About this episode

The episode explores the reasons behind adult children's estrangement from their parents, emphasizing self-protection and relationship dynamics.

One of the hardest things to understand if you didn't abuse your child or children, is that their estrangement may still be a way of protecting themselves. Although there are estranged adult children with horrific stories of abuse and neglect, they are not the only ones creating distance from parents and family. Parents of all backgrounds, temperaments, disciplinary styles and socioeconomic levels are being held at arm's length by adult children who were not abused, and yet are motivated by self-protection. They're not lying. They just might be talking about factors that are all but invisible to you, and even to other family members. In this cornerstone two-part episode (Part 2 releases June 15, 2026), you'll learn about relationship dynamics that may be unfamiliar or challenging, that could contribute to your adult child's going no-contact or low-contact. Once you understand what they're protecting themselves from, you can begin the work of reducing the impact of those factors, and healing your relationship. For much more evidence-based information and tools to repair the parent-adult child relationship, read host Tina Gilbertson's book, Reconnecting With Your Estranged Adult…

People in this episode

Host: Tina Gilbertson

Topics covered

• estrangement
• self-protection
• parent-child relationships
• abuse
• family dynamics

Keywords

• estrangement
• self-protection
• parenting
• adult children
• family relationships

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Reconnecting With Your Estranged Adult Child

More episodes of The Reconnection Club Podcast

• 228. On Dependency · July 13, 2026 · 8 min
• 227. College Student Estrangement · June 29, 2026 · 10 min
• 226. "Protecting Themselves from What?" Part 2 · June 15, 2026 · 10 min
• 224. Estrangement Isn't The End · May 18, 2026 · 10 min
• 222. Problems We Bring On Ourselves · April 20, 2026 · 10 min
• 221. Why Time Is Your Friend (Revisited) · April 6, 2026 · 9 min

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