4/23/2026 Hello. My husband and I have been in this course since early March. This is bound to be long because I’ve been planning to write this post for quite some time, and now I have more to report. OK—here goes, and, believe me, this is mighty uncomfortable. I have had four or five major breakthroughs in the past few weeks. Catherine’s questions bring me back to years—decades--of therapy, group counseling, neurolinguistic work, positive psychology training, intuition training, Reiki healing, and everything else I’ve done. I have examined past trauma, starting in childhood, and including generational trauma, as well as communication and behavior patterns I’ve developed throughout the years (including early marriage and divorce—this is my 2nd marriage), and relationships with both healthy and unhealthy people. What I should do is go back and review notes and journals. I’m remembering snippets from past years when my oldest daughter said, “The closer you want to be, the farther away we’ll go” (or something to that effect), “You are too clingy and needy,” “you don’t respect boundaries,” “I’m very private and you tell people my business.” There is more: “When I was 11, you did this/you said that. . . .” I rarely understood any of that. Of course, I got defensive and then “took it personally,” and that’s what she got stuck on: “You take everything personally.” (And how else would I take it?) I’d even say, “OK, I was a bad mother. So sorry.” (And then cry.) (This came from one daughter—not the other—our oldest, who is now 41.) I just thought it was an odd reaction to my expressing interest in her life and wanting to share. I could never hear this as anything but her pushing me away and criticizing. I felt she was mean and cruel. She has never apologized to me once in her life. (Catherine enlightened me by saying that people who are “perfectionists” cannot apologize. I understand that now, and she IS a perfectionist. Also, I only now understand parts of her life in the past 6-8 years, living with an alcoholic, dysfunctional husband and father of her son/our grandson; he could not hold a job, she brought in the money by working full-time AND operating her own business, driving long distances for work, working nonstop in a very demanding job (with mentally ill criminals), not sleeping. Our grandson would call us at midnight, sobbing and scared. . . . I see now that she was in survival mode. We didn’t even know about the alcoholism—she didn’t tell us—we just knew he was impossible and miserable to us—until shortly before he died last year.

Good evening everyone! I wanted to let the community know that tomorrow morning's class will be meeting 30 minutes earlier than usual. Please be ready for class at 11:00 AM ET (10:00 AM CT, and 8:00 AM PT). Please let me know if you all have any questions or concerns. As always, the classes will be recorded and you can find them in the Classroom section under Class Recordings! So sorry for the late notice!

I need to know the time for the morning class on April 28. Please include if it is Eastern time you are posting so I can translate to my time zone. Also when the times are announced as changed does the change automatically go onto our calendar? Thank you

@Paula Elmer Welcome to a community bold and courageous parents on a mission. You're here, because you care. Even if things feel distant…Even if communication feels hard… That care still matters. Share with us: What’s one thing you look forward to learning here?

Everyone, please join me in welcoming @Nancy Young to the community. Nancy brings a genuine presence — thoughtful, open, and committed to growing in a meaningful way. It’s clear how much she cares about her daughters, and that kind of intention adds real value to this space. We’re really glad you’re here, Nancy. This is a place where that kind of care and effort matters — and you’re in the right room