TARGETED, DEPTH-ORIENTED THERAPY

Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents

When people ask about your childhood, you say, “Fine,” and quickly change the subject.

How can you tell them what it was really like?

• My parent’s moods affected the whole house.

• Growing up, I walked on eggshells. You never knew what to expect.

• My parents weren’t sensitive to my feelings–it was about their feelings, rarely mine.

• I felt like I could never do enough to make them happy.

• My parents were often defensive, didn’t hold themselves accountable, or apologize.

• They used sarcasm or told mean-spirited jokes at my expense.

• I was raised on guilt trips. Even now, I feel guilty for not caring enough for them.

• My parents always expected me to “forgive and move on,” no matter what happened or how they’d hurt me.

• Whenever I visit them, I lose myself. It takes days or weeks to recover.

• Why do I feel like nothing is ever good enough? What’s wrong with me?

When your parents lack empathy, are self-involved, and can’t sustain authentic emotional connections, it leaves you feeling confused, frustrated, and deeply alone.

Your struggles are not complaints; they’re valid experiences, and you’re not alone

As a child, you learned to anticipate and fulfill your parents’ needs, often shapeshifting to avoid conflict. While pleasing them was a brilliant survival strategy, the invisible wounds have left you confused about whether or not your thoughts, feelings, and needs matter. You deserve a trauma-informed therapist who understands the unique dynamics associated with adult children of emotionally immature parents. Through guided trauma work, we’ll safely work through the pain, identify beliefs that keep you stuck, and release them.

Therapy will teach you effective communication techniques while helping you establish and hold healthy boundaries. You will learn how to clear space for your life and give yourself permission to define what you think, want, and need, regardless of how it impacts your parents.

From this work, you’ll develop compassion for your own needs, become a cycle-breaker of intergenerational trauma, learn to trust yourself, and have the relationships you’ve always wanted.

THE PROCESS OF THERAPY

How We’ll Work Together

Schedule a Consultation

To ensure goodness of fit, schedule a free 15-minute video or phone consultation. During this call, we’ll discuss what you’d like to explore in therapy and how I can support you in this journey, including the results you’re hoping to see and logistics.

Initial Appointment

During our first session, we’ll spend 60-70 minutes talking about what has led you to therapy. This session often feels like a thorough but informal interview. I’ll listen deeply to discern your needs and preferences.

Ongoing Sessions

For the first month of therapy, weekly sessions are the norm. We’ll collaborate on goals and plans to achieve results based on what matters most to you. We’ll identify potential barriers and implement strategies to conquer them. Most importantly, I’ll hold space for you to rest, heal, and grow.

THERAPY FOR ADULT CHILDREN OF EMOTIONALLY IMMATURE PARENTS

THERAPY CAN HELP YOU…

  • Gain greater self-compassion and a deep understanding of your family dynamics

  • Set healthy limits to protect yourself and those you love

  • Stop people pleasing and abandoning yourself

  • Manage family interactions and evade coercive tactics or emotional takeovers

  • Let go of healing fantasies and unrealistic expectations

  • Become grounded in your identity

  • Trust yourself fully and reclaim your whole self

Frequently Asked Questions

  • No family is perfect, but often our well-intentioned friends don’t grasp the severity of your experience. Unlike physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect don’t leave visible scars. It’s important that we don’t accidentally gaslight ourselves, saying, “Maybe it wasn’t that bad–they paid for college, right?!”

    Emotionally immature parents don’t typically grow out of their persistently problematic behaviors. They have little empathy, don’t tolerate stress or emotions well, violate boundaries, get defensive, rarely apologize, have low self-awareness, and tend to be obsessive and literal thinkers. That’s a tricky combination! You are not complaining at all! You deserve an experienced guide to help you navigate family dynamics with family members unlikely or unwilling to change.

  • I hold a doctorate in clinical psychology and have been in practice for over 20 years. I enjoy providing therapy to a variety of adults including entrepreneurs, high-achieving and successful professionals (e.g., executives, lawyers, physicians, software engineers, thought leaders, and more), parents who want to be better parents than their predecessors, and creative types. I specialize in working with adults who experienced relational wounds in childhood and adult children of narcissists.

    I’ve worked with Dr. Lindsay Gibson herself, a fellow graduate of my doctoral program, for specialized training with this population. I have extensive training in childhood emotional neglect, trauma and PTSD, Brainspotting, and am currently working with Amy Marlow-McCoy, author of The Gaslighting Recovery Workbook: Healing From Emotional Abuse in order to better serve my clients.

    To learn more about my qualifications and specialized training, please visit my About Page.

  • Absolutely. Therapy will provide the support, validation, and necessary skill sets to effectively manage these important relationships. Knowing how to successfully navigate interactions with emotionally immature people is vital.

  • Therapy will give you specific coping skills for interacting with your parents, with an emphasis on empowering you to make choices that are right for you and your family. In light of their tenacious immature dynamics, we can explore whether or not going low to no-contact is right for your situation. There are many ways to do things well, so I will help you make an informed decision about what is healthiest and most comfortable for you.