Hi!👋 I’m Julie and I’m from southern California. My 23 year old daughter estranged herself from me in May 2023. She has struggled with mental health issues since she was 14 (multiple hospitalizations). She has not been compliant with meds / therapy since she turned 18. She has self medicated with THC. She has also been heavily influenced by peers. She refuses to speak with me about anything. I have begged her to do therapy together … something to offer me any speck of insight. Over the past 1.5 years, I have continued working on myself (the only thing I can control). I have been forced to “let go.” I have been angry, sad, frustrated …. I have respected the “space” my daughter has asked for and felt she needed. I have tried to reach out a few times - letting her know that without any questions or judgement, I’m still here - ready and waiting for her … when she is ready. Of course I hope and pray that there will be a day that she is ready … but I’ve also tried hard to embrace the possibility that she might never be ready. I used to feel that I needed to understand what went wrong between us … but I’ve come to terms that I’m ok if that understanding doesn’t happen. The relationship and moving forward is more important to me. For now, I’d just like some sort of communication and connection on her terms … whatever will make her feel safe. Hoping to connect with … and support/encourage others here. There is learning and hope in community. This has been a journey that has broken me to my core. I know God uses those broken places to bless others.

Hi my name is Kylie and I recently got engaged. Immediately after we began wedding planning- chaos and drama ensued. Enough to a point where I am so depressed and exhausted that I have called the event off- leaving my future husband and his family devastated as well. I am learning through therapy my mom is a narcissist and my dad has been her enabler my entire life. My eyes have just opened and I feel like I am seeing things through an entirely different lens. Per my therapist it's because I have essentially been brain washed my entire life. I am so devestated and hurt by the things my mom has recently said to me I can't fathom ever forgiving her or having a healthy relationship with her, and I'm looking for any hope I can

Did your mom deny the chronic decade long physical/sexual/mental abuse she did to you and your sibling, when you asked her about it, and proceeding? Did you end up growing a chronic autoimmune disease (MS?) when you were a kid (under 10 years old) that you didn’t even know about? Did she tell her (7) other brothers and sisters when you were finally old enough AND brave enough to ask her about it, while also telling them that you’re lying? Did her siblings come to you and ask you why you would say something so crazy and then proceed to avoid communication with you? Were/are you estranged and abandoned? Yeah, me too. But the saving grace is: the abuse WAS NOT my fault. How could it be? I was a child who LOVED her only parent. What she did to me: means NOTHING about who I am as a person. & I graduated college with a Bachelors of Science in Computer Information Systems, paying my own way & receiving scholarships and grants at 23 years old. I had a very successful career, until old & poor coping mechanisms (psychedelics/alcohol/self hatred) crept up on me, but at least now I gave it all up. Because I’m a mother now, too. I did the work, processing my narcissistic abuse from my mother with a therapist that I actually trusted, and I’m committed to loving my baby boy like he deserves. I just have very vivid memories of what she used to do in front of my (then) baby/younger brother in front of me, among other memories regarding what she did to me, and… the way my father abandoned me, twice (it’s a long story) but it’s okay. It’s the trauma my body has carried for almost all my life. It won’t take me down. I obviously won’t let it. But as it appears… I guess I’ll still let it make me suffer as much as it is now. I guess that just means: there’s still work to be done. Good 🤷🏻‍♀️👏🏻 self growth ensues.