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Wants2Fly said:
Hi there -- We train our parents to behave in certain ways. This has been a hard lesson for me to learn. I started working with a therapist in my late 40s and throughout my 50s to find the words for establishing boundaries and to provide my mother with praise (positive reinforcement) when she demonstrates new, more supportive behaviors. As I say, I was already quite old before I started learning to speak up and mother is in her 80s.

Good luck with re-training your parents to respect. It may require moving out, as others have suggested, to establish yourself as an adult living your own life. I had been living apart for mom for decades before I started to speak up.

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<font color="brown"> Hello Wants2Fly,
Thank you for sharing about your experience with your mom. From now on, I'll praise mom and dad every time they respect me.
I have been in therapy before myself as well. When my therapist suggested that I move out, it sounded too frightening and overwhelming.
Now, even though I am still scared, each day I am taking steps to move out. </font>