Discover the Four Types of Difficult Parents
Discover the Four Types of Difficult Parents
According to Dr. Lindsay C. Gibson, author of Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents, there are four basic types of emotionally immature parents (EI).
Emotional parents are dominated by feelings and can become highly reactive and overwhelmed by anything that surprises or upsets them. Their moods are explosive and unstable, and they can be frighteningly volatile. They react to small things like it is the end of the world, and they have a habit of seeing others as either saviors or abandoners, depending on whether their needs are being met.
Driven parents are super goal-achieving and constantly busy. They constantly move forward, focus on improvements, and try to perfect everything, including others. They run their families like deadline projects but lack sensitivity to their children's emotional needs.
Passive parents are the "nicer" parents, letting their mate be the bad guy. They appear to enjoy their children but lack more profound empathy and will not step in to protect them. While they seem more loving, they will acquiesce to the more dominant parent, even to the point of overlooking abuse and neglect.
Rejecting parents are not interested in relationships. They avoid interaction and expect the family to center around their needs, not their kids. They do not tolerate other people's needs and want to be left alone to do their own thing. There is little engagement, and they can become furious and even abusive if things do not go their way.
Resource
Gibson, L.C. (2015). Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents. New Harbinger Publications.
