Love and Life with Dr. Karin and Pastor Elliott I Won’t Be Home for Christmas: Going No Contact— Self-care or Self-sabotage? Ep. 388
Estranged. Cut off. Disengaged.
Whatever you want to call it—it’s trending! Going “no contact” has become so ubiquitous Oprah covered it in a recent podcast episode, Mel Robbins just wrote a NY Times article about it, and it’s the subject of several books and thousands of TikToks.
What’s going on? Why are so many adult children cutting off their parents and families?
Is Going No Contact a difficult, yet imperative, decision to protect oneself from a toxic family?
Or, does it reflect an unwillingness to navigate the messiness of adult family relationships, because, of course, it’s way easier to solely interact with likeminded friends.
Is it self care or self sabotage?
Elliott and I delve into the myriad elements surrounding this phenomenon, including:
1️⃣The increase of family disengagement Elliott has witnessed in his clinical practice.
2️⃣The Going No Contact debate—does it facilitate or impede our emotional development and maturity?
3️⃣How “self-help culture” has introduced therapeutic terms into our everyday lexicon—and the ramifications therein.
4️⃣Expanding definitions of concepts such as “toxic,” “narcissist,” and “gaslighting.”
5️⃣The grief inherent to estranged families.
6️⃣The role of social media in fueling this trend.
7️⃣Suggestions for reunification—should children decide they’d like to.
According to a study cited on Oprah’s podcast, 30% of Americans have a family member who has disengaged. So, it’s likely this impacts you or someone you love.
If you know someone who “Won’t Be Home For Christmas,” this conversation is for you!