Family dynamics can be hard to navigate, even for people who come from emotionally stable and healthy backgrounds. When families function in unhealthy ways, maintaining boundaries and building an ...

Children who are raised in a dysfunctional family often do anything they can to survive day-to-day. Some kids align themselves with their parents as a self-protective measure, while others are put in ...

In some families, someone sees through the façade of perfection and calls attention to the dysfunction. I call this person the “family whistleblower.” They are the one who refuses to ignore or deny ...

Do you ever wonder how you ended up feeling like the odd one out in your family… like the person who stands on the outside looking in? You don’t want negative attention. You don’t want pity. You are ...

Dr. Pillemer is a professor of human development at Cornell and the director of the Cornell Legacy Project. Ms. Robbins is the author of “The Let Them Theory” and host of “The Mel Robbins Podcast.” We ...