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Is your mom toxic? This expert helps you tackle this dysfuntional parent-child dynamic

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Some encounters with parents can leave you feeling emotionally and mentally drained and this behaviour can be toxic or abusive. (PHOTO: Getty Images/Gallo Images)
Some encounters with parents can leave you feeling emotionally and mentally drained and this behaviour can be toxic or abusive. (PHOTO: Getty Images/Gallo Images)

Even a simple phone call is an emotional minefield that can trigger a flood of frustration, anger and guilt. Guilt that she’s had therapy to learn to deal with, that she tries not to get sucked into – but it still sinks its claws into her every time she talks to her mother. 

Family get-togethers are never easy and relaxed, usually ending on an explosive note when she and her mother are in the same room. 

It’s not the ideal parent-child dynamic, but it’s a reality for Allyson Diedricks* who struggles to think of her relationship with her mother as anything other than toxic. 

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