| Parents are often the first to recognize when their | | | | child's abusive relationship. |
| children are in abusive relationships. However, their | | | | 3) Parents who are steadfast in their beliefs about |
| awareness is not always used to the benefit of their | | | | what's good for and not good for their children can |
| abused children. | | | | resort to creating contingencies around their child's |
| Why? Because of the fumble that occurs when they | | | | staying/leaving the relationship. |
| make one or more of the following 3 deadly | | | | And this will invariably backfire and even spiral into a |
| mistakes parents make when they come to the aid | | | | power struggle between parent and child, as well as |
| of their children in abusive relationships. | | | | ignite resentment that overshadows the pain of the |
| 1) Parents may attempt to shine the light on the | | | | abusive relationship. |
| abusive relationship as though they are telling their | | | | So what can you do when you sense, or know, your |
| child that this is a bad food to eat or this is a bad | | | | adult child is in an abusive relationship? The exact |
| investment to consider. And they expect their adult | | | | same thing you would do if your child needed a root |
| child to awaken to reality as they themselves see it. | | | | canal or some other clinical intervention. Find a |
| This more often than not does not work, because of | | | | professional with expertise in the issues before you, |
| their close familial proximity to the abused partner. | | | | enlist their services and support the process you |
| 2) Parents of children abused by intimate partners | | | | engage. |
| frequently fail to factor in the dynamics of their own | | | | The earlier you get out of your own way and rely on |
| relationship with their children when they "come to | | | | the resources of objective professionals, the sooner |
| the aid" of their child. | | | | you will be influential in helping your adult child awaken |
| And these very parent-child dynamics can, and often | | | | to and deal with their abusive relationship. |
| do, serve as the glue that adds to solidifying their | | | | |