Your Energy Doesn't Lie: How to Spot an Unhealthy Friendship

The holidays hit differently when there's an empty chair. In this episode, Susan shares three practical ideas for estranged parents: how to make your decisions before the day makes them for you, how to handle the people (real and imagined), and why you're allowed to feel the ache and the joy at the same time. One decision made. One permission accepted. That's the goal.

Ever sit in the waiting room of estrangement and think — I must be the only one this is happening to? If so, this conversation is for you. Susan’s guest is Candi Morris, a voice for estranged parents and author of When They Walk Away. She also runs a Facebook support group by the same name. Candi was the first person Susan found online who talked openly about estrangement — and watching her find her voice helped Susan find hers. In this episode:— What it feels like when your adult child walks away— Why estranged parents feel so alone and what actually helps— How to get through the hard days like holidays and birthdays— How to protect your heart while still living fully— Where to find hope and community when the people around you don’t understand If you have been carrying this quietly, you are not alone. Take one small brave step. Tell one safe person what you are walking through. 🔗 Find Candi’s resources: estrangedandrearranged.com Susan Metzger helps estranged parents get unstuck and live unbroken. New episodes every week covering estrangement, identity, emotional health, faith, and freedom. 📖 Rejected Yet Redeemed book and small group study: susanmetzger.org/rejected-yet-redeemed-book👥 Join Parents in the Waiting Room: facebook.com/groups/parentsinthewaitingroom🌐 All resources: susanmetzger.org

What does estrangement look like when you are living it and helping others heal from it at the same time? In this episode Susan sits down with Nancy Wagner — a Transformational Life Coach, estranged parent, and grandparent — for an honest conversation about estrangement from adult children and what it actually takes to keep moving forward. Nancy brings both her personal story and her coaching lens to the table, including a look at her newest program, A Seat at the Table, built specifically for estranged parents and children working toward reconciliation. In this episode:— What estrangement looks like from both a personal and professional perspective— What it actually takes to keep moving forward in a painful season— How healing can begin before reconciliation ever does— A look at Nancy’s program A Seat at the Table for estranged parents and children If you are in a season with no clear end date, this episode is for you. Nancy’s story is proof that healing does not have to wait for reconciliation to begin. 🔗 Learn more about A Seat at the Table: virtualgirlfriendroadtrip.kit.com/81e44d1634 Susan Metzger helps estranged parents get unstuck and live unbroken. New episodes every week covering estrangement, identity, emotional health, faith, and freedom. 📖 Rejected Yet Redeemed book and small group study: susanmetzger.org/rejected-yet-redeemed-book👥 Join Parents in the Waiting Room: facebook.com/groups/parentsinthewaitingroom🌐 All resources: susanmetzger.org

Fine is not the same as free. And you deserve more than fine. What does freedom actually look like when the relationship is still broken? In this episode Susan Metzger closes out the estrangement series with the distinction at the center of her own journey — and shows what it means to live unbroken even while a relationship remains unresolved. This finale brings together everything the series has named and lands on what it actually looks like to build a full, ordinary life again. In this episode:— The difference between being fine and being free— What it means to live unbroken with an unresolved relationship— A simple lasting way to reclaim your story going forward— The closing declaration: Get unstuck. Live unbroken. Step into freedom. If this series has walked with you through something hard, this episode closes it out with what freedom can actually look like from here. Susan Metzger helps estranged parents get unstuck and live unbroken. New episodes every week covering estrangement, identity, emotional health, faith, and freedom. 📖 Rejected Yet Redeemed book and small group study: susanmetzger.org/rejected-yet-redeemed-book👥 Join Parents in the Waiting Room: facebook.com/groups/parentsinthewaitingroom🌐 All resources: susanmetzger.org

What do you do when someone else starts telling a completely different story about who you are? In this episode Susan Metzger names a layer of estrangement grief that rarely gets talked about — losing your child not just to silence, but to another narrative. A spouse, an ex, or even a well-meaning counselor becoming the voice that reshapes how your child sees you. This episode is about reclaiming your identity when someone else has picked up the pen. And about why you were never meant to carry that alone. In this episode:— Why estrangement often means losing your child to another story, not just to silence— A real story about the specific pain of being misunderstood by your own child— Why someone else’s story about you does not have to become the story you believe— One simple step for finding the one person who can carry this with you If someone else’s version of your story has started to feel more real than your own, this episode is for you. Susan Metzger helps estranged parents get unstuck and live unbroken. New episodes every week covering estrangement, identity, emotional health, faith, and freedom. 📖 Rejected Yet Redeemed book and small group study: susanmetzger.org/rejected-yet-redeemed-book👥 Join Parents in the Waiting Room: facebook.com/groups/parentsinthewaitingroom🌐 All resources: susanmetzger.org