Emotion is inevitable, but it should not guide behavior. A well-founded strategy is more likely to produce desirable results.
~ Tina Gilbertson
(Reconnecting With Your Estranged Adult Child, p 181)
It may feel wrong to use words like “strategy” and “tactics” when talking about personal relationships. But healing from family estrangement, especially for parents unwillingly estranged from their adult children, often requires strategic thinking.
In this clarifying episode, therapist and host Tina Gilbertson, LPC, points out that “strategy” is simply a word for having a plan. Tactics are the “how” of any strategy, including a strategy to reconnect with adult children.
Tina lays out in broad strokes an overarching strategy that almost all parents can use to end estrangement and successfully reconnect with adult children in a way that favors sustainable, mutual benefit.
She also identifies tactics that typically fail, and other common pitfalls — along with how to avoid them, of course.
If your adult child isn’t talking to you, this episode will help you prepare to meet this painful challenge strategically, rather than impulsively.
For more ideas on how to repair your parent-adult child relationship, read Tina’s book, Reconnecting With Your Estranged Adult Child.
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EPISODE LINKS:
Episode 97: Road Map to Reconnection
Constructive Wallowing: How to Beat Bad Feelings By Letting Yourself Have Them
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