Press Release: Together Estranged Releases 2025 Community Needs Report, Revealing That Estranged Adult Children Face a Double Estrangement: From Family, and From Society

Find the full 2025 Community Needs Report HERE

Together Estranged, a nonprofit supporting and empowering Estranged Adult Children (EAC),  while working to destigmatize estrangement in the social sphere, has published its 2025 Community Needs Report. 

The report, drawn from survey responses by 129 community members across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, and Australia, cements 4 key findings:

1. Estrangement Is Not Linear

72% of respondents reported moving through cycles of contact and estrangement, reflecting the non-linear, shifting nature of the experience. Estrangement does not move in a neat arc from pain to resolution. It is more like a spiral, revisiting the same themes of grief, doubt, anger, and relief from a slightly different vantage point over time. Estrangement is not a fixed state but a fluid, evolving experience that defies simple categorization.

"I spent over a decade trying various low-contact options, attempted to address pain and issues directly many times. The big 'zero contact' era began after one last attempt to get her to acknowledge the sexual abuse that had happened by other family members." — Community Member

2. Estrangement Is a Decision From Cumulative Experiences Rather Than a Spontaneous One

81% of respondents cited psychological or emotional abuse as a reason for estrangement, the single most common factor, and 62% reported experiencing trauma or violence in the relationship with the family member. For the vast majority, estrangement was not a dramatic overreaction but the endpoint of years of harm and exhausted attempts at repair.

"People often try to pin down one reason why, but there are so many reasons why I am estranged. It is messy and complicated. They also assume that I will want to resume contact at some point." — Community Member

3. Estranged Adult Children Are Doubly Estranged

87% of respondents currently experience social challenges including isolation, pressure to reconcile, and lack of family support at key milestones. When EACs share their story, they frequently encounter dismissal, judgment, and cultural pressure rooted in assumptions that family is inherently safe and worth preserving at any cost. Many described being labeled selfish or ungrateful, having their experiences minimized, and being told to reconcile, responses that led many to stop sharing their story altogether. 69% report experiencing prolonged grief that goes largely unrecognized.

"People assume I haven't tried repair or reconnecting. People don't understand that estrangement is for my safety, physical and psychological, because they cannot imagine cutting off a family member entirely or why anybody would or could." — Community Member

"Most often, I hear things that I know are meant well like 'Maybe someday...' or 'I hope you can have hope that someday.' The thing is, I spent my entire life hoping, which is why I finally had to draw the line." — Community Member

4. EACs Lack a Shared Language and Resources to Understand Their Experience

Only 20% of respondents report access to many relevant support resources, while half report finding very limited or no information about estrangement at all. The two most commonly used terms, "estranged" and "no contact," were each selected by just 33% of respondents, with many others using a patchwork of words. A community member captured what this scarcity of linguistic representation means in practice: 

"There is so much stigma around estrangement which makes the grief and pain more unbearable, so any focus on this topic is very positive." — Community Member

KEY FINDINGS AT A GLANCE

• 81% of respondents cited psychological or emotional abuse as a reason for estrangement, which was the single most common factor

• 72% reported moving through cycles of contact and estrangement, reflecting the non-linear nature of the experience

• 44% experienced secondary estrangement, becoming estranged from additional family members as a result of an initial estrangement

• 87% currently experience social challenges including isolation, pressure to reconcile, and lack of family support at key milestones

• Only 20% of respondents report access to many relevant support resources; half report finding very limited or no information about estrangement at all

• The majority of survey respondents were estranged from someone in their immediate family: a mother (22%), father (21%), or sibling (22%), yet estrangement also reached cousins, aunts and uncles, step-parents, and in-laws. 

Angel Cassin, founding Board Member at Together Estranged who led the research for the Community Needs Report 2025, said: "Family estrangement remains one of the least understood and most stigmatized social experiences in our society. This report is led by community need, not assumptions — and we are committed to ensuring these voices shape a more compassionate and informed future."

Alyssa Mullett, CEO at Together Estranged, said: “The Community Needs Report is the voice of our community of Estranged Adult Children. It humanizes and elevates the status and success of people living with estrangement, valued as such, the community needs expressed within it are at the core of our mission-actioned strategic planning. We seek to showcase and celebrate estranged individuals as accomplished professionals, experts and valued members of their community and society, and in doing so, reduce the social stigma associated with estrangement and help Estranged Adult Children build communities of belonging.”

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About Together Estranged

Together Estranged is a nonprofit which provides free monthly support groups, educational events, and a peer community with a focus on supporting and empowering Estranged Adult Children and destigmatizing estrangement. At the core of Together Estranged is a deep sense of building community in stories told, introduction to language that illuminates parallels of struggle, and the understanding that togetherness has the capacity to heal.

Website: https://www.togetherestranged.org/

Instagram: @together_estranged

Linkedin: @Together Estranged

Facebook: @togetherestranged

Media contacts

Together Estranged media relations team

Email: media@togetherestranged.org