Many of the adult children I work with somewhat carry the same paradox: They feel suffocated by closeness, yet deeply lonely in the distance they've created to protect themselves. For many, distance feels like survival. "If I get too close, I will lose myself." The boundary may feel somewhat harsh, but it serves a purpose. It protects them from reactions, expectations, disappointments, and old wounds that still feel too painful to revisit. Then, as parents age, another emoti

I had a very moving clinical supervision session recently that has stayed with me. Understanding the Challenge My supervisee—an experienced clinical psychologist who also supervises interns from a master's in clinical psychology—brought in a challenging family case. He had met with a family where the parents held higher status and presented as dominant. He found himself feeling stuck. An intense fear arose when facing a client of authority and anger. At one point, I asked him