Caregiving: Tips on Avoiding a Toxic Family Dynamic

As you continue to grow older, so do your parents. Oftentimes in the later years of their life, they may need your help.

You might be concerned about the demands of caring for your parents; but, you may also not get along, which can make working together almost impossible.

Relationship challenges may date back to childhood dynamics that grew increasingly more difficult over time.

Some families simply become ambivalent as adult children move away from parents and contact becomes less frequent.

While many families remain in contact, other family members question the value of making an effort to gather when there is not an emotional connection to make the excursion enjoyable.

After years of avoidance, it becomes difficult for adult children to reverse the prior path, to forgive, and to show up at a family event without being asked a thousand questions of where the child has been and why he or she has avoided family all these years.

How can you mend broken relationships to help care for your parents?

Pamela D. Wilson, MS, shares how you can help care for your parents, while avoiding fights and other toxic behaviors.