Family Troubles with Dr. Joshua Coleman

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with entertainment and media expert, entrepreneur, and author Peter Csathy to talk about his new book, Hiding in Plain Sight: Ten Secrets to a Happy Marriage and Family. Drawing on more than 30 years of marriage, Peter shares the practical lessons he's learned about building a lasting relationship, supporting each other's dreams, and finding happiness and meaning in the everyday moments we often overlook.

We talk about why strong marriages require more than love, how gratitude, friendship, and small acts of intimacy can deepen our connections, and why making...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with internationally renowned psychoanalyst and author Dr. Galit Atlas to talk about her new book, Come Closer: Childhood Wounds, Adult Love, and the Secrets of Emotional Intimacy. Dr. Atlas explores how the survival strategies we developed as children can become patterns we unconsciously repeat in our adult relationships and why understanding those patterns can help us create deeper, healthier connections.

We talk about the six childhood wounds Dr. Atlas identifies in her book, including the frightened, melancholic, ashamed, invisible, guilty, and chosen child. We explore why guilt can...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with author Noelle Mering to talk about her new book No Contact, and the cultural forces shaping the rise of family estrangement. Noelle explores how changing ideas about identity, autonomy, obligation, mental health, and personal fulfillment can influence the way we understand conflict with the people closest to us.

We talk about the difference between healthy separation and cutting someone off, why some estrangements are necessary while others may grow out of conflict avoidance or low differentiation, and how parents can respond when an adult child asks for...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Emmy-nominated comedian, actor, writer, and Billy on the Street creator Billy Eichner to talk about his parents, coming out, grief, creativity, resilience, and the lasting power of unconditional love. His new audio memoir, Billy on Billy, reflects on his childhood, his long road to success, and the parents he credits with helping him become fully himself.

Billy shares how his parents gave him the freedom to pursue his dreams without shame, even when they had fears and struggles of their own. We also talk about his coming-out...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Valerie Galinskaya, Managing Director and Head of the Merrill Center for Family Wealth, to talk about wealth, inheritance, adult children, family communication, and the emotional complexity that can come with financial planning.

Valerie and her team work with families navigating some of life’s most important financial decisions, but as she explains in this conversation, wealth is rarely just about money. It can amplify trust, uncertainty, resentment, gratitude, guilt, entitlement, and family conflict. And for parents of adult children, conversations about inheritance, gifting, fairness, and future planning ca...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Stephanie Coontz, Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families and emeritus faculty of History and Family Studies at The Evergreen State College. Stephanie is one of the most influential historians of marriage, gender, and family life, and her work has helped reshape how we understand the myths and realities of family across history.

Stephanie and I talk about her latest book, For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage, and why modern relationships can feel so difficult despite...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Celia Flinn, a school-based therapist in the Bay Area who brings both clinical insight and lived experience to the topic of sibling estrangement. Celia shares what happened when her sibling became estranged from her parents, how that changed her role in the family, and what it felt like to become the child who stayed.

We talk about the often overlooked impact of estrangement on siblings. When one child cuts off contact, the sibling who remains can become the middleman, the emotional support, the “good child,” or the pers...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Alphonso James, a speaker, advocate, author, and exoneree who spent 32 years incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. At 17 years old, Alphonso was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, but his story is not only about injustice. It is also about resilience, forgiveness, faith, and the difficult inner work of becoming free long before he was physically released.

Alphonso shares what it was like to enter prison as a teenager, how he survived solitary confinement, and the moment that began to change...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Sasha Ayad, M.Ed., LPC, a Licensed Professional Counselor who has worked with adolescents for over 19 years and focuses on teens and young adults struggling with gender dysphoria and gender identity.

Sasha and I discuss the complicated intersection of gender identity, therapy, adolescence, culture, and family estrangement. We explore why some parents feel shut out of conversations around their child’s identity, how therapists and cultural messages can shape family dynamics, and why curiosity, caution, and emotional nuance matter when families are navigating deeply personal and often po...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Lindsey and Leslie Glass, a mother-daughter author and advocacy duo, co-founders of Reach Out Recovery, and authors of The Mother-Daughter Relationship Makeover, to talk about addiction, recovery, estrangement, and what it can take for mothers and daughters to find their way back to one another.

Lindsey and Leslie bring both personal experience and professional advocacy to this conversation. Through their own story of addiction, separation, repair, and reconciliation, they offer a deeply honest look at how family relationships can go off track, and how healing can still...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Dr. Darcy Sterling, a NYC-based Licensed Clinical Social Worker, relationship expert, and host of E! Network’s Famously Single, to talk about what it means to date while estranged from a parent, adult child, sibling, or other family member.

Estrangement can be painful enough on its own. But when you’re beginning a new romantic relationship, it can raise a whole new set of questions: When do you share it? How much do you say? Will the other person judge you? And how do you talk about some...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with developmental psychologist and family relationship researcher Professor Lucy Blake, whose work has helped shape our understanding of family estrangement, sibling relationships, and family dynamics across the lifespan. We explore why family relationships are often more complicated than the idealized versions we see in culture and social media, and how those expectations can impact both parents and adult children.

Lucy shares insights from her groundbreaking research on estrangement, reconciliation, therapy, and sibling relationships. We discuss the importance of context, compassion, and understanding the many factors that shape family...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Historian and University of Texas Professor, Steven Mintz to explore the challenges of modern parenting, family dynamics, and building resilience in children and adults alike. Steven shares his expertise on how family relationships evolve, the pressures parents face today, and strategies to create healthier, more connected households.

We dive into the impact of generational patterns, the role of emotional awareness, and practical communication tools that help families navigate conflict without losing connection. Steven provides insights on fostering empathy, setting boundaries, and guiding children toward independence while maintaining...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Tania Khazaal for a thoughtful and candid conversation about family estrangement, emotional healing, and what it really means to move forward without losing ourselves or the people we love. Tania shares her personal story of cutting off contact with her mother, what brought her back, and how changing the way she understood her mother’s story changed the way she understood herself.

We talk about the rise of what Tania calls “cutoff culture,” the growing tendency to frame distance as healing, and why both parents and adult childr...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Professor Judith R. Smith to discuss her book, Difficult: Mothering Challenging Adult Children Through Conflict and Change. Drawing from years of research and interviews, Judith explores what it means to parent an adult child struggling with mental illness, addiction, unemployment, estrangement, and ongoing instability.

We talk about the emotional reality many mothers quietly carry, the chronic fear, guilt, exhaustion, ambivalence, and grief that can come with loving a child you cannot “fix.” Judith also challenges common ideas like “tough love” and highlights the larger social systems that leave fa...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Michelle Weiner-Davis to unpack something I see far too often, how divorce can quietly evolve into long-term family estrangement. We explore how these fractures don’t just impact couples, but ripple through entire families, sometimes for decades.

We also get into the role of therapy, communication, and personal narratives in shaping these outcomes. I share insights from my own work (and life), and we talk about what actually helps families stay connected or find their way back to each other.

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In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with journalist and author Mark Pendergrast to unpack one of the most complex and sensitive issues I see in my work: memory. We explore how memories are formed, how they can shift over time, and how certain therapeutic approaches have contributed to deeply painful family estrangements. Mark shares both his research and his personal story of losing contact with his daughters, offering a perspective that is both informed and deeply human.

We talk about the rise of recovered memory claims, why they became so widespread, and what science...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with renowned family therapist and sociologist Pauline Boss to explore her groundbreaking concept of ambiguous loss and its powerful relevance to family estrangement. We discuss why some of the most painful losses are the hardest to define and how learning to live with that uncertainty can open the door to healing.

We also challenge the cultural myth of closure, offering a more compassionate and empowering way to understand grief, disconnection, and the complexity of family relationships.

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In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Frank Furstenberg, one of the most influential sociologists of family life, to unpack how modern families are evolving and why parenting today feels harder than ever. We explore how rising inequality, shifting expectations, and longer paths to adulthood are reshaping the bond between parents and children in ways that are both deeply meaningful and, at times, incredibly challenging.

We also get into the “good news, bad news” of modern family life: while many relationships are closer and more emotionally connected than ever before, the pressure, expectations, and stak...

On this first episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Nedra Glover Tawwab, a licensed therapist, relationship expert, and bestselling author of Set Boundaries, Find Peace. Nedra has helped millions through her books, social media, and clinical work, and is widely known for making boundaries practical and accessible in everyday life.

We talk about family estrangement, setting boundaries with parents, and what it really takes to build healthier relationships. Nedra shares how growing up in a family with few boundaries shaped her work, and why learning to set limits can change the course of your life.<...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Ruth Whippman, author of BoyMom and America the Anxious, to talk about the pressure modern parents face and how it’s shaping our kids. Ruth brings a cultural lens to parenting and shares how the drive to optimize our children can quietly strain the parent-child relationship.

We get into how this pressure shows up in real life, from constant monitoring to the belief that parents are responsible for their child’s happiness and outcomes. We also explore what it means to raise boys today, the mixed messages they...

In this episode of Family Troubles, I sit down with Kristina Scharp, an associate professor at Rutgers University and director of the Family Communication and Relationships Lab. Kristina is one of the leading researchers on family estrangement, and we get into what really drives family distance and how people cope with it.

We talk about how estrangement and alienation are often misunderstood, and how both are part of a bigger picture of family distancing. We also explore how perception shapes conflict, why expectations around family relationships are changing, and what actually helps create the possibility for repair.<...