family
Family can be our support system. Or they can be part of the problem. All about the complicated, loving, and difficult relationship with us and the ones who love us.
The Power of Presence
When “Good Parenting” Became a Feeling In modern parenting conversations, “good” has increasingly come to mean emotionally warm, verbally affirming, and immediately comforting. A good parent is expected to soothe distress quickly, validate feelings consistently, and minimize discomfort whenever possible. These traits are treated as obvious indicators of healthy parenting, reinforced by cultural messaging, therapeutic language, and social reward structures. When a child feels better in the moment, the parenting decision is assumed to have been correct, and when discomfort persists, the decision is often framed as a failure of care rather than a necessary part of development.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcastabout 16 hours ago in Psyche
Estrangement from My Parents: 15 Years Later. Content Warning.
2011: The year that I decided that enough was enough. I went home for summer break from Job Corps. For context, home was in Texas and I was attending a Job Corps center in Arkansas, nearing completion of my vocational trade, which was Office Administration. I was nearly four months away from graduating. Days before I was scheduled to head back to Job Corps, I felt like the two people who were supposed to love and support me were now focused on their attention towards my two younger siblings (a brother and sister). That was the last time I saw my family. My relationship with my family had been deteriorating for years, even well before I decided to officially distance myself from them.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 7 days ago in Psyche
From Silent Dinners to Heartfelt Conversations: How Family Therapy Saved Our Home. AI-Generated.
Picture the same dinner table night after night, but the warmth has vanished. Phones glow instead of faces. Eyes stay fixed on screens or plates. The only sounds are utensils clinking and the occasional mumbled request to pass something. That was our reality for nearly two years. We still loved each other deeply, but connection had been replaced by exhaustion, unspoken resentment, and the weight of daily life. We told ourselves it was temporary—work pressure, teenage moods, normal growing pains. Until our youngest began having panic attacks before school and our oldest started avoiding family meals completely. That’s when we knew we couldn’t keep pretending everything was fine. We entered family therapy nervous, doubtful, and a bit ashamed. What unfolded over the next few months changed our home in ways we never expected.
By Touch of Wholeness Psychological Services7 days ago in Psyche
He Loved Her Madly… Until He Realized She Only Loved Him When She Needed Him
The quiet pain of being someone’s comfort… but never their choice --- Ethan never believed in half-love. To him, love was absolute. It was presence, sacrifice, patience, and an unspoken promise to stay—even when things became inconvenient. He didn’t fall easily, but when he did, he fell completely.
By Ahmed aldeabella8 days ago in Psyche
Healing the Wounds of Childhood. Top Story - August 2025.
A heavy ache used to wash through my heart whenever I reflected on my parents. Although there had been colourful splashes of happier times, growing up under their jagged care had left a broken, sad foundation to my core.
By Chantal Christie10 days ago in Psyche
Grieving for a Father Who Rejected Me Even in His Death
I find I can feel rejection in so many different scenarios — with friends or family members. I don’t mean to; it’s just an underlying sheet of my core. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t sit there and stew in it and sit cross-legged like a child. I take the time to talk myself through it and reknit the scene. I know where it’s born from. It always comes from my dad.
By Chantal Christie13 days ago in Psyche
The Psychology of People Who Go Silent When They’re Hurt
We’ve all experienced it at some point—someone gets hurt, and instead of arguing, explaining, or expressing their emotions, they go completely silent. No messages. No reactions. No visible anger. Just… distance.
By Shahid Zaman13 days ago in Psyche
Love Used as Control and Praise Is the Leverage.
In some toxic family dynamics, control is built through praise, attention, and emotional reward. One family member positions themselves as the source of approval. They constantly lift certain people up, praise them publicly, single them out, and make them feel chosen, special, or important. On the surface, it looks supportive. It looks loving. It looks like pride.
By Annam M Gordon14 days ago in Psyche
