The Parent / Child Dynamic in Your Intimate Relationship
You likely have either participated in or witnessed a couple in which one person takes on a parent role and other person takes on a child role with regard to the partnership. This kind of dynamic creates toxic resentment which eventually leads to the end of the relationship.
If you are in the parent role with your partner, you likely find yourself making most of the decisions, managing personal things for you partner like their diet, medications, exercise, schedule, and giving directives and instructions around the tasks of daily living. On the inside you feel exhausted and resentful, thinking to yourself: "Where's my partner?!"; Why do I have to do it all?!"; "Why don't I get to relax and have fun?!" "I feel like an ogre."
If you find yourself taking the child role, you likely notice yourself complaining that you never get to do what you want. You start to see the tasks of daily living as burdens rather than as a natural part of life. You start to resent your partner for interfering with your life and keeping you from doing fun things. You step away from making decisions or problem solving. You leave tasks half finished or sloppily done. You start to see your partner as the competent one in the relationship, and yourself as the incompetent one. You start to think that you can never measure up to their expectations.
As these positions become polarized, it's difficult to make a change. If you had been playing the parent role, you may find yourself with very little energy left to invest in the relationship. Exhaustion and resentment block your ability to find compassion and respect for your partner. Regret may temporarily sap your inspiration to make changes in yourself. A lack of trust in your partner's dependability makes it difficult to begin to engage in a truly collaborative relationship.
If you had been playing child role, you may have developed a fear of doing it wrong that is now paralyzing. You want to come forward and participate but you don't trust your partner really wants your input. You've learned to avoid, and withdraw with the slightest perception of criticism. In the child role you have organized yourself around pleasure and fun, so becoming a collaborative partner seems like giving all this up. Though mentally you may believe that collaborative partnership is more fulfilling, it's difficult to know it your heart and body.
So what can you do about a parent / child dynamic in your intimate relationship? Of course, the best medicine for parent / child dynamics in an intimate relationship is prevention. Prevention in this case includes three major areas of focus:
Set clear boundaries about where you allow each other's influence and help.
Cultivate profound respect for your partner's autonomy and authentic path in life.
Make a commitment to continuous consideration and communication about where private decisions impact a shared life and how these are negotiated.
If you know you are in a parent / child dynamic with your partner, professional help may be the most effective way to start making a shift. On your own, you can start by asking yourself some key questions that open the way toward new behaviors:
If you are in the parent role ask yourself the following:
What am I am currently deciding or doing that is really my partner's business?
Is there anything I could let go of doing that would not impact basic needs like security and safety?
What simple and doable requests could I make of my partner to meet a need for collaboration?
What's one thing I could notice or remember about my partner each day that helps me to see them as a capable adult?
If you are in the child role ask yourself the following:
What's one place in our lives together that I could find the courage to take the lead and ask my partner to relax while I take care of things?
Is there anything I want to do to contribute to needs like security and safety in our lives together?
What's one thing I could reclaim as mine and set a firm boundary around?
As you ask yourself these questions get input from wise friends and mentors. Being in the parent / child dynamic skews your sense of boundaries over time and you may need the help from others to discern what boundaries truly meet needs and support a collaborative relationship.
Practice
Take a moment now to reflect on your own intimate relationship. Where do you trust mutuality and collaboration? Is there a context in which you have a sense that things are uneven?
