Family Dynamics

Sometimes getting along is hard to do.  Holding on to faith, hope, and love can be difficult. 

Family life may be blissful or dreadful.  Relationships within families can be troubled and abusive.  Creating relational space temporarily may become necessary.  Thus the foster care system.  Thus separation and divorce.  Thus restraining orders.

How far do you go in attempting to hang on to a relationship with a family member?

How do you set boundaries to safeguard yourself?  (As a first step see Boundaries: When To Say Yes, How To Say No To Take Control Of Your Life.  Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend. 2017)

To whom can you turn for emotional, financial, or legal support?  Does your employer offer an employee assistance program?  Does your school provide counselors?  What agencies and resources are available in your community?

Redefining relationships is necessary work as we grow and change.  Relationships require tune-ups.  Relational dynamics change with age, with knowledge, with experience, with new pressures, with earning power...  Struggles emerge in families that need to be addressed. 

Children are not in a position to question a parent who supplies food, shelter, and clothing.  When a child comes of age; however, that young adult may reassess and redefine how he/she will interact with the unsafe.  

The powerless, whether a child, a dependent spouse or older adult who can no longer manage their own affairs, may be taken advantage of, neglected, or harmed by a relative.

Confront family issues because you care, because you have faith, hope, and love.  Hold that sensitive conversation.  Do some research and reading.  Find available community resources.  Seek therapy or group support.  Get help.  Pray.  

These stories may provide a glimpse as to how individuals process family dysfunction and pain.   

Educated: A Memoir.  Tara Westover.  2018.  childhood

The Glass Castle: a Memoir.  Jeannette Walls. 2017.  childhood

Okay for Now.  Gary D. Schmidt.  2012.  childhood

Trip to Bountiful (Movie/elderly)

Still Alice (Movie/elderly)