Sibling estrangement and abuse must be understood within the context of the family system in which it occurs. It is often not mutual conflict but one-sided, shaped by power differentials and dynamics of control.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about trauma. The word has recently become more mainstream, and while it may be overused or used incorrectly at times, it’s a word people, like me, can use to describe experiences they went through and the everlasting effects. I had a traumatic childhood.

Estrangement can shape our inner world in ways that can be hard to describe, sometimes it feels loud with thoughts circling, emotions rising, a kind of internal noise that doesn’t quite settle. At other times it can feel very quiet, a flatness, a sense of disconnection, like everything has gone a bit distant and there is this humming sound of longing and loss in the background.

This month, the advice columnist addresses how to handle conversations about your estrangement with other people in your social circle.

Estrangement has a way of sneaking into your life and triggering memories. And it may come in the form of flashbacks, déjà vu, or you may just catch yourself imitating a parent even though you swore up and down that you would never be like him or her. And all this has gotten me to think about our memories. The painful ones we try to conceal that always manage to surface. Can we trust them?

"To be an Earth Pilgrim is to revere Nature as our sacred home, and see all our life as a sacred journey to become at one with ourselves, with others and with Nature." Satish Kumar

This month, the advice columnist advises the parent of an estranged adult child about what to do instead of trying to locate her.

Since its inception in 2020, Together Estranged has been paving a path of understanding and support for its community. Our founder, Seth Forbes set this course intentionally, relaying, “Together Estranged was developed to provide the support and encouragement that so many estranged individuals so desperately need - to provide a glimmer of hope in an otherwise very dark tunnel.” Over the course of the past six years, Together Estranged (TE) has grown from that glimmer to a shi

This month, the advice columnist explores a decision-making process for reconnecting with a dying family member.

My father-in-law recently passed, and while it was not unexpected, the complicated tangle of emotions I felt after he passed was surprising to me. I had written a post last year entitled “Estrangement and In-Laws” which detailed the difficulties I experienced creating a relationship with parental-type figures while estranged from my own parents.