Broken: When Parents Split

15 Pages 3707 Words

is it that two opposing child-rearing techniques lead parent who normally cooperate well with one another to state of incompatibility and conflict? Can seeking family therapy be a solution to such struggles or are these hurdles too high to surmount? What if finding a “go-between” is not always the answer and can genetic predispositions prevent a family from solving their conflicts? How does therapy help broken families overcome such traumatic situations? Is there hope for my family yet?
All these questions, although conceivably broad and vague, come to mind when analyzing the interactions between and situations encompassing my family members. During the past six months several drastic changes have occurred within my immediate family. My parents are currently struggling with a messy divorce, my sister is applying to residency schools to be an anesthesiologist, my mother has been increasingly depressed, my father has moved out, and I was prescribed the maximum dose of anti-depressants an individual can take. My Thanksgiving break was emotionally draining and psychologically disruptive since I had to balance, for the first time in my life, seeing both my mother and father separately suffer. With each increasing year of my life, my father came home later and later each evening from work and with this on her side, my mother became more and more involved in her children’s lives. My parents had not slept in the same room since I was six years old and they only communicated when necessary. I was living in a pseudo-divorced home for as long as I can remember. My sister remembers a time when my parents were in love, but I never had that opportunity. All I saw was an industrious, self-employed architect, lacking the ability to express his emotions while demonstrating his love indirectly through money, food, and other material objects, and an overly-involved mother who lacked a romantic partner and who sought remedy by serving her children...