Her Best Life When to cut off your parents
17 snips
Feb 10, 2026 
Dr. Justine Corry, clinical psychologist and therapist, shares personal and professional insight on family boundaries. She recounts choosing estrangement from her mother and explains forces that keep people tied to toxic parents. Short thought experiments, practical steps for creating distance, and how repair and grief shape the path to healing are discussed.
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A Sudden Break After Long Buildup
- Justine describes deciding at 22 to stop contact with her narcissistic mother after a buildup of ruptures and failed repairs.
- She credits that decision to relief and later understanding via reading and psychology training.
Why We Stay Tied To Toxic Parents
- Biological attachment and cultural norms keep people tied to toxic parents even when harmful.
- To change that, identify your specific 'strings' and start unpicking them deliberately.
Test Boundaries With Thought Experiments
- Do run thought experiments: imagine cutting contact and sit with the feelings that arise to test whether you can tolerate them.
- Allow those feelings to inform whether to implement boundaries or estrangement.
