Date of Award

Summer 8-22-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education, Counseling Psychology

First Advisor

Ruth Chao

Second Advisor

Nicholas Cutforth

Third Advisor

Christy McConnell

Fourth Advisor

Pat Garriott

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Family conflict, Family development, Intergenerational estrangement, Intersubjectivity, Lifespan psychology, Nonnormative events

Abstract

The issue of intergenerational family estrangement has gained increased exposure in research and popular literature; however, significant gaps remain in understanding the lived experience of adult-children who maintain separation from their parents. Complicating matters, the family is not a solitary unit but is intertangled within a macrolevel sociocultural ecosystem. This ecosystem includes normative and nonnormative stressors which are subject to diverse interpretations depending on the historic and evolving character of the family and its members. As such, it is important to examine the dynamic character of estrangement in familial and sociocultural context.

Utilizing a case study method with semi-structured phenomenological interviewing, this research investigated the perceptions of six adults whose estrangement intersected with nonnormative stressors, including primarily the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis drew on relational and contextual transdisciplinary theories to reveal the intersubjective and historic experience of participants who can never be untethered from a web of family and societal relationships. In-depth descriptions of participants’ lived experiences include histories of abuse, estrangement choices, impact on extended relations, challenges to personal validity, intersecting microlevel and macrolevel disruptions, and psychosocial loss and growth beyond estrangement. Twelve superordinate themes emerged: (1) Accumulation of hurt; (2) Thwarted differentiation and routine abuse; (3) Evolution of estrangement; (4) Unexpected entanglements; (5) Creation and maintenance of family mythology; (6) Macrolevel nonnormative events; (7) COVID as a catalytic event; (8) Microlevel nonnormative events; (9) Established adulthood and estrangement; (10) Post-estrangement growth; (11) Interpersonal evolution and social support; and (12) Reinventing the family.

Findings suggest that estrangement is a multidimensional intersubjective process involving acts of agency, psychosocial loss, and post-estrangement meaning making. Additionally, estrangement frequently involves decades of parental mistreatment; a singular estrangement choice often leads to radiating loss of extended relations; and degrees of psychological and structural release were created by the complex interruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an ecosystemic spirit, this research presents intergenerational estrangement through a transdisciplinary lens, with the rationale that psychology needs to be responsive to interconnected academic disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, history, and philosophy. Research findings account for epistemological, structural, and practical implications, including recommendations for research, policy, and clinical intervention.

Copyright Date

8-2026

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Seth Wyncott

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

402 pgs

File Size

1.5 MB

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