"Your Parents Were Children Too" Has Been Weaponized

"Your Parents Were Children Too" Has Been Weaponized

From CALLING HOME with Whitney Goodman, LMFT by Calling Home

August 11, 2026 · 31 min

About this episode

Whitney Goodman discusses the implications of viewing parents as children and how this perspective can affect accountability in family dynamics.

We have the cure for estrangement: just see your parents as children too. Easy. Case closed. [Read: sarcasm] In this episode, Whitney traces where this sometimes helpful and sometimes very unhelpful idea came from and shows how something genuinely useful got turned into a permanent exit ramp from accountability. In this episode, you'll learn: - How "your parents were children too" worked its way into self-help - Why unfinished business has to move upward or outward, never down to your own children - What defensiveness in a parent is usually protecting Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles. Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o This podcast is for informational…

People in this episode

Host: Whitney Goodman

Topics covered

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Calling Home

Products: Toxic Positivity

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