, they cite their superior character. When you succeed—thus temporarily stealing the spotlight they so crave—they may take credit for your success, call it a fluke, or diminish it by pointing out other times you have failed.

People with narcissism tend to distract and disguise. Like kids caught with their hands in the candy jar, they may try to confuse, belittle, bully, or otherwise avoid responsibility for their actions.

Don’t be taken in. Pay attention to what they do, not what they say. Their words are often attempts to throw you off and make you feel small or doubtful while making themselves feel big. Their arguments are generally not to be taken seriously or even responded to, because if you refute one argument, they may simply come up with another and another.

When they are abusive, manipulative, or withholding, see it for what it is. They are using you to avoid their own issues and satisfy their urges. They may feel entitled to do so. This is not healthy. Nobody is entitled to abuse or use another.

3. If You Are Drawn to People with Narcissistic Qualities, Be Clear About Why

If you have been drawn to people with narcissism, it may be because it is simply a familiar dynamic. But it can also reflect an unconscious hope that if you can find a person with narcissistic tendencies who happens to treat you well, it will make up for what you didn’t get years ago from a parent with narcissism. It is an understandable wish. Yet relationships with people with narcissism are often disappointing and superficial because people with narcissism generally don’t care about treating others well.

You don’t have to deny your desire for justice, validation, or reparation. But you can never get back lost years, nor are you likely to get an apology.

If you feel unfulfilled in a relationship or wonder if a friend or partner has narcissism, ask yourself why you are with them. Do you hope to change or reform them? Do you hope someday they will see how good you are and mend their ways? Pursuing relationships with people with narcissism may simply postpone facing the painful recognition that your parent couldn’t be there for you. Accepting and mourning that unfortunate truth can allow you to focus on what is best for you and pick healthier relationships.

You don’t have to deny your desire for justice, validation, or reparation. But you can never get back lost years, nor are you likely to get an apology. You will almost certainly never be rescued if you wait for it. The only person who can make it right is you, by your choices and by how you treat and view yourself.

4. Use Your Voice

Let’s say, for example, you give a person with narcissism a holiday gift, and they give you nothing. The person with narcissism then says something like, “You’re just trying to make me feel guilty because I didn’t get you anything.” This is classic narcissistic behavior, shifting the attention to you and putting you on the defensive. Simply knowing they are doing this may be enough to help you gain perspective, and you might choose to say nothing. But if you feel that you are shrinking in stature, you may feel better about yourself by speaking up. For example, in a situation like this you could:

1. Confront it by saying, “No, that is not why I gave it to you. But now that you mention it, do you feel guilty for not giving me anything?”
2. Use humor by taking their accusation about you trying to make them feel guilty and saying something like, “Well, is it working?”
3. Be honest and direct by saying, “No, I gave you a card because I wanted to. And now that you mention it, I do feel hurt that you didn’t give me anything.”

Remember, hard as they may try, people with narcissism can never take away your truth, experience, or feelings. They can dispute it, threaten you, and deny it, but they cannot make you give it up. They are projecting on you what they can’t feel in themselves. Don’t take it on.

5. Seek Balance

Being raised by a person with narcissism can throw your life out of balance. One way to regain healthy balance is to do the opposite of what your parents did. For example:

• If you received much criticism and scant praise, you may need to sidestep criticism (including self-criticism) and increase self-acknowledgment.
• If you have been compulsively driving yourself in reaction to people with narcissism who called you lazy, you may want to slow down and focus on quality of life. Conversely, if you have been underperforming in reaction to pressure from people with narcissism, you may want to push yourself beyond your present comfort level.
• If you have felt deprived, allow yourself to desire and receive more.
• If you were not allowed to say no or point out what was wrong, you may need to spend time saying no and focusing on what should change in your relationship, family, workplace, or society.
• If you have been giving people with narcissistic qualities the benefit of the doubt to your own detriment, you may want to start questioning their actions and believe in yourself, perhaps seeking the guidance of a trusted therapist or friend as you do so.

6. Trust Yourself

Your parents may have shamed you when you experimented, asked questions, or expressed your views. This may have led you as a child to become more dependent on them or alienated from yourself. Even in adulthood, you may second-guess yourself, struggle to make decisions, and shy away from taking risks that could enhance your life.

When you have to make a decision or when a challenge arises, ask yourself, “If I knew I was absolutely trustworthy, what would I do?” Then assess how you can make that happen. By assuming you are trustworthy, that your feelings are valuable, and that your intuition is reliable, you can see that you have within yourself all you need to handle challenges—despite what your parents may have tried to make you believe.

If you were raised by a parent with narcissism, you are not alone. Millions of adults have had a parent with narcissistic tendencies. No matter how you were treated as a child, you deserve to be seen, heard, and do what is healthiest for you.

To recover from the emotional abuse caused by a parent with narcissistic tendencies, you must repair your reality—a reality that has been skewed and damaged by your experience of parenting. You are recovering from a serious interpersonal trauma. The repair process has nothing to do with (1) self-improvement, (2) fixing your parent, or (3) working on the relationship with your parent.

When you grow up around a parent with narcissistic qualities, you may be conditioned to believe that only the voice of that person matters. You may learn that only that person is allowed to have and express feelings and opinions. You may shut off your voice and needs in order to meet your parent’s needs. You may watch your other parent abide or acquiesce, and without thinking, the entire family may follow suit.

After all of this childhood conditioning, it can be difficult to adopt healthier ways of being in adulthood. This article provides some suggestions on how to heal from this type of abuse, but it is by no means exhaustive. Partnering with a qualified therapist can help you determine the best way to address your specific needs and circumstances.

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Learning to Love Yourself

In order to heal, it is time to start focusing on what it means to experience self-value. Here are four strategies you can incorporate in your life from this day forward to “rewire” your brain and encourage self-value:

1. Develop Self-Compassion

Developing self-compassion can prove quite challenging for some people. It can trigger emotional flashbacks in some individuals who have been exposed to cyclical abuse where compassion was part of the setup for the next attack. It can also be difficult for those who grew up in emotionally neglectful homes and rarely or never received compassion (Germer and Neff, 2014).

Realize that compassion may be absent in a relationship with a person with narcissism, and since parents are so essential for demonstrating empathy to their children, the kids may grow up underdeveloped in this area, particularly when it comes to compassion toward the self.

Be patient as you learn to create kindheartedness toward yourself. Consider what you would say to someone else in similar circumstances, or what benevolent friends have said to you in the past to bring you comfort; learn to say these same words to yourself (Germer and Neff, 2014).

2. Eliminate Your Inner Critic and Toxic Shame

Your “inner child” holds on to the hope that if it becomes smart, helpful, talented, and flawless enough, your parent will finally love it. The continued failure to win the approval of the parent leads the inner child to conclude that it is defective and unlovable. Thus, the child learns through this self-reflection process to self-criticize (Neff, n.d.).

Your “inner child” holds on to the hope that if it becomes smart, helpful, talented, and flawless enough, your parent will finally love it. The continued failure to win the approval of the parent leads the inner child to conclude that it is defective and unlovable.

Because of the constant projection and implication of failure on the part of your parent, you not only have a hurt inner child, but you likely also have an internalized “inner parent” in the form of a punitive voice and inner critic. Hearing the internalized voice of the inner critic continues the experience of toxic shame.

You can eliminate shame by learning to be vulnerable with safe people. As you begin to make connections with safe people, start telling them your story (Brown, 2010).

3. Build Self-Trust

Visualize your traumatized inner child and start developing a relationship with it that is comforting, accepting, strong, secure, and safe. The best way to learn self-trust is to start treating yourself well.

Since you have been in a close interpersonal relationship with a parent with narcissism, you have missed out on the role modeling and mirroring of healthy nurturing. Because of this, you may experience attachment trauma, a faulty inner working model for relationships, and an inaccurate belief system about yourself in relationship to others (Courtois and Ford, 2013).

This needs repair. Stop rejecting yourself and start repairing the damage your parent has caused. You can do this. Embrace your inner child with warmth and acceptance (Walker, 2013).

4. Exercise Self-Care

Because your parent with narcissism has trained you to focus only on their reactions, you may be conditioned to focus outside of yourself and may have no idea how to look internally at your own needs.

Begin to embark on a journey of self-care. Develop an “inner nurturer” and let it have a strong presence in your life. Write a list of happy, healthy things you can do with and for yourself each day.

Conclusion

Please realize that this article only touches the surface of what can happen with a person raised with a parent with narcissistic tendencies and is just a beginning point for what is needed to heal. Recovery from any type of abuse is a process, one that may take a lifetime. Allow yourself the gifts of time, grace, and unhurried, relaxed baby steps. Do not rush the process. Learn to enjoy each day as it comes and be mindful of what you are experiencing and learning. Work to eliminate the critic that resides inside your head. Ultimately, the recovery process involves developing a healthy relationship with self and others. Seek support from a therapist as needed.

References:

1. Brown, B. (2010). The Gifts of Imperfection. New York, NY: Hazelden.
2. Connelly, S. (n.d.). Permission to Stop Beating Yourself Up. Retrieved from http://traumahealed.com/articles/permission-to-stop-beating-yourself-up/
3. Courtois, C.A., & Ford, J.D. (2013). Treatment of Complex Trauma. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
4. Germer, C.K., & Neff, K. (2014). Cultivating Self-Compassion in Trauma Survivors. Retrieved from http://self-compassion.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Germer.Neff_.Trauma.pdf
5. Neff, K. (n.d.). Self-Compassion. Retrieved from http://self-compassion.org/exercise-2-self-compassion-break/
6. Walker, P. (2013). Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving. United States: Azure Coyote.

Maddy: “I hate myself. I’m just like my mother. She always bossed my father around and was so controlling with me and my brother. Now I do the same things with my husband and kids. I don’t know why I can’t stop myself from always telling them the right way to do everything. I’m her all over again.”

Frank: “I feel like a terrible person, no different than my father: so rational and unempathic. Ugh! I hated that about him; how can I be just like him? I don’t like myself when I’m that way, especially with my wife. I know it’s hurtful, but I don’t seem to be able to change.”

Ellen: “I can’t believe I’m doing to my son exactly what my mother did to me. She made me crazy with her anxiety, and now I’m doing that to him. He just graduated, and I insisted he go to a close-by college. I was so worried. I know that was selfish and not best for him. My mother’s worry always limited me. Why didn’t I stop myself from doing the same to him?”

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Maddy, Frank, and Ellen are bewildered when they find themselves repeating relationships with their parents that had a negative impact on them. Consciously, these behaviors feel unwanted and dysfunctional. They don’t wish to inflict the hurt and pain they experienced in their childhoods on their significant others. They recognize the repetition and seem puzzled and unable to understand why they feel helpless to stop.

Ambivalence About Giving up Repetitive ‘Bad’ Behaviors

Each of these individuals consciously expresses self-hate when they recognize they are hurting loved ones in the same way a significant other hurt them in childhood. They identify that their own hurtful behaviors make them feel like bad people, out of control and/or hopelessly mean. Yet they also express ambivalence about changing these behaviors. When we explore and try to make sense of their resistances to change, each person, in their own way, embraces the behaviors of the parent who offended.

Maddy: “I don’t want to be this way, but honestly, it’s hard to imagine giving up control. I really believe I do many things much better than my husband and kids. In the end, I think it’s to their advantage to do it my way.”

Frank: “I know I’m an awful person because it’s so hard for me to appreciate my wife’s feelings. But she’s so irrational. Really—does it make sense that she’s so beside herself when her friend gets annoyed with her? It drives me crazy. I know I should be more caring and understanding, but I really think she needs to get more control of herself.”

Ellen: “I know it’s selfish and wrong that I’m such a worrier and my son has become a worrier. But I’m relieved he’s extra careful and cautious in his life. He said he wanted to go away to college. But I know him, and in my heart I believe he was relieved when I said he had to go to a local school. I think he feels taken care of when I worry.”

These three individuals reflect about their actions in similar ways. Rationalizing, they believe their behaviors are acceptable. At the same time, they attack themselves for repeating with people they love in the present what was hurtful to them in the past. The contradictory notions about the effect of their behaviors make change difficult to embrace.

Even though they rationalize and describe positive outcomes from repeating the behaviors of their parents, they experience bad feelings about themselves when they hurt and create conflict with loved ones. More than experiencing themselves as hurting people they love, the idea that “I’m just like my parent” is anathema. The idea of being “just like my parents” is not simply the feeling of “similar to.” Rather, it feels like “I am my parent.” This unwanted and intolerable experience of self can interfere with feelings of self-confidence and self-esteem and can play a role in the development of anxiety and depression.

With the unending pushes and pulls (between rationalizing and self-attack) to both enact and avoid repeating these old family patterns, stuck-ness in the repetitions and conflicts is solidified.

The Role of the Unconscious

These folks are not aware of any unconscious dynamics that may be keeping them anchored to their untenable positions. But if change is to occur, an understanding of the role of the unconscious in resisting change and perpetuating early parent-child relationships is essential. The aim is to uncover the unconscious meanings of holding onto the status quo and how repeating these behaviors serves each person (even when, consciously, that doesn’t make sense to them).

I will focus on my work with Frank to describe how we explored and became familiar with his unconscious and how that helped him with his conflicts and the repetitions of his early father-son relationship.

When Frank walked into my office, I sensed a man in conflict. He was assertive and self-assured but also vulnerable and defensive. He came into therapy concerned he wasn’t cut out for marriage but wanted to work on making the marriage work.

“I love my son,” he told me. “I suppose I love my wife, too, but I don’t know about me and marriage. If only for my son, I want to make it work. It’s hard to think of her needs. I get contemptuous when she doesn’t do or see things my way. I can be mean. I hate that it makes me feel just like my father. I could never do anything right—right meant doing it his way. He was a bully. I don’t do that with my son. But I bully my wife and I can be condescending with my colleagues at work. I feel horrible when I behave like my father. He made me feel like I was nothing, and now I keep doing it to others.”

If change is to occur, an understanding of the role of the unconscious in resisting change and perpetuating early parent-child relationships is essential. The aim is to uncover the unconscious meanings of holding onto the status quo and how repeating these behaviors serves each person (even when, consciously, that doesn’t make sense to them).

Frank and I spent many sessions talking about his relationship with his father. He was close to his mother, who was also bullied and couldn’t protect him from the onslaught of demeaning and destructive behaviors he encountered. Frank had some ideas about how, because of his father, he became tough and resilient:

“I probably was about 6 and I remember telling myself I would never let him get to me. I’d never cry or give him the satisfaction that he hurt me. I never asked for anything. I left home when I graduated high school and moved to another state. I stayed in touch with my mother, who would always talk about my father. I guess I stayed curious about him. I hated him, but I never stopped wishing he would be nice to me or give me the feeling he cared. On one rare visit, I told him I was doing really well and was getting a CPA, but he didn’t say much. [Sigh.] I wish I could have made an impression on him. He died right after I got my CPA. I hate to admit it, but I never stopped wanting him to be my dad. It’s too late now.”

Frank and I became aware of how conflicted his relationship with his father was. He hated him but appreciated how his behavior drove him to seek recognition by becoming strong, independent, and ambitious. Fundamentally, Frank’s strongest feelings resided in his abiding wish for his father to “be my dad.”

When I asked Frank what “being my dad” meant to him, he was thoughtful, then tearful: “I wish he was a dad like I am. My son knows I love him. I listen to him, praise him, show him affection. I play with him. He knows how important he is to me. I never had any of that.”

The more we talked about Frank and his father, the more in touch Frank became with his longing for a father—a dad. We puzzled over what made it difficult for Frank to let go of the hated father in him. Frank began to wonder: “You and I talk about my unconscious. Maybe my unconscious believes if I hold onto my hated father long enough, I’ll get the dad I so badly want. With my son, I’m not my father, I’m a dad. Now maybe I have to let go of the father in my unconscious and be the ‘dad’ with the people I care about in the world. I sort of get that I’m struggling with this, but I don’t know how to pull it off. Maybe if I could be more of a loving dad with the people in my life, I could let go of the bad dad inside me. Then I might feel better about myself and feel recognized and appreciated in the world. How do I get there?”

Frank was well on his way to getting there when he had the profound recognition of his holding onto his father as a way of trying to experience the dad he had longed for since early childhood. It is not unusual for repetitions of hurtful early parent-child relationships to be repeated in adulthood with the unconscious wish to transform a negative or hated significant other into the idealized parent that the adult continues to long for. The holding onto the destructive parent, by taking on the parental behaviors and repeating them as one’s own, feeds the unconscious wish for having the parent under one’s control, but it doesn’t provide the wished-for, idealized parent.

When one can recognize, as Frank did, that the perpetuation of the hurtful parent doesn’t and will not provide what was missed, it is easier to let go of the repetitions and embrace a more positive role model in one’s own behavior. As a result, more positive self-feelings emerge and facilitate more loving relationships.

Note: To protect privacy, names in the preceding article have been changed and the dialogues described are a composite.

Some people say they do not want to come out of therapy blaming their parents for everything. After all, their parents did the best they could at the time, especially with what they were given—so leave them out of it.

A therapist once told me that if you end therapy still angry at your parents, then you haven’t gone far enough.

Some people come to therapy with a lot of apparent, upfront anger toward mom and/or dad. Others are wary of saying anything negative about the people who raised them. Rarely does either of these versions of parents represent a full understanding of who they were or who they have become.

Seeing Your Parents as If You Are Still a Child

A major task in treatment is to understand who your parents were to you through how you saw them as a child. I know, you’re not still a child, but often we didn’t get to express those full-throttle feelings when we were kids. Luckily, we get to do so now—and it can be extraordinarily helpful to us as adults.

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As a child, perhaps you didn’t fully understand that a parent didn’t attend any of your baseball games because they had to work overtime in order to provide for you; you just experienced hurt and anger that they weren’t there. Your parent had a valid reason not to be there, but that doesn’t mean your feeling wasn’t also valid. As an adult (who may be missing your own child’s games because you have to work), there may be guilt on top of the anger and hurt you felt. Perhaps you’re ashamed you were ever upset. Seeing the situation through an adult lens, you think: “They were doing something for me, so how dare I be angry?”

Therapy says to let yourself be angry. Feel the anger. Feel it deeply. This way, you don’t squelch it and have it come out somewhere else, perhaps in passive-aggressive remarks to your own children; over-emphasizing every game, play, and recital your kids have; or avoiding conversations with your parents for fear you’ll “lose it” with them. Consequently, you don’t wind up judging yourself for having those reactions.

Attachment Style Without Logic

You also had an understanding of your parents pre-verbal memory. Did they come when you cried? Maybe they did most of the time, maybe they weren’t very quick about it, or maybe they never left you. You were an infant, so you didn’t know they were also taking care of a sibling, going to the bathroom, heating up your bottle, or just needing a rest. Attachment theory shows us that these early experiences, apart from the logical reasons behind them, matter a lot for us now.

Therapy says to let yourself be angry. Feel the anger. Feel it deeply.

I want to reiterate that the object is not to blame your parents. It’s not to be mad and stay mad.

We do damage to ourselves when we refuse to fully express and feel our feelings. That’s not a license to punch someone, break things, or intentionally hurt someone’s feelings. Therapy is tailor-made for the space to express your deepest self. It’s a safe space to face fears of abandonment, retaliation, or ungratefulness, any of which (and more) your therapist should be trained to be on the lookout for and provide an alternative to.

You may have felt any number of difficult feelings toward even the most loving, present, and available parent. Those feelings, your feelings, are valuable. And they’re not going to just go away.

So if it’s hate you felt, express it. So you can love even more deeply.

I work with a number of anguished parents who are surprised, hurt, and bewildered by changes in the way their adult children behave toward them. They describe relationships filled with coolness and irritation from their adult child and talk about being rebuffed when emails, texts, and phone calls go unanswered and responses to requests for dinner or birthday celebrations are ignored or refused. These parents feel pushed away and controlled by their children and clueless to understand this unexpected behavior. They come into therapy filled with a wide range of feelings, including rejection, anger, hurt, anxiety, depression, and helplessness.

Melanie came to see me because of difficulties with her oldest child, Barbara, 33, who is five years married with two young children.

“She was my first, and it was love at first sight,” Melanie said of Barbara. “We were so close. I don’t understand the change. It seems sudden, but I suppose it started after college when she became a little distant and there was some tension. Now I can’t say ‘boo’ to her without her becoming annoyed or angry. I’m always walking on tiptoe and never know when she’s going to have an outburst. She’ll yell and say awful things like I don’t understand her or I’m self-absorbed or the queen of criticism. I can’t imagine why she feels this way. I go from shock to crying to feeling outraged. I don’t know what she wants from me. Actually, it feels like she doesn’t want anything from me. It’s getting more and more difficult to get to see her or even get her to send me a picture of the grandkids or answer a text. When she ignored my birthday last month, that was the worst.”

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Melanie’s experience with Barbara is illustrative of what the distressed parents I work with describe: through adolescence they had close, loving relationships which became conflicted only after their children left home. The separation-individuation process which is expected to occur in adolescence didn’t emerge at the developmentally appropriate time. Without the benefit of individuation in adolescence, these children missed the experience of learning to navigate the power struggles and clashes with parents that are crucial for the formation of a sense of identity with feelings of autonomy and self-confidence. This experience is necessary to set the stage for feeling comfortably attached to the parent without fear of being controlled or influenced.

The Development of Saying Yes to Oneself

I have always been intrigued with the idea that 2-year-olds have to learn to say “no” before they can say “yes.” The “no” of the 2-year-old is a crucial component of the development of self. “No” is directed to the parent who engages with the child in a squabble. When there are wins for the child, their “no” is accepted, making it possible for the child to begin feeling authorship of their “yes.” “Yes” is a nod to the self, to one’s desires, needs, and drive toward autonomy.

During adolescence, this process continues. Now the parent has to shift from the position of benign authority they held with their younger child. They must find a balance between providing rules within a secure and safe framework and simultaneously allow room for the emergence of the adolescent’s “noes.” This means the child is given space to question and change the rules (although the parent will not always agree) as they move toward “yes,” i.e., developing their identity as autonomous adults.

The Adult Child’s Delayed Individuation Process

For some children, the struggle to individuate either begins or intensifies after adolescence, often during their late 20s or 30s. When this occurs, a strong need to pull away and extract oneself from the parental orbit feels necessary.

For parents who have not experienced the passionate conflicts of adolescence and may be known to happily remark “I got off easy,” their adult child’s fierce push to be separate can be heart-wrenching. When there is a delay or a reemergence of this struggle for autonomy, the parent is frequently taken by surprise and is unprepared for what may now become an intense process of individuation in which the adult child, no longer feeling required to adhere to the old rules, comes out fighting to claim a selfhood that will feel unfettered by parental influence. It can seem very sudden when a child starts to pull away, express anger, and assert themselves against the parent. Although the parent may be unaware of treating the child differently, what might have felt to both parent and child like interest or involvement in the past can now be experienced by the child as controlling or critical.

As I got to know Melanie and learned about the development of her relationship with Barbara, it became clear that Barbara was late in separating from her parents. Through late adolescence, Barbara never went through a stage where she pushed against her parents. When she went away to college, she remained close with frequent calls and emails. Between her junior and senior years, however, she and her parents fought over her decision to remain at college for the summer to take an internship. This was the first big disagreement with Barbara where Barbara’s wishes won out. Melanie wondered:

As I got to know Melanie and learned about the development of her relationship with Barbara, it became clear that Barbara was late in separating from her parents.

“I’m not sure about this, but I think things changed after that. She never lived at home after graduation. She stopped asking for advice, and I was so surprised when she decided to move to a neighboring state for grad school. Maybe I shouldn’t have said I thought she should stay local for school, save her money, and live at home. She had made up her mind, and I remember she got angry and said I shouldn’t tell her what to do with her life. I was shocked. I was only trying to help. Since then, she bristles or gets angry at any suggestion I make.”

Melanie was feeling profoundly rejected by Barbara. She felt helpless to know how to relate to her and how to change the increasing negativity she felt from her daughter. She felt controlled and without any clear sense of why this was happening:

“I can’t ask questions without her getting enraged,” Melanie said. “I asked if she took my granddaughter to the doctor when she had a fever and she told me to stop butting in! I’ve asked her such innocuous questions, like ‘Are you planning a vacation?’ Or, ‘Are you thinking about sending the kids to daycare?’ Every time I ask a question, she accuses me of criticizing her. I don’t get it. I just want to be a part of her life. She doesn’t want to let me in. Worse, sometimes I think she hates me.”

It seemed to me Barbara’s individuation process had been delayed. I assumed that since there was little conflict with her parents during adolescence, Barbara’s “noes” and “yeses” were probably mostly shared by her parents. Thus, in adolescence, Barbara would have felt no need to differentiate her wishes and needs from those of her parents. Now, as an adult, she had no developed sense of self with feelings of autonomy. So she still needed to individuate and take ownership of the “yeses” and “noes” in her life. This would give her a sense of agency and self-confidence, enabling her to feel less threatened by her mother’s opinions, wishes, and needs. Differences between them would simply be differences, not cause for concern about losing herself to her mother’s influence. She would not have to be worried about being controlled because she would feel in charge of herself.

Melanie began to understand that Barbara equated connection with influence. She recognized that Barbara’s experience of being constantly criticized became the rationale for pushing Melanie away:

“I think I get it. If I ask a question, like did she take my granddaughter to the doctor, maybe she hears it as my opinion: ‘You should take her to the doctor.’ Or maybe, she hears it as ‘I don’t trust you to know what to do’ so then she feels criticized by me. I see she is fighting being influenced by me. It’s like if she lets me in, she loses herself. If she lets herself feel close to me, it threatens her sense of self. I don’t want to be in her life to control or influence her, I just want to love her and feel loved. How is that ever going to happen?”

Facilitating Individuation for the Adult Child

Melanie’s feelings of helplessness were palpable. She was developing an intellectual understanding of what was going on with Barbara, but it is quite another thing to find a way to change the dynamic between them so their bond could be restored. I made the following suggestions to Melanie:

• Be mindful of the content of your communications. Questions can be interpreted as criticism, shoulds, or judgments.
• Find an opportunity to talk to Barbara without being defensive, and tell her you want to hear how you can be a better parent.
• Let her know you respect and admire who she is and what she does in specific ways, e.g., “I love that you’re always reading to the kids,” “It’s great that you’re learning to play golf,” “Can I have your recipe for meatballs?” or “Your home looks so lovely.” These communications contain the idea (no guarantee that it will be interpreted that way) that you have positive and admiring feelings toward your child.
• Let Barbara control the amount of contact. She is engaged with you in a necessary separation-individuation process that was not resolved in earlier years. When it becomes resolved, she will have a more positive sense of self. This will enable her to develop a strong and loving attachment with you. Once Barbara is secure in the positive feelings of who she is, there will no longer be a reason to fear being unduly controlled or influenced.

Note: To protect privacy, names in the preceding article have been changed and the dialogues described are a composite.