Are Therapists Encouraging Family Estrangement? The Truth About Going No Contact

Send us Fan Mail No contact gets talked about like a single decision, but we’ve seen it unfold as a long process of loneliness, repeated repair attempts, and a growing need for safety. Therapist Cecily Davis joins me to take a clear, compassionate look at parent-child estrangement between parents and adult children and what’s actually happening underneath the labels people argue about online.  We dig into differentiation, the developmental work of becoming your own person outside the family system, and why “outgrowing” a role can create major conflict at home. We talk about how parents often experience their adult child’s boundaries as rejection or an attack, how culture and generational expectations shape that reaction, and why intergenerational trauma can keep families stuck until someone decides to feel the pain instead of passing it on.  We also address the stigma aimed at therapy and therapists. Ethical trauma-informed therapy and attachment-based therapy aren’t about pushing someone to cut ties. They’re about building agency, helping clients identify needs and values, and supporting healthier relationships when possible. We explore why boundaries are often protection rather than punishment, what repair can look like when a parent does their own work, and why healing doesn’t have to mean all-or-nothing closeness or distance.  If you’re an adult child considering limited contact, a parent trying to understand what went wrong, or a clinician supporting families through high emotion, this conversation offers language that’s practical and human. Subscribe, share this with someone navigating estrangement, and leave a review so more people can find support. To learn more about Cecily and the works she does, you can find her at the following: LinkedIn:  Cecily Davis, LPC Facebook: Cecily Davis, LPC Psychology Today: Psychology Today Profile Online @: Cecily Davis, LPC - DavisMentalHealth Thank you for tuning into And Still WE Rise! If you would like to learn more about me or the work our practice is doing, feel free to follow us on Instagram at: @atltherapygirl and @risetherapycenter Or check us out at www.risetherapycenter.com Disclaimer: And Still We Rise is meant to provide perspective and meaningful conversations around mental health topics. It is not meant to provide specific therapeutic advise to individuals. If anything in these podcasts resonates, ASWR recommends consulting with your individual therapist or seeking a referral from your primary care physician.