It's Been a Minute Why some families stop speaking
Nov 28, 2025
Join Whitney Goodman, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and Kui Mwai, a culture journalist, as they explore the complex world of family estrangement. They discuss how factors like emotional neglect and abuse drive adult children to cut ties with parents. The guests delve into how the pandemic and social media have influenced relationship dynamics and boundary-setting. Plus, they examine the intersection of culture and estrangement, particularly in Black and immigrant families, and how therapy has elevated expectations for family respect.
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Parents Say They Were Blindsided
- Whitney Goodman says parents often claim they were "blindsided" by estrangement.
- Adult children report they repeatedly explained why they cut ties before leaving the relationship.
TikTok Voices On Estrangement
- TikTok users shared brief personal estrangement stories about being cut off for identity or long-term reasons.
- Examples included estrangement over sexuality and long-standing family conflicts.
Estrangement Becomes An Intentional Boundary
- Whitney Goodman argues modern estrangement is often intentional because technology makes passive distance ineffective.
- People set hard boundaries after other attempts to create distance fail.