Therapy for Adults Navigating Challenging Parental Relationships

Find knowledge and support at Emerge Counseling.

Whether you had a picturesque childhood, or a traumatic one, navigating adult relationships with parents/caregivers can be a difficult task.

The problems we face today in our parental relationships often stem from issues that started in childhood. In therapy, we will examine your relationship starting from childhood to identify patterns, and in turn, how we can heal from them. Childhood trauma may also be addressed when processing through these often complicated relationships and attachments. In doing so, you will not only find peace within yourself, but also security in both friendships and romantic relationships.

Processing through difficult parental relationships in therapy

In therapy, we will breakdown the relationship you have/had with your parent.

For some, this can be a difficult and/or painful task, but in doing so we can work on healing your adult self, and inner-child. Through a trauma-informed lens, we will not only work on processing events that have happened in your past, but also work on reparenting yourself (ie. healing emotional wounds that caused insecure attachment to caregivers, and issues in other relationships as you age) to feel more at ease/secure in all relationships.

We also work on identifying how to implement and maintain healthy boundaries with our parents, and how to best communicate effectively with them.

Attachment Styles in Adults:

  • Secure Attachment - Likely stems from attuned and caring parenting or caregiving as a child. Seen as able to express their feelings openly, build deep and meaningful relationships, and feel content in self.

  • Anxious Attachment - Likely stems from misattuned or inconsistent parenting. Seen as low self-esteem, strong fear of rejection or abandonment, and clinginess in relationships.

  • Avoidant Attachment - Likely stems from parents who were strict and emotionally distant, do not tolerate expressions of feelings, and expect their child to be independent and tough. Outwardly seen as independent and self-sufficient, but struggles with emotional intimacy and building long-lasting relationships.

  • Disorganized Attachment - Likely stems from feelings of fear, inconsistency and at times, abuse in childhood. Seen as behaviorally inconsistent and internally experiences difficulties with self-beliefs and trust in others.

Reference: The Attachment Project