Jennifer Groene LCMFT

09/08/2026

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03/19/2026

"When Can I Say My Truth?"

This came into my feed: "Dr. Coleman is very thoughtful and skilled and offers generally excellent advice, but the advice is almost always never to push back against alienated adult children’s behavior. I would love to hear his thoughts and whether and when a parent can say, “I didn’t do many or most of things you say I did, and if you want to have me out of your life that’s your choice, but you need to acknowledge the truth.”

This is a thoughtful and important question, and I’m glad you raised it.

Many parents notice that much of my advice seems to lean toward restraint—toward not arguing with the adult child’s version of events. That can understandably feel unfair. If your child says things about you that feel exaggerated, distorted, or simply untrue, the instinct to correct the record is completely natural. Most parents want to say: That’s not what happened. That’s now who I am. That’s not what I said.

So why do I often advise caution about pushing back?

To read the rest of the article go here: https://joshuacolemanphd.substack.com/p/when-do-i-get-to-say-my-truth