Proxy with Yowei Shaw

An Emotions Beat episode about the reasons that keep going missing. 

In  family estrangement, there's a strange pattern that shows up again and again: adult children say they've explained why they need distance, while parents say they have no idea what went wrong. 

So where do the reasons go? 

In part 2 of our estrangement series, reporter Kim Nederveen Pieterse talks with two therapists who work on opposite sides of family estrangement: Becca Bland, who is estranged from her own parents and now helps families navigate this, and Joshua Coleman, who became an expert on estranged parents after reconciling with his own daughter. Together, they unpack the explanations estranged families reach for — narcissistic parents, oversensitive kids, broken communication —  and what it takes for a parent to stop defending their version of events long enough to hear their child's pain. 

From the episode: 

— Becca Bland — follow her work with families and people surviving estrangement: www.beccabland.com

— Joshua Coleman — read New Rules of Estrangement, subscribe to his newsletter Family Troubles, and learn more: www.drjoshuacoleman.com

— Kim Nederveen Pieterse— listen to more of her reporting: www.kimnp.org

New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy for a classic case, or Brian Can't Stop Fact-Checking His Mother-in-Law for another story about family, love, and trying to be heard.

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