Ep28 Suzanne Linkroum

As a parent, it is natural to have a strong instinct and desire to help your children, no matter what their age. The pain we feel watching our children flounder, or even worse, suffer, is heart-wrenching. It is completely understandable to have the urge to step in and help your adult child when they are in a precarious situation. 

However, sometimes stepping in can inadvertently cascade down a slippery slope and cross over the boundary from helping to enabling. It is not uncommon for these boundaries to be elusive, and they are often crossed by parents with very good intentions. However, crossing the boundary between supporting and enabling can have negative, unintended consequences for your relationship with your child AND your adult child’s sense of independence and confidence.

Hello and welcome I’m Ros mcmaster

And I’m your other host cate shaw… together we’re taking the age out of agism, helping men and women embrace the second stage of life with less fear.

Learning to move from enabling to empowering your grown children can help them more in the long run. Some parents may be divorced, and a child chooses to live with the mother from the relationship because they like the companionship. However, with time, the mother may not realize they have been enabling their young adult child. With a few simple changes, parents can put their adult children on a better path.

To help us stop the madness that is our enabling…. We are joined today by Psychologist Suzanne Linkroum, who is Clinical Director for Waypoint Wellness Center. Suzanne is going to help us parents understand the difference between supporting and enabling, and show us how recognise signs that we’re enabling our adult children: