Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast CALLING HOME with Whitney Goodman, LMFT

Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of childhood emotional neglect, verbal and physical abuse, and parental abduction.

How is it that your grandmother is loving and steady to you, but failed to raise your mother in a way that she can do the same? A fellow therapist writes in about exactly that, and Whitney offers a way to hold both truths at once. In the second listener question, a woman describes growing up moving between eight houses and going to seven schools after her mother moved the kids away from their father. She then learned decades later that his side of the story was very different from the one the listener had always been told.

Sign up to spend the holidays with us at Calling Home: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/NZRkOwOP

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whitney is fed up with how the "concept creep" of estrangement gets used to shut down conversations about real family harm. She traces the term back to psychologist Nick Haslam's actual 2016 research, then walks through decades of data that make the case these harms aren't new, just newly named.

Sign up to spend the holidays with us at Calling Home: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/NZRkOwOP

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of child abuse, sexual abuse of a child, infidelity, and family estrangement.

A listener writes in with a lifetime of family secrets. She asks Whitney how to heal and move forward after finally breaking a cycle her parents and grandparents never did. Whitney draws the line between a parent's past regret and a child's present safety, and makes the case for why believing her daughter was the real act of breaking the cycle.

Sign up to spend the holidays with us at Calling Home: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/NZRkOwOP

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Journalist Ashley Oerman joins Whitney to talk about her new book, Motherf*cked: How to Stop Your Mother's Toxic Drama from Ruining Your Life, and the low contact relationship with her own mother that inspired it.

Connect with Ashley Oerman Book, Motherf*cked: How to Stop Your Mother's Toxic Drama from Ruining Your Life: https://link.amazon/B0jexMTjK

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The Emotional Support Newsletter on Substack: https://ashleyoerman.substack.com

Follow Ashley on Instagram: @ashleyoerman

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A listener spent years hoping her two divorced, emotionally immature parents would finally take accountability, only to watch the same excuses repeat with new partners. Whitney answers the question of whether parents ever really change later in life and how to handle it if they don’t.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every dysfunctional family needs somewhere to put the blame, and one person usually ends up holding it for everyone else. Whitney traces the history of the word scapegoat, then walks through the research on why one child gets cast as the family's problem: not because of what they did, but because of what the family needed.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whitney answers two listener questions this week: one from a woman who's been cut off by her parents because of her marriage and another from a woman who found her family badmouthing her, her marriage, and her parenting in a separate family group text.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of domestic violence, violence against women, and past abuse.

Whitney talks with Dr. Shefali Tsabary, author of the twin books Raising Conscious Sons and Raising Conscious Daughters, about what boys and girls each need to thrive right now in our current society. The through-line: you can't hand your child a self you haven't worked on, and it is never too late to start.

Connect with Dr. Shefali Tsabary Website: https://www.drshefali.com/

Raising Conscious Sons: www.drshefali.com/raisingconscious-daughters-sons/

Raising Conscious Daughters: www.drshefali.com/raisingconscious-daughters-sons/

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whitney answers questions from listeners. The first from a woman who despite living blocks from her aging father can’t seem to connect with him. The second question is from a mother planning for the day her estranged mother tries to contact her kids.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of childhood physical and emotional abuse, neglect, and the death of a parent. 

Psychologist Dr. Sherrie Campbell, creator of the viral TikTok series on "low effort families”, joins Whitney to unpack what it looks like to show up just enough to avoid blame while giving almost nothing that children really need.

Connect with Dr. Sherrie Campbell Website: https://drsherriecampbell.com

Buy Dr. Campbell's Book: You Are Home: https://drsherriecampbell.com/self-esteem-relationship-counseling-in-yorba-linda/

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles. 

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co 

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co 

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit 

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft 

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity 

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o 

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of emotional abuse, ongoing harassment, and a mention of suicidal ideation.

In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers a woman whose parents keep sending guilt-laden texts and showing up uninvited. In the second question, a listener's therapist keeps telling her to decide what she wants from her parents before she feels ready.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of child abuse and corporal punishment. 

Stephanie Warren was taught that her parents beating her was proof of their love, because in the fundamentalist Christian world she grew up in, that was what love was allowed to look like. She and Whitney talk through how her parents rationalized the abuse, why she eventually went no contact, and what it took to build a life and an education she was never supposed to have. 

Connect with Stephanie Warren: https://thestrongwilledchild.substack.com/

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of child abuse and domestic violence.

In this Q&A episode, answers a question from a woman whose parents responded to her request for space by suing her for access to her children. In the second question, from a man whose mother stayed with an abusive partner and is still with him today. He asks what to make of a parent who chose someone else over her kids.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People don't walk into a therapist's office and say they're having a differentiation problem. They say they feel like a different person around their family, or that they have a whole life their parents know nothing about. Whitney walks through what differentiation actually is, and the four very different situations people are in when they can't be themselves around family.

In this episode, you'll learn:

- What differentiation means in Bowen family systems, and the three ways it commonly goes wrong

- The difference between a family that disagrees with you and one that targets who you are

- Why going no contact doesn't automatically differentiate you from your family

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers two questions from listening asking what their responsibility is to people who aren’t going to change. In question one: a stepmom asks how much to intervene with a 19 year old stepson who is getting pulled back into a controlling household. In question two: a woman who seeks advice about parents who give her migraines and stomachaches every time they call.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: This episode discusses suicide, postpartum psychosis, and the deaths of children, and includes detailed discussion of the Lindsay Clancy case.

The Lindsay Clancy trial revealed a family that was educated, involved, genuinely, and yet still could not see how much danger their family member was in. This is not an episode about what the Clancys did wrong. It's about why people conceal what they're going through even from the people closest to them, and what questions actually work when you're worried about someone you love.

In this episode, you'll learn:

- The research on which question phrasings actually produce honest disclosure, and which shut it down

- What HIPAA does and does not prevent you from telling a family member's provider

- How to follow up after the first conversation, and what to observe when the answers don't match what you're seeing

Resources Whitney recommends:

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988)

Postpartum Support International Helpline: 1-800-944-4773

Postpartum Support International: https://www.postpartum.net

The Columbia Protocol for families, friends, and neighbors is available free online

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers questions about parents who pull back instead of facing accountability. In question one: a father goes silent for a year after his daughter discovers he secretly bought her sister a house. In question two: a mother wants a third family therapy session, after quitting the last two the moment the therapist named something she didn't like. 

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles. 

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co 

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit 

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft 

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of child abuse and references to sexual abuse.

Kreed, host of the Estranged Heart Podcast, shares her perspective as both a formerly estranged adult daughter and a formerly estranged mother, now reconciled with her daughters. Kreed and Whitney cover the common mistakes parents make when first reconnecting with children and what their children actually need from them instead.

In this episode, you'll learn:

- Why reconciliation is an ongoing process, not a one-time repair

- Why "defending, justifying, and explaining" backfires with an estranged child

- Why rushing contact after reconciliation often causes a relapse into estrangement

- Why "what is within your control" matters more than trying to get the other person to change

Connect with Creed

Website: https://theestrangedheart.com/podcast

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of domestic violence, child abuse, and suicidal ideation.

In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers questions about families who respond with denial when being called out. In question one: a parent threatens suicide to shut down an argument. In question two: two parents shield each other instead of the kids.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rin Reczek spent two decades studying families before she turned her research toward estrangement.  What she found in the data took her by complete surprise. In this conversation, the sociologist and author of Families We Lose explains why the estrangement rate probably isn't actually rising, why the language of "honor thy father and mother" shows up even in nonreligious families, and why grandparent estrangement is almost never the selfish, spiteful choice it gets painted as online.

In this episode, you'll learn:

- What "compulsory kinship" means, and how biology-based language like "step" and "half" quietly signals hierarchy in families

- Why religious phrases about honoring parents show up in estrangement stories even among people who aren't religious

- Why the data doesn't support the idea that adult children are cutting off grandparents to be controlling or spiteful

Connect with Rin Reczek

Website: www.rinreczek.com

Buy Rin’s Book: https://amzn.to/4guKWI2

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o 

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of self-harm, physical and emotional abuse, and a parent expressing suicidal ideation.

We spend a lot of time talking about the person who decides to go no contact, and much less about everyone else who ends up living with that decision. In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers a woman in her 30s who inherited and is now dealing with the consequences of her mother's estrangement from her side of the family. Second, a listener six months no contact with an abusive mother, asking the question: who is responsible for her now?

In this episode, you'll learn:

- How to build your own relationships without betraying a parent's decision to go no contact

- Scripts for handling the question "how's your mom?" without becoming the family messenger

- How to separate compassion from obligation with a parent in crisis

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We have the cure for estrangement: just see your parents as children too. Easy. Case closed. [Read: sarcasm] In this episode, Whitney traces where this sometimes helpful and sometimes very unhelpful idea came from and shows how something genuinely useful got turned into a permanent exit ramp from accountability.

In this episode, you'll learn:

- How "your parents were children too" worked its way into self-help

- Why unfinished business has to move upward or outward, never down to your own children

- What defensiveness in a parent is usually protecting

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of suicidal ideation, child abuse and neglect, childhood sexual abuse, and abortion.

Whitney answers two questions about accepting a family situation you never chose and never asked for. First, a mother whose family just lost a three year grandparent visitation case. She is being mandated by family court to send her children on unsupervised monthly visits with a grandmother she doesn't believe is safe. Second, a listener who has been 15 years no contact asking the question: should the adult child be apologizing for how they behaved as a kid?

In this episode, you'll learn:

- How to separate what the court controls from what you actually control as a parent

- How to prepare a child for time with someone you don't trust, without making them afraid

- Why a child's behavior during abuse is never something to apologize for

- When accountability between an adult child and a parent is genuinely useful, and who has to go first

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you've spent time in the estrangement conversation online, you've noticed how fast it flattens into two camps: the people who cut off and the people who got cut off. Ashley and Jon Lefrandt have lived on both sides of that line. The couple behind Leave Then Cleave joins Whitney to talk about what happened when they asked for space from one family member and ended up estranged from 40 family members. Together they explore what it looks like to hold onto your faith when your faith is the thing being used against you.

In this episode, you'll learn:

- How honor thy father and mother gets used to override every other thing a person believes

- Why a family system escalates when one person stops complying

- What words like grace, forgiveness, and reconciliation actually mean, and who tends to be the one insisting on them

- How to keep a faith that has been weaponized against you

Connect with Ashley and Jon Lefrandt

Leave Then Cleave: https://www.leavethencleave.com/

Jon and Ashley’s Book: https://amzn.to/4fUGi4J

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: This episode contains a description of a traumatic birth, postpartum complications, and abuse.

Before the Q&A, Whitney opens with an unscripted reflection on taking a break from Instagram. She then moves into two listener questions from people who have stopped waiting for an apology and are asking what comes after you finally see your family clearly.

In this episode, you'll learn:

- How to handle being the only person in your family willing to talk about the past

- What to do when you've accepted a parent won't change but they still expect the same closeness and access

- How to think about titrating contact

- Why the fantasy that a parent will soften at your lowest moment is so common

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“He's been hard since the day he was born.” “Something in her is just off, and always has been.” “Is there something broken with my child?” Whitney traces questions and the fears beneath them to a centuries old belief that some people are simply born bad. It’s a belief that has changed costumes across religion, science, and psychology but never fully gone away. Whitney brings questions like these into the present for the parents living with a child with a mental illness, an addiction, or a disability they can't fix.

In this episode, you'll learn:

- How the "born bad" idea traveled across history

- Why temperament is real but more complicated than you think

- How to recognize these fears if you were the "problem child" so you don't hand it down

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you keep giving to a relationship that isn't giving much back? How do you know when you've finally done enough? In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers two questions that arrived from very different places but land in the same spot: radical acceptance. First, a woman exhausted by in-laws who never make the drive, never offer help, and never seem to notice the effort going one direction. Second, a woman whose gone no contact with parents who keep leaving her voicemails claiming they have no idea why.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Something goes wrong at home. A glass tips over. Someone forgot to change the laundry, unload the dishwasher. The dog escapes. Within seconds there's a full trial underway about whose fault it is. Whitney breaks down what's actually happening in families that run on blame.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why blame feels like accountability but actually prevents it
• How the scapegoat and golden child both learn about fault
• The three-part anatomy of real repair
• What to do when you can repair and your family can’t
• How to stop the cycle blame with your own kids

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: This episode discusses childhood abuse, domestic violence, racial slurs, and the death of a sibling.

In this Q&A episode, Whitney reads a single letter from a woman who survived a childhood of severe violence, lost her sister at 24, and is now permanently no contact with a family system that still minimizes what happened. Whitney takes the letter in pieces and answers all three of her questions.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How to grieve a sibling whose life was overshadowed by abuse, without reducing them to what was done to them
• Why thriving after you escape is not a betrayal of the people who didn't
• What it means when an entire family, including the abuser, admits the violence happened and still asks you to come back
• Why grief and boundary-holding almost always have to happen at the same time

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Lindsay Gibson's first book, Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, gave millions of people language for what happened to them growing up. Her new book flips the lens for the people who are now raising kids of their own and are quietly terrified of passing it all down. Whitney sits down with her to talk about what actually builds emotional maturity in a child, and what to do in the moments your own immaturity shows up.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why the fear of becoming your own parents is often a sign you won't
• What emotional maturity actually looks like at different ages, from newborn to teenager
• Why ruling through fear works in the short term and costs you the relationship long term
• How to repair with your child in a way that actually changes the pattern instead of pseudo-apologizing
• Why you don't have to be the perfect source of everything for your kid

Connect with Dr. Lindsay Gibson

Get her new book, How to Raise an Emotionally Mature Child: https://amzn.to/4fbX135 [this is an affiliate link - as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at not additional cost to you.]

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers two questions from people trying to figure out where acceptance ends and cutting off begins. First, a woman who thought her mom was finally going to leave her father after a major blowup involving favoritism, triangulation, and infidelity, only to watch her mom stay and start calling her the difficult one instead. Second, a new mother whose parents made her postpartum period worse instead of better, and who's now wondering whether sending a birthday card is worth it after a year and a half of near silence.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Estranged parents often say: “We had a perfect relationship, and then something to them. Social media. A therapist. A partner. Their other parents. They were brainwashed. In this episode, Whitney takes that fear seriously and gives it an honest, research-informed answer.

This episode explores:

• The real history of brainwashing
• What social media can and can’t do
• If therapists can implant grievances into clients
• How the brainwashing framework offers comfort

Sources:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M0YYHl6m_W2HeEAIa5DhM4lH6VdVmhAxTyUuEuG6qXo/edit?usp=sharing

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the harder truths of estrangement is coming to terms with the fact that your parent was not who you needed them to be and in many cases is not going to become that person. In this episode’s Q&A, two questions circle that theme. First, a couple with two young children trying to integrate not one, but two sets of critical and unsupportive grandparents into their family. Second, a woman asks how to ever reach true acceptance when you’re stuck between anger and still wanting them to be different.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did you ever feel like you’re in a conversation where the other person is just waiting for you to stop talking while they load up something to say? You can talk to members of your family every single day and still feel completely unheard. And it works the other way too. Whitney breaks down the real difference between hearing and listening.

In this episode, you’ll learn: 

• Concrete tools for listening on both sides of a conversation 
• How to actually listen when someone you love is hurting
• Why our instinct to fix or reassure often backfires
• How to ask for what you need when you're the one who doesn't feel heard

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers two follow-up questions from her viral episode on parental curiosity. First, from a listener who wants to stay connected with an 81-year old father who has never once shown curiosity. Second, the opposite problem: a parent who, after a period of estrangement, suddenly asks a genuine follow-up question.

The original episode that inspired the second question:

When Parents Don't Show Curiosity About Your Life

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is estrangement a privilege for the middle class and the rich? Whitney pushes back on the argument that cutting off family is something only wealthy people do, not because the critique is entirely wrong, but because it's drawing the wrong conclusion. 

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers two questions from people who love their families but are struggling with dynamics that aren't working. First, someone who spent their whole life as the family mediator and peacemaker, has done years of their own healing work, and is now asking how to stay connected to people who have never really shown curiosity about who they are. Second, a husband navigating the tension between his wife's need for distance from his parents and his own desire to maintain a relationship with them. He also asks what role, if any, his parents should have with their child.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’ve heard that line before. And it didn’t make things better, did it? Many apologies are not good, and often they make things worse. Whitney breaks down why some people over-apologize while others can't say "I was wrong" at all. She also gives advice for what to do when you're on either side of an apology that isn't landing.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whitney answers two questions from people who have stepped back from a harmful family relationship, but are stuck in what comes next. First, a wife whose husband is facing a serious health issue and wants to share medical information with his brother, knowing it will reach an estranged mother who will use it as a way back in. Second, a woman estranged from a boundary-violating mother wrestling with the pull to explain herself.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When therapists say adult children are cutting off their parents for “normal parenting mistakes,” they're almost never specific about what that means. Whitney asked 300+ people to define a normal parenting mistake and the responses said it all. The episode explores what happens when there's no repair, no accountability, and no willingness to engage with a parenting misstep, unintentional or not, that genuinely hurt. 

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Q&A episodes are back after Whitney’s maternity leave. In the first question, a woman gets into an argument with her mom and sister the day before her daughter's first birthday party and starts to recognize a pattern of always being the one to apologize. Second, a daughter-in-law asks how her husband should handle a mother-in-law who keeps inviting extra people to agreed-upon meetups.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Describe your dad in three words.

For a lot of adults, the father wound isn't about a dad who left it's about one who was physically present but emotionally absent. Whitney explores why our culture tells you this is actually not a wound at all and why this particular grief is so hard to name.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not all distance in a family relationship is estrangement. Not everyone pulling away is escaping an abusive situation. In this episode, Whitney explores the gray area of quietly drifting from someone you love. Why does it happen? When does it cross into avoidance? What can reconnection look like realistically? 

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do your parents express curiosity about your life? This was the subject of one of Whitney’s most viral TikTok videos. 2,000 comments later, it’s clear how widespread the pain of answering that question can be. Whitney cracks open what the research says about being known versus taken care of and what families who get this right are doing differently.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles. 

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co 

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit 

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft 

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity 

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o 

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whitney breaks down one of the most requested topics from her audience: the neglecting, rejecting and cruel mothers. She defines the different types, walks through the lasting impact of a mother like this on your inner voice, attachment patterns, mental health, and relationships in adulthood. Then she gives practical steps for moving forward.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s time for an honest look at therapists on the internet. Whitney answers the question of whether or not therapists as influencers and content creators are a problem... which includes an honest self-reflection.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some of the hardest parent relationships to name are the ones that look fine from the outside. Whitney breaks down the distant parent-child relationship - what defines it, what it feels like to grow up never quite being seen, and why trying harder to earn closeness often makes the distance widen.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club: https://callinghome.co

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

Order Whitney's book, Toxic Positivity: https://sitwithwhit.com/toxic-positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney's new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Whitney draws together hundreds of emails, letters, and social media interactions to create a profile of a specific type of parent she calls the perpetually estranged parent.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club⁠⁠

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

⁠⁠Order Whitney’s book, Toxic Positivity

Sign up for updates on Whitney’s new book: https://cmnyyv4kpyt.typeform.com/to/PHMzjy0o

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So you made the decision to leave a harmful family relationship. And you're wondering why it still feels so complicated. In this episode, Whitney walks through why the grief shows up at the strangest times, how to handle doubt without getting derailed, and what it means to finally start building a life that's yours.

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club⁠⁠

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

⁠⁠Order Whitney’s book, Toxic Positivity

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whitney is joined by therapist Emma Mahony to break down one of the most unflinching portrayals of a parentified child on television: Fiona Gallagher from Shameless. Through neglect, addiction, manipulation, and moments of genuine heartbreak, they explore what it does to a child when taking care of your family becomes your entire identity.

Emma Mahony is a mental health therapist based in London whose work centers on helping people understand the patterns they grew up with and how to move toward healthier, more conscious relationships with themselves and others.

Emma’s website: https://www.ecmtherapy.co/

Emma’s IG: emma.in.therapy

Emma’s TikTok: @emma.mahony

Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the founder of Calling Home, a membership community that helps people navigate complex family dynamics and break harmful cycles.

Have a question for Whitney? Send a voice memo or email to whitney@callinghome.co

Join the Family Cyclebreakers Club⁠⁠

Follow Whitney on Instagram | sitwithwhit

Follow Whitney on YouTube | @whitneygoodmanlmft

⁠⁠Order Whitney’s book, Toxic Positivity

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.