Key points

Legitimate estrangement typically stems from chronic abuse, boundary violations, and unresolved trauma.

Warning signs of coerced estrangement include radical personality change and cutoffs of many people.

Ask the question who benefits? Does estrangement empower the person or serve the interests of someone else?

Expert evaluation helps differentiate autonomous choices from manipulated decisions requiring intervention.

Family estrangement has become a widely discussed phenomenon, spawning support forums, books, and podcasts for both estranged adult children and their parents. While cutting off some family contact often serves as self-protection, not all estrangements follow the same pattern. Some ruptures may be the product of undue influence, a form of external control tha

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