I was recently reading Roberta Wasserman's article titled "I Don't Owe My Parents Anything." She's a therapist who is estranged from two of her four children. She works with many estranged parents cut off by one or more of their offspring. Interestingly some of those most critical of her work are fellow counselors. She has mentioned several times how shocking it was to be attacked by her colleagues for listening to suffering parents and advising them:As a professional working with the increasing population of estranged parents, I had created a training to illuminate this popular movement and its emotional impact. The reality that many of the current estrangements were seeded and rooted in therapy rooms compelled me to create space for deeper understanding. Instead, I was met with vitriol and hostility on a professional platform—an intensity that stunned me. Only later did I realize that many of the keyboard screamers were themselves estranged. My words had tapped into their stories and threatened their perceived peace.
