Out of all the self-help terms, we hear about self-advocacy less often. In the beginning of any healing journey, we’re consumed with self-care, self preservation, self-protection. But as our sense of self improves and we learn our value, we take things a step further. We begin to advocate on our own behalf. That means going …
Loneliness, heartache, isolation, and feeling misunderstood add layers of pain to family estrangement. As one who’s traveling that road, I can attest to these feelings. The social insistence on “family first” and dating advice that calls it a red flag if someone has cut ties with family, adds to the shame. As a result of …
I’m reading Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson. It’s the follow-up to Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents which helped me understand why my parents could never give me what I needed. Emotionally immature people are sometimes hard to spot at first. They can appear successful and have all the trappings of …
I recently re-read Attached, a seminal book on the topic of attachment styles in romantic relationships. One section of the book addresses the issue of avoidant attachment and dating. People with avoidant attachment style, the book argues, dominate the dating pool because their style values independence over relationship and avoids emotional intimacy. Securely attached people, …