About Family Estrangement
Family estrangement is one of the most painful and least talked about experiences there is.
It raises questions many of us were never taught how to answer:
What does a “good” family actually look like?
What do parents owe their children - and what do children owe their parents?
How do relationships break down so badly, and can they ever be repaired?
What do you do when love, harm, loyalty and distance all exist at once?
Family estrangement is a space for people living inside those questions.
I write from multiple perspectives, the estranged parent, the adult child who has stepped away, the sibling who no longer speak. Real families rarely fit into neat categories. Our culture often demands certainty: one person is right and the other is wrong. Estrangement, in my experience, is far more complicated than that.
This newsletter is for anyone trying to navigate family relationships - biological, adoptive or blended - whether you are estranged, considering distance, hoping to reconnect or simply trying to understand what happened. or seeking to reconnect. My aim is to offer language, reflection and companionship for people on all sides of these experiences.
You are welcome here whether you feel certain, conflicted, grieving, angry or unsure.
About me
I am a funded PhD researcher studying adoptive families and a trainee counsellor with a master’s in Psychology. My work is informed by research, experience and deep curiosity about how families function, and sometimes fracture, across the lifespan.
What You Get as a Free Subscriber
Two to three public newsletters per month (excluding holiday periods.
Short reflections and notes from my week.
A place to read quietly without pressure to participate.
I understand that not everyone is in a place, emotionally or financially, to pay. If reading is all you can do right now, that is enough.
If you’d like to support my work without subscribing, you can also buy from my curated booklists below. I receive 10% of each purchase and 10% goes to affiliated independent bookstores.
What You Get as a Paid Subscriber
Access to the archive of all newsletters.
A bimonthly book club focused on family estrangement and complex family relationships.
The ability to participate in a supportive and monitored chat group.
Paid subscriptions help sustain this work and make it possible for me to continue writing thoughtfully about a subject many people feel alone with.
What You Get as a Founding Subscriber
All paid subscriber benefits.
The option to email me about your specific family situation (up to four replies).
Emails are confidential unless safeguarding concerns arise. This is not therapy, but a reflective and supportive exchange.
