FAMILY ESTRANGEMENT
AWARENESS MONTH
Together Estranged is November
“Family Estrangement Awareness Month”
BOSTON, October 13, 2025/EIN Network – Family estrangement is a common yet not commonly talked about phenomenon impacting millions of people worldwide. The coming holiday season is a time of year that can be difficult for those who are navigating estrangements of their own.
In recognition of the impact of the holiday season's significance to its community, Together Estranged has designated November as an annual observance of “Family Estrangement Awareness Month.”
Founded in 2020, Together Estranged is an online, US-based international non-profit organization that supports and empowers those who are estranged from their families. The group was formed to help meet the needs of that community and particularly to estranged adult children.
Its mission is to support and empower those who are dealing with estrangement while seeking to destigmatize the experience for all.
First observed in November 2024, among the goals of “Family Estrangement Awareness Month” is to enhance support to its community during this time of year while also raising awareness of its support offerings to others who may also be experiencing estrangement themselves.
Featured within the enhanced seasonal support is its annual “Togetherness Series” that begins mid-month and runs through December and includes a variety of webinars and community events.
In recognition of members’ requests for practical applications to help navigate estrangement, the theme of this year’s Togetherness Series is “Here We Grow: Skills for Healing and Renewal.”
Featuring a range of speakers to be announced later this month, sessions and events will be offered along the topics of:
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Rebuilding Identity
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Navigating crisis with compassion
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Healing through self-compassion
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Cultivating Chosen Connections
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Renewal Through Skill Building
Each dynamic, practical and interactive session was selected and crafted as part of a warm, inclusive journey designed to empower estranged adult children, honor and inspire their individual growth while cultivating community care and collective resilience.
“Acknowledging that family estrangement happens is still taboo - we needed to create FEAM because increasing awareness is the first step towards greater public understanding. Our annual event series offers our members an opportunity to connect and grow, drawing from the experiences and skills of experts and other members of the community at a family-orientated time of year”
Throughout the year, Together Estranged hosts monthly online support groups and publishes regular content to support the community ranging from monthly advice columns, an educational series, reflections on experiences while estranged such as parenting, as well as a hosted lecture series.
For more information or media inquiries around the inaugural declaration of November as “Family Estrangement Awareness Month,” or around the organization and its mission, contact Julia Peterson on media@togetherestranged.org
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Together Estranged (TE) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports and empowers estranged adult children. We are also working hard to destigmatize estrangement within society. Together Estranged (TE) understands that sometimes familial relationships just don't work out, no matter how desperately we want for them to. Rather than trying to force these relationships to work, we believe in empowering people to do what's best for them. Find out more via our website: https://www.togetherestranged.org/
Together Estranged declares November
“Family Estrangement Awareness Month”
BOSTON, October 14, 2024
Together Estranged, an online US-based international nonprofit organization that supports and empowers those estranged from family, has announced its intent to establish November as an annual observance of “Family Estrangement Awareness Month.”
Family estrangement is a phenomenon that impacts a significant percentage of individuals around the world of all generations and backgrounds, including current US Vice President and Presidential candidate Kamala Harris as highlighted in a recent New York Times article, but remains one that is largely misunderstood and not easily discussed within the culture at large.
It is a topic that, in recent years, has seen increased focus within media which is seemingly the result of the growth of related forums and discussions on social media platforms as well as spurred by the September 2020 publication of the book Fault Lines by Karl Pillemer which featured the results of the first and largest US national survey on estrangement.
Those results, which have been widely circulated, revealed that 27% of Americans report being estranged from a relative and around 10% of that total were estranged from a parent or child, the latter 10% group being estimated to represent approximately 22 million Americans.*
Founded in 2020, Together Estranged was formed to help meet the needs of that community and particularly to estranged adult children. It’s mission is to support and empower those who are dealing with estrangement while seeking to destigmatize the experience for all.
As founder Seth Forbes conveys, "Together Estranged speaks to the big elephant in the room - the pervasive family issues that plague our daily lives, and the quest for belonging. In a world that so often punishes those who are authentically themselves, my hope is that Together Estranged will serve as a heartfelt reminder that the black sheep can - and will - survive."
The declaration of November as “Family Estrangement Awareness Month” is a means to address all three pillars of the organization’s mission - support, empower, destigmatize - at the start of a season that is traditionally very family focused and which can bring to the forefront feelings of isolation and grief for many of those who experience estrangement.
Together Estranged offers an annual “Togetherness Series” during the month of November featuring enhanced support services, webinars and events to support during this time of year. The organization also recently launched its “Chosen Hearts Collective” fundraising initiative to celebrate the bonds of chosen family while raising funds to provide more support services to the growing Together Estranged community.
Throughout the year, Together Estranged hosts monthly online support groups and publishes regular content to support the community ranging from monthly advice columns, an educational series, reflections on experiences while estranged such as parenting, as well as a hosted lecture series.
For more information or media inquiries around the inaugural declaration of November as “Family Estrangement Awareness Month,” or around the organization and its mission, contact Julia Peterson on:
Together Estranged (TE) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports and empowers estranged adult children. We are also working hard to destigmatize estrangement within society. Together Estranged (TE) understands that sometimes familial relationships just don't work out, no matter how desperately we want for them to. Rather than trying to force these relationships to work, we believe in empowering people to do what's best for them. Find out more via our website: https://www.togetherestranged.org/
*As published in the book Fault Lines by Karl Pillemer
The below charts show the increase in media coverage or content around estrangement as found via Google searches for news stories or videos containing the related phrases shown. The results for 2024 YTD reflect Jan-September.
