ERETM1 :: 02. Enmeshment

Embodied Relating : Exploring trauma & how it impacts our relationships series - Module 1

This week we'll shift our focus to enmeshement, what it is, and how it relates to trauma bonds.

What is enmeshment?

From this article:

Enmeshment is a description of a relationship between two or more people in which personal boundaries are permeable and unclear. This often happens on an emotional level in which two people “feel” each other’s emotions, or when one person becomes emotionally escalated and the other family member does as well. A good example of this is when a teenage daughter gets anxious and depressed and her mom, in turn, gets anxious and depressed. When they are enmeshed the mom is not able to separate her emotional experience from that of her daughter even though they both may state that they have clear personal boundaries with each other. Enmeshment between a parent and child will often result in over involvement in each other’s lives so that it makes it hard for the child to become developmentally independent and responsible for her choices.

From Wikipedia (copied 01/…