Posted by Dr. Bob on February 12, 2003, at 7:54:48
In reply to Hollon: Depressed Sons from Uninvolved Father, posted by IsoM on January 24, 2003, at 15:28:39
It sounds like you have done a great job of protecting your sons from a lack of emotional involvement that might otherwise have had a more negative effect on their self-esteem. I do not think that anything is inevitable or irreversible - even if your sons did not get the kind of emotional support from their father that would have been ideal I think it is never too late to deal with the consequences. You might try encouraging your sons to look very closely at what they might be saying to themselves about what it means about them that their father behaved the way he did - odds are they have some sense that there was something wrong with them or that they deserved nothing better. If so, they can think it through from the a more mature perspective then they could have done as children. I hope this helps.
poster:Dr. Bob
thread:2291
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20030203/msgs/2593.html