Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Family Estrangement
Are your family relationships strained or distant?
Perhaps contact between you and an adult child, one or both parents, or a sibling has reduced over time. There may be an ongoing uncertainty between you, where communication feels difficult, inconsistent, conflictual, or hard to maintain.
Maybe there has been a significant rupture, where communication has broken down completely, and one or more of you has stopped contact completely.
It can feel like the conversation about family conflict and estrangement is everywhere right now, but it may not always reflect your experience.
Estrangement can happen for many different reasons:
- Disapproval of a partner
- Conflicting values or lifestyle choices
- Divorce or remarriage
- Family betrayal
- Neglect, or abuse
- Religious or cultural differences
- Sexuality and gender identity
It can also happen - gradually or suddenly – where the reasons seem far from clear.
You may feel side-lined, unsure exactly what happened or what to do next.
Many people describe a feeling of ambiguous loss, where someone is still very much alive yet feels unreachable.
The absence at family occasions.
The things that can't be said.
The hope that keeps catching you off guard.
These can be very painful experiences to navigate. They often bring a complex mixture of emotions - grief, shame, anger, relief, confusion, resentment, or a sense of abandonment or rejection that is hard to make sense of.
They can have a lasting emotional impact which is often not well understood by others, and the impact can be significant and enduring.
I bring both lived experience and considerable professional experience of family estrangement, and I understand the complexity involved. My approach is deeply sensitive and non-judgemental.
In my practice I work with both individuals, and family pairs, or dyads.
When I work with family pairs my role is to work with both of you, to help facilitate mutual understanding, and explore whether there's a way to repair.
I don't take sides. I can help you make sense of what has happened and find a way forward that feels right for you.