How To Cut Ties With Toxic Family with Dr. Elizabeth Cohen

Many of you are here to listen to One Broken Mom because you identify with the fact that you may have a complicated childhood and family of origin history. And what you are presently addressing in your life can be just your own healing and self-development or it can be in combination with parenting you own children if you have them. 

Some of us in life, despite the challenges or adversities we’ve experienced, are able to maintain some degree of connection with our family and some of us, elect to limit contact. 

Now, unfortunately, there are some of you out there who actually feel trapped by your family in some way. I’ve heard from some listeners who say that they have parents that have control of their finances and they are unable to leave because they don’t have the money. Others feel trapped by the shame and guilt from feeling responsible for the care of their parent’s needs or perhaps the needs of siblings who are less fortunate. 

So on this episode, Ameé is speaking with Dr. Elizabeth Cohen. 

Dr. Cohen received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Boston University and is considered one of New York City’s experts in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy through her private practice. 

Dr. Cohen was the recipient of the prestigious American Psychological Foundation Research Award for her doctoral research. Following her time at BU, Dr. Cohen completed her pre-doctoral internship at Bellevue Hospital Center and the New York University Child Study Center.  After completing her training, she was asked to become the Director of the CBT program at Bellevue’s Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic.

Dr. Cohen has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, NBC News, Women’s Health, Huff Post, Thrive Global and, Good Housekeeping. And she also has a podcast called Off the Couch. 

In this episode, you will hear:

• Are people every really trapped or captive or is it really a belief they are 
• What kinds of families and family members are the ones we should consider cutting off, either emotionally or even physically 
• What happens when we marry or meet someone with a toxic family  and we think our partner should separate from them 
• How to talk with our children about cutting off family members
• Is repair possible with family members we’ve cut off 
• What do you recommend for people who are perhaps being financially abused or manipulated 
• What are some tools or strategies for clean breaks from toxic family members 
• What should someone expect the reactions to be when they cut someone off 

 

Resources Mentioned in this episode:

https://drelizabethcohen.com/

Alice Miller’s “The Body Never Lies” on Amazon 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit advirelle.substack.com