Whitney Goodman is a licensed marriage and family therapist and author on a mission to help adult family members have better relationships. Each week, Whitney has conversations with influential guests and real people to help listeners find new ways of looking at old family problems.Calling Home is available every Tuesday and Thursday wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 29, 2026 · 41:14
Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of domestic violence, violence against women, and past abuse. Whitney talks with Dr. Shefali Tsabary, author of the twin books…
Sep 24, 2026 · 42:38
Whitney answers questions from listeners. The first from a woman who despite living blocks from her aging father can’t seem to connect with him. The second question is from a…
Sep 22, 2026 · 1:10:55
Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of childhood physical and emotional abuse, neglect, and the death of a parent. Psychologist Dr. Sherrie Campbell, creator of…
Sep 17, 2026 · 28:08
Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of emotional abuse, ongoing harassment, and a mention of suicidal ideation. In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers a woman whose…
Sep 15, 2026 · 1:00:26
Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of child abuse and corporal punishment. Stephanie Warren was taught that her parents beating her was proof of their love,…
Sep 10, 2026 · 25:07
Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of child abuse and domestic violence. In this Q&A episode, answers a question from a woman whose parents responded to her…
Sep 8, 2026 · 41:29
People don't walk into a therapist's office and say they're having a differentiation problem. They say they feel like a different person around their family, or that they have a…
Sep 3, 2026 · 28:22
In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers two questions from listening asking what their responsibility is to people who aren’t going to change. In question one: a stepmom asks how…
Sep 1, 2026 · 1:02:29
Content warning: This episode discusses suicide, postpartum psychosis, and the deaths of children, and includes detailed discussion of the Lindsay Clancy case. The Lindsay Clancy…
Aug 27, 2026 · 29:27
In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers questions about parents who pull back instead of facing accountability. In question one: a father goes silent for a year after his daughter…
Aug 25, 2026 · 44:37
Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of child abuse and references to sexual abuse. Kreed, host of the Estranged Heart Podcast, shares her perspective as both a…
Aug 20, 2026 · 39:43
Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of domestic violence, child abuse, and suicidal ideation. In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers questions about families who…
Aug 18, 2026 · 54:07
Rin Reczek spent two decades studying families before she turned her research toward estrangement. What she found in the data took her by complete surprise. In this conversation,…
Aug 13, 2026 · 56:00
Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of self-harm, physical and emotional abuse, and a parent expressing suicidal ideation. We spend a lot of time talking about…
Aug 11, 2026 · 31:03
We have the cure for estrangement: just see your parents as children too. Easy. Case closed. [Read: sarcasm] In this episode, Whitney traces where this sometimes helpful and…
Aug 6, 2026 · 39:32
Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of suicidal ideation, child abuse and neglect, childhood sexual abuse, and abortion. Whitney answers two questions about…
Aug 4, 2026 · 1:15:44
If you've spent time in the estrangement conversation online, you've noticed how fast it flattens into two camps: the people who cut off and the people who got cut off. Ashley…
Jul 30, 2026 · 43:41
Content warning: This episode contains a description of a traumatic birth, postpartum complications, and abuse. Before the Q&A, Whitney opens with an unscripted reflection on…
Jul 28, 2026 · 25:42
“He's been hard since the day he was born.” “Something in her is just off, and always has been.” “Is there something broken with my child?” Whitney traces questions and the fears…
Jul 23, 2026 · 31:25
How do you keep giving to a relationship that isn't giving much back? How do you know when you've finally done enough? In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers two questions that…
Jul 21, 2026 · 30:10
Something goes wrong at home. A glass tips over. Someone forgot to change the laundry, unload the dishwasher. The dog escapes. Within seconds there's a full trial underway about…
Jul 16, 2026 · 28:19
Content warning: This episode discusses childhood abuse, domestic violence, racial slurs, and the death of a sibling. In this Q&A episode, Whitney reads a single letter from a…
Jul 14, 2026 · 56:28
Dr. Lindsay Gibson's first book, Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, gave millions of people language for what happened to them growing up. Her new book flips the…
Jul 9, 2026 · 33:00
In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers two questions from people trying to figure out where acceptance ends and cutting off begins. First, a woman who thought her mom was finally…
Jul 7, 2026 · 1:03:51
Estranged parents often say: “We had a perfect relationship, and then something to them. Social media. A therapist. A partner. Their other parents. They were brainwashed. In this…
Jul 2, 2026 · 35:57
One of the harder truths of estrangement is coming to terms with the fact that your parent was not who you needed them to be and in many cases is not going to become that person.…
Jun 30, 2026 · 29:29
Did you ever feel like you’re in a conversation where the other person is just waiting for you to stop talking while they load up something to say? You can talk to members of…
Jun 25, 2026 · 23:16
In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers two follow-up questions from her viral episode on parental curiosity. First, from a listener who wants to stay connected with an 81-year old…
Jun 23, 2026 · 30:25
Is estrangement a privilege for the middle class and the rich? Whitney pushes back on the argument that cutting off family is something only wealthy people do, not because the…
Jun 18, 2026 · 28:21
In this Q&A episode, Whitney answers two questions from people who love their families but are struggling with dynamics that aren't working. First, someone who spent their whole…
Jun 16, 2026 · 25:28
You’ve heard that line before. And it didn’t make things better, did it? Many apologies are not good, and often they make things worse. Whitney breaks down why some people…
Jun 11, 2026 · 31:51
Whitney answers two questions from people who have stepped back from a harmful family relationship, but are stuck in what comes next. First, a wife whose husband is facing a…
Jun 9, 2026 · 39:52
When therapists say adult children are cutting off their parents for “normal parenting mistakes,” they're almost never specific about what that means. Whitney asked 300+ people…
Jun 4, 2026 · 37:21
Q&A episodes are back after Whitney’s maternity leave. In the first question, a woman gets into an argument with her mom and sister the day before her daughter's first birthday…
Jun 2, 2026 · 25:46
Describe your dad in three words. For a lot of adults, the father wound isn't about a dad who left it's about one who was physically present but emotionally absent. Whitney…
May 26, 2026 · 59:37
Not all distance in a family relationship is estrangement. Not everyone pulling away is escaping an abusive situation. In this episode, Whitney explores the gray area of quietly…
May 19, 2026 · 29:05
Do your parents express curiosity about your life? This was the subject of one of Whitney’s most viral TikTok videos. 2,000 comments later, it’s clear how widespread the pain of…
May 12, 2026 · 30:06
Whitney breaks down one of the most requested topics from her audience: the neglecting, rejecting and cruel mothers. She defines the different types, walks through the lasting…
May 5, 2026 · 38:40
It’s time for an honest look at therapists on the internet. Whitney answers the question of whether or not therapists as influencers and content creators are a problem... which…
Apr 28, 2026 · 18:12
Some of the hardest parent relationships to name are the ones that look fine from the outside. Whitney breaks down the distant parent-child relationship - what defines it, what…
Apr 21, 2026 · 28:20
In this episode, Whitney draws together hundreds of emails, letters, and social media interactions to create a profile of a specific type of parent she calls the perpetually…
Apr 14, 2026 · 23:37
So you made the decision to leave a harmful family relationship. And you're wondering why it still feels so complicated. In this episode, Whitney walks through why the grief…
Apr 7, 2026 · 49:53
Whitney is joined by therapist Emma Mahony to break down one of the most unflinching portrayals of a parentified child on television: Fiona Gallagher from Shameless. Through…
Mar 31, 2026 · 25:43
Not every relationship can be repaired, and not every relationship should be. In this episode, Whitney validates the decision to walk away from a family relationship for good and…
Mar 24, 2026 · 55:53
Whitney is joined by therapist Stephanie Lindeman to break down the Roy family from the HBO Max show Succession. Succession is one of the most psychologically precise portrayals…
Mar 17, 2026 · 18:34
When you bring up a painful memory and your parents say it never happened, it can feel like you're losing your mind. Whitney explains the science behind why parents and children…
Mar 10, 2026 · 28:20
Whitney breaks down Jeanette McCurdy's interview on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy. She discusses enmeshment, parentification and the painful process of accepting that a parent was…
Mar 3, 2026 · 57:22
Whitney is joined by therapist Patrick Teahan to break down one of the most diabolically toxic mother figures on television: Smurf from Animal Kingdom. Follow Patrick YouTube:…
Feb 26, 2026 · 35:24
Why aren’t therapists centering estranged parents at least as equally as their children? Whitney breaks down what bias actually means in a clinical context. Whitney Goodman is a…
Feb 24, 2026 · 38:23
Most apologies aren’t great and sometimes even make things worse. If you've ever given or received an "I'm sorry" that left you feeling dissatisfied, Whitney walks through the…
Feb 19, 2026 · 29:57
Whitney addresses something that's been getting to her: the constant threats from estranged parents that they're reporting her to the licensing board. Then she answers two…
Feb 17, 2026 · 33:31
What do enmeshed relationships actually look like? Why do parents become enmeshed with their kids? And what can you do about it? If you've ever felt like you can't hear yourself…
Feb 12, 2026 · 29:45
Whitney answers two listener questions about family relationships that don't go full no-contact but are also deeply dysfunctional. She also discusses a viral Chinese app called…
Feb 10, 2026 · 41:48
Whitney has taken estranged parents' bait for the last time, and it's time to set the record straight. Whitney Goodman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the…
Feb 5, 2026 · 21:26
Whitney answers two listener questions about harm that happened during a crisis and harm that accumulated over years. One listener is navigating repeated boundary violations from…
Feb 3, 2026 · 14:32
Parental rejection hurts more than almost any other kind of rejection, and it’s a pain that doesn't dissolve with age. If you've ever minimized what happened by saying "they just…
Jan 29, 2026 · 28:00
Whitney responds to a Facebook post from parents who feel blindsided by their college-age child who suddenly asks for no contact. She breaks down how the wrong response from…
Jan 27, 2026 · 24:13
If you've ever felt like the relationship you have with your parents or with your adult child looks completely different from the one that your parents had with their parents,…
Jan 22, 2026 · 37:35
Whitney reviews anonymous letters written by estranged parents to their adult children. She identifies patterns of spiritual bypassing disguised as kindness, conditional…
Jan 20, 2026 · 25:30
In this episode, Whitney challenges the idea that all family relationships need to be deep, emotional, and vulnerable. “Strategic authenticity” is the idea of intentionally…
Jan 15, 2026 · 34:16
Whitney defines what authoritarian parenting actually is (beyond just being strict), explores how it's rooted in control rather than raising independent humans, and explains why…
Jan 13, 2026 · 51:46
Whitney brings on Amanda White from Therapy for Women to react to the most requested show from her audience, you guessed it: Gilmore Girls. They break down season one, episode 18…
Jan 6, 2026 · 28:38
It’s 2026. If nothing changed in your family dynamic by the end of the year, would you be okay with that? How about five years from now? Whitney has a firm but loving message for…
Dec 11, 2025 · 1:03:23
Whitney is fired up about Oprah’s recent podcast about going no contact. She also responds to a Mel Robbins/Karl Pillemer article titled "Life is Too Short to Fight With Your…
Dec 9, 2025 · 1:01:32
Kate Gray (@codependencykate) is back with Whitney to react to one of the most iconic dysfunctional holiday dinners ever depicted on television: “Fishes” from The Bear (S2E06).…
Dec 4, 2025 · 32:31
Whitney addresses one of her recent viral posts about why using therapy speak with family often causes more problems than is useful. She also breaks down a scene from the Peacock…
Dec 2, 2025 · 30:33
Feeling guilty is one of the most common struggles for people stepping away from a dysfunctional family. Whitney explores how guilt is a learned response, not necessarily an…
Dec 1, 2025 · 14:41
Whether you're skipping the family gathering, still debating about whether to show up, locked in for a chair-arm-gripping dinner, or spending the day alone, Whitney has a few…
Nov 25, 2025 · 1:08:01
Whitney teams up with Samantha Dalton, group facilitator at Calling Home and host of the Nuance Needed podcast, to unpack season three of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. As…
Nov 20, 2025 · 39:40
Whitney answers two listener questions that explore complex family dynamics and different responses to dysfunction. The first question comes from someone navigating estrangement…
Nov 18, 2025 · 53:57
Whitney shares an interview with Harriet Shearsmith, author of "Unfollowing Mum: Break Unhealthy Patterns and be the Parent You Wish You’d Had" and host of the Unfollowing Mum…
Nov 13, 2025 · 48:16
Whitney unpacks a recent article from New York Magazine: “The Therapy That Can Break You” about Internal Family Systems (IFS) and what can go wrong when trauma treatment crosses…
Nov 11, 2025 · 54:48
Whitney launches a new series exploring family dynamics in pop culture, starting with Netflix's "Nobody Wants This." Joined by Meg Josephson, author of the New York Times…
Nov 6, 2025 · 21:03
Whitney answers two listener questions that share a theme: how do you protect your peace while staying connected to difficult family relationships? The first question explores…
Nov 4, 2025 · 32:44
Whitney explores parentification—what happens when children become caregivers, mediators, and "responsible ones" long before they're ready. Whitney shares research on how early…
Oct 30, 2025 · 49:04
Whitney tackles an increasingly persistent narrative about family estrangement: therapists are encouraging people to cut ties from their families. Drawing from hundreds of…
Oct 28, 2025 · 47:45
Whitney sits down with Dr. Ann-Louise Lockhart, a pediatric psychologist and author of the new book "Love the Teen You Have," to discuss practical strategies for parenting teens…
Oct 23, 2025 · 36:39
Whitney responds to a question from a recent controversial TikTok post: Are you a parent forever? What does it mean to be a parent across the entire lifespan? Should parenting…
Oct 21, 2025 · 37:44
Whitney interviews Dr. Tracy Dalgleish, author of the new book "You, Your Husband, and His Mother” about navigating mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships. They discuss…
Oct 16, 2025 · 45:04
Whitney analyzes scenes from Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and Love Is Blind to explore mother-daughter estrangement, purity culture shame, and how parents either repair or…
Oct 14, 2025 · 16:46
Build a more functional family today. In this episode, Whitney breaks down the hallmarks of functional families, how these skills can be learned regardless of how you grew up,…
Oct 9, 2025 · 33:20
Whitney shares three life-changing practices that reduced her anxiety—meditation with red light therapy, using Brick to limit social media, and consuming news only in written…
Oct 7, 2025 · 35:40
Whitney Goodman interviews psychologist Dr. Julie Fraga about her book "Parents Have Feelings Too." They discuss how parents can process their own emotions, break cycles of guilt…
Oct 2, 2025 · 23:20
Whitney explores patterns around adult children who mimic their parents' harmful behaviors, the complexities of maintaining boundaries when a parent struggles with addiction, and…
Sep 30, 2025 · 36:04
Whitney analyzes the Amazon Prime show "The Girlfriend" to explore mother-son enmeshment and emotional incest. She analyzes how the show illustrates blurred boundaries, guilt and…
Sep 25, 2025 · 22:12
Whitney reflects on how the "rage economy" of social media and news is destroying our mental health and capacity to connect with others. She explores how algorithms reward…
Sep 23, 2025 · 1:13:54
Whitney Goodman teams up with therapist Kate Gray (@codependencykate) to analyze a viral YouTube video from an estranged parent with over 1.2 million views. They break down…
Sep 18, 2025 · 25:40
Whitney breaks down dysfunctional family dynamics in Real Housewives of Miami and The Summer I Turned Pretty, then answers a caller's question about healing from the pain of…
Sep 16, 2025 · 36:58
Whitney Goodman interviews Dr. Ingrid Clayton about her new book "Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves and How to Find Our Way Back." They explore fawning as…
Sep 11, 2025 · 36:12
SPOILER WARNING: This episode contains major spoilers for the Netflix documentary "Unknown Number: The High School Catfish" Whitney analyzes the Netflix documentary by exploring…
Sep 9, 2025 · 47:56
Whitney interviews Michelle Dempsey-Multack about how to protect children during divorce and co-parenting. They debunk the myth that divorce inherently harms children, exploring…
Sep 2, 2025 · 22:35
Too often the phrase “grow up” is code for ignoring your past and repressing your childhood trauma. This dismissive “get over it” mentality fails to ever reach a healthy…
Aug 28, 2025 · 26:45
In this Q&A episode, Whitney responds to a thoughtful listener question about self-reflection in family relationships - specifically when calling out parents' hurtful behavior…
Aug 26, 2025 · 42:02
Can estranged family relationships actually be repaired? Drawing from research on reconciliation, Whitney outlines the five core ingredients necessary for genuine repair - active…
Aug 21, 2025 · 26:30
In this Q&A episode, Whitney reflects on the polarizing response to her recent "Dear Estranged Parents" episode and shares her feelings about being misunderstood while trying to…
Aug 19, 2025 · 36:22
Whitney speaks directly to estranged parents from her experience working with hundreds of adult children who have cut contact with their families. She addresses common arguments…
Aug 14, 2025 · 15:50
In this Q&A episode, Whitney addresses a caller whose siblings want them to attend their parents' 50th anniversary trip not out of love, but to serve as a buffer against their…
Aug 12, 2025 · 28:30
In this solo episode, Whitney responds to the question: can emotionally mature parents still raise emotionally immature adult children? She breaks down the research on emotional…
Aug 7, 2025 · 24:41
In this Q&A episode, Whitney addresses a caller dealing with a mother who accuses her of being the toxic one while engaging in silent treatment and triangulation tactics. She…
Aug 5, 2025 · 21:45
In this solo episode, Whitney explores why siblings from the same dysfunctional family often have completely different experiences and reactions to their emotionally immature…
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