There is little more painful than when an adult child decides they no longer want to have a relationship with a parent. Sometimes, we sense the fracture coming but aren't sure how to stop the destruction. For others, their son or daughter's desire to cut contact feels unexpected and without provocation. Things may feel so tense, we fear there's no hope for reconciliation. But no situation, relationship, or individual is beyond God's transformative, healing grace. In this episode, mental health professional, speaker and author Gina Berkemeier returns to talk with host Jennifer Slattery on signs a fracture might be coming, how we can avoid adding to our child's pain and the distance developing between us, how to respond when they accuse us of something we don't remember doing, and more.
Resource referenced: Generations Deep: Unmasking Inherited Dysfunction and Trauma to Rewrite Our Stories Through Faith and Therapy
Discussion/Reflective Questions:
- What resonated with you most in this episode?
- Where would you currently place your relationship(s) with your adult child(ren)––becoming steadily healthier, tense and potentially on the verse of fracture, or nonexistent?
- How do you tend to react when your adult child tells you something you did hurt them?
- If you've become defensive, what unhealed wounds and/or insecurities might have impacted your reaction?
- In what ways might estrangement or relational dysfunction be generational in your family?
- What are some ways you are actively working on (or have you worked on) becoming your healthiest self?
- When you become aware or think of parenting mistakes, what are some ways you resist falling into shame?
- What is one action step God might be inviting you to take having listened to this episode?
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