DiscoverBut Are You Happy?What To Do When You're Suddenly The Parent For Your Parents
What To Do When You're Suddenly The Parent For Your Parents

What To Do When You're Suddenly The Parent For Your Parents

Update: 2025-09-05
Share

Description

Are you in that stage of life where it’s starting to feel like YOU are the parent to your parents? Or maybe it’s always been that way? 

In this episode of But Are You Happy, clinical psychologist Dr. Anastasia Hronis unpacks parentification and how to recover when your parents have made you the mediator between them or put you in charge of holding onto their emotional baggage. 

You'll also learn:

  • The emotional and developmental consequences of parentification 
  • How you know if you've been 'parentified' 
  • Ways you can repair yourself and your relationship with your parents
  • How to identify and acknowledge your inner child 

Watch the podcast on YouTube here

If you or someone you know needs support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. Both services are available 24/7 for free, confidential mental health support. 

Help us understand how you're looking after your mental health. Complete our short survey here for a chance to win a $1,000 gift voucher in our quarterly draw!

Want to get in touch with us? DM @butareyouhappypod on Instagram or send us a voice memo. Our hosts are ready to hear your dilemmas—think of it as free therapy!

CREDITS:

Hosts: Ashani Dante & Dr Anastasia Hronis

Executive Producer: Naima Brown

Senior Producer: Tahli Blackman

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

Our studio is styled with furniture from Fenton and Fenton.

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Support the show: https://www.mamamia.com.au/mplus/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Comments 
00:00
00:00
x

0.5x

0.8x

1.0x

1.25x

1.5x

2.0x

3.0x

Sleep Timer

Off

End of Episode

5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

30 Minutes

45 Minutes

60 Minutes

120 Minutes

What To Do When You're Suddenly The Parent For Your Parents

What To Do When You're Suddenly The Parent For Your Parents

Mamamia Podcasts