Relationships in a Disconnected World: Why Are Adult Children Cutting Off Their Parents? - Ep375Relationships in a Disconnected World: Why Are Adult Children Cutting Off Their Parents? - Ep375
Through a Therapist's Eyes Podcast
Therapists discuss why more adult children are cutting off parents, blending research, personal stories and humour to unpack estrangement, boundaries and therapy culture. Both generations are gently urged to balance emotional safety with humility, clear communication and a focus on repair where possible.
1:10:28•13 Oct 2026
Why Adult Children Are Cutting Off Parents: Boundaries, Breaks and Broken Hearts
Episode Overview
- Estrangement between adult children and parents appears frequently in clinical work, and research suggests it is often temporary rather than permanent.
- Younger generations may see respect and access as something earned and reciprocal, rather than automatically granted by a parental title.
- Therapy language and online content can help name real problems, but can also be weaponised when terms like “toxic”, “gaslighting” or “narcissist” are used without deeper understanding.
- Both adult children and parents are encouraged to separate facts from feelings, clearly state needs, and decide whether their goal is to be right or to repair the relationship.
- Parents are urged to acknowledge their child’s hurt without arguing over their own intent, while adult children are asked to communicate what would need to change before contact could be restored.
“Is your motivation today to be right, or is your motivation today to be repaired?”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation shifts the focus to another kind of survival story: families trying to stay connected when adult children are cutting ties with their parents.
Through a Therapist’s Eyes brings together therapist and host Chris Gazdik with colleagues Casey Morgan and John Pope, plus producer Neil, to unpack what they’re seeing in their therapy rooms: more adult children going “no contact”, more heartbroken parents, and a lot of confusion on both sides. Chris shares data from studies showing that estrangement is common but often temporary, while Casey and John bring real-life clinical examples and their own family stories to the table.
You’ll hear Casey describe a cultural shift from unquestioned duty to parents towards prioritising “individual mental health, emotional safety and personal autonomy”, and John’s wry take that “therapy culture has become therapy religion” when people throw around words like “gaslighting”, “toxic” and “boundaries” without really understanding them.
The episode keeps things grounded with humour (fake autumn weather, AI jokes, and John randomly breaking into song) while still sitting with some very raw questions: When does a healthy boundary become a cut-off? Does being a parent entitle anyone to a relationship? Are we processing trauma, or are we dodging hard conversations with handy TikTok language? Rather than taking sides, the group keeps nudging both generations toward humility and curiosity.
Adult children are asked: have you clearly said what would need to change for contact to be possible again? Parents are challenged: can you acknowledge your child’s hurt without arguing over “what really happened”? If you’re estranged from family, worried you might get there, or just tired of every disagreement turning into a clinical diagnosis, this chat might nudge you to ask: are you trying to be right, or are you trying to be repaired?
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