Most families never sit down and assign roles. Nobody gathers everyone around the table and announces who will become the responsible one, who will keep the peace, who will take care of everyone else’s feelings, or who will become the family success story. And yet, somehow, those roles still develop. Over time, each person begins … Continue reading Every Family Has an Unwritten Job Description
One of the most common relationship dynamics I see is not necessarily a lack of love or effort. More often, it is an imbalance in emotional and mental labor that develops so gradually that couples do not fully recognize it until resentment, exhaustion, or disconnection have already started building underneath the surface. In many relationships, … Continue reading The Exhaustion of Being the Emotional Manager
There’s a conversation that happens quietly in helping professions. It happens in hallways after hard meetings. In texts between colleagues late at night. In that moment when you sit in your car after work a little longer than usual because you are not ready to bring the day inside your house yet. It usually starts … Continue reading When Caring Starts to Hurt: Systems, Burnout, and Staying Whole in Helping Work
Amanda Brindle, LCSW 