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Episode Summary: Family estrangement is often portrayed as impulsive, trendy, or selfish. In reality, navigating low contact or no contact with a parent is typically a painful decision — one that is rarely made lightly and almost never without history.

As public debate around estrangement has intensified — including criticism directed at therapists — this episode asks an essential question:

What is our clinical role in this conversation?

Host Shaina Siber, LCSW offers a trauma-informed, ethically grounded framework for clinicians working with adult clients who are considering distance from caregivers. She argues that therapy should not treat reconciliation as morally superior — nor estrangement as inherently empowered. Instead, clinicians are called to remain outcome-neutral and harm-responsive.

This episode provides:

A structured assessment model for evaluating impact, boundary history, accountability capacity, and safety
Clarification of what “boundaries” actually mean — and how they differ from requests or impact statements
Guidance for navigating trauma history, identity-based rejection, and developmental instability
A clear stance on avoiding coercion while naming harm when present

Estrangement decisions are complex, relational, and often grief-filled. This conversation offers therapists a grounded framework for helping clients move through these waters with clarity, agency, and care.

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About Shaina: Shaina Siber-Sanderowitz, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker with 15 years of experience providing psychotherapy to diverse patient populations. She is the founder and owner of AFFIRM Mental Health, an accredited continuing education provider dedicated to offering high quality virtual workshops to mental health providers. She’s spent her career in various clinical and leadership roles focused on serving underserved populations and addressing systemic issues. She continues to provide therapy through her private practice, offer consulting for organizations with behavioral health needs and teach in psychology and psychiatry residency training programs, graduate social work education and continuing education courses on a variety of topics including Interpersonal Psychotherapy, Gender Affirming Care, Professional Burnout and Structural Competency.

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Conflict of Interest Disclosures:

The host, Shaina Siber-Sanderowitz, LCSW, is the Founder of Affirm Mental Health, an accredited CE provider. She receives financial compensation from Affirm Mental Health for the development and delivery of continuing education content. No other financial conflicts of interest were reported.

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for clinical training or treatment. If you or someone you know needs mental health support, please reach out to a licensed professional.

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