This holiday, heal your family rifts

< Prev | 1 | 2

To the grown child:
Here are some suggestions for talking with your parents about incidents that have hurt or angered you. Be aware that expressing your feelings, even in the most expert manner, is not a guarantee of a positive outcome and should only be attempted when you feel emotionally ready. Communicating in this manner, however, may help you discover whether a relationship is ready to move toward reconciliation.

1. Pick a time and place that feels comfortable to you where you can talk without interruption.

2. Tell your parent(s) what you would like from the conversation: “I would like to tell you some feelings I have” or “I just want you to try to listen and not respond.”

Story continues below ↓

3. If possible, begin the conversation with something you like or admire about your parent to show that your goal isn’t to humiliate them: “I know that you really care about me ...” or “I know you worked hard to put a roof over our heads and food on the table. I really appreciate that ...”

4. Put your feelings into words that don’t place blame: “I still feel very hurt for all of those years when you were physical with me. It really made me feel like I was a bad person” or “When you talk to me in that tone of voice, it makes me feel terrible.”

5. Assume that your parents have positive intentions: “I know you wouldn’t want me to feel this bad and that you care about our relationship” or “I know you probably want to work as hard as I do to make our relationship better than it’s been” or “I understand that you might not have known how bad that felt to me.”

6. Say what you need in order to go forward: “I just need to hear you say that you’re sorry for those years” or “I want you to call me more” or “I just need you to hear how bad that made me feel.”

To the parent:
1. If your child complains about you or your parenting, try to see that he or she may be raising these issues as a way to be closer to you, even if they are being expressed in a way that’s difficult to hear.

2. Don’t sugarcoat it if you blew it as a parent. The more honest you are, the more credibility you will gain to repair the damage: “What you’re saying is true. I wasn’t there for you as a parent. I was too caught up in my work and my drinking, and you suffered because of it. I can’t ever give you back those years and I feel terrible about that. I am committed to doing everything I can to make it up to you, if you’ll let me.”

3. If you find yourself feeling too upset or defensive to listen, tell them that in a gentle way: “I know what you’re telling me is really important and I’m glad you came to me with it. It is hard for me to hear and I think I’ll be able to digest it better if I could first read it in a letter. I promise I’ll call you so we can talk about it. I hope that feels okay.”

4. Validate their reality as much as you can, even if there’s only a small part you agree with: “Yeah, I can be really impatient. I can see how that could have come across as uncaring.” If you’re unable to agree with anything that’s being said, empathize with their feelings without telling them they’re wrong: “I’m so sorry it came across that way. The last thing I wanted was for you to feel like I didn’t love you. That must have been awful for you.”

5. Take the initiative for talking again within a short period of time. “I wanted to check in to see how you felt about our talk last week. I really appreciate that you told me what you’d been feeling. Have you had other thoughts about it?” This may need to be an ongoing dialogue for a long time in order for change and healing to occur. Don’t avoid revisiting it because it’s painful territory. Show that you want to keep talking about it until there’s resolution. If there is no resolution, make it clear that you value your child’s attempt to bring the issues to the table and that you’re open to talking about them more in the future. Family rifts sometimes take years to heal, so don’t give up.

Topics

More

Marketplace

This holiday, heal your family rifts