On Writing

Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir spotlights sibling bullying

In his new memoir, Spare, Prince Harry reveals a pattern of behavior during his youth in which his brother, Prince William, routinely ignored, rejected, or bullied Zuiderpark, Den Haag. 09 mei 2019Prins Harry stapte de Invictus Games 2020 officieel af. Vanaf nu, over een jaar mei 2020 zijn de Invictus Games 2020 in het Zuiderpark te Den Haag en Eindhoven.Foto: Boogschieten is helemaal niet moeilijk, Prins Harry kan het ook! ...

So many families are living with estrangement

New psychologytoday.com blog post explores the reasons why so many are estranged. * Recent polls show that roughly a fourth of those surveyed are not speaking to a member of their family. * The family is undergoing some of the most rapid changes in history, and that has contributed to estrangements. * A poll in October 2022 found that nearly one in five voters report that politics upset their friendships ...

Author featured in HuffPost article about family estrangement and politics

“A blunt social media post, a slip on the family text thread, a careless remark during a holiday celebration — the smallest offense can shatter a sibling bond made brittle by intense political partisanship.” - FERN SCHUMER CHAPMAN, AUTHOR OF “BROTHERS, SISTERS, STRANGERS: SIBLING ESTRANGEMENT AND THE ROAD TO RECONCILIATION" https://www.huffpost.com/entry/advice-family-estrangement-politics_l_6369630ee4b0eb51ab13079a

USAToday article on sibling estrangement quotes author

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2023/01/10/prince-harry-prince-william-sibling-feud-fractured-relationships/11017196002/

Female prisoners react to my memoir, MOTHERLAND

A Wisconsin women’s prison selected my memoir, MOTHERLAND, for its book club, and then invited me to speak to readers. The women related to my mother’s story in a way I never could have predicted. My grandparents sent my 12-year-old mother as an unaccompanied minor from Nazi Germany to America to save her life in 1938. My grandparents never explained to my mother why they felt they had to take ...

The Anguish of Not Knowing Why A Sibling Cuts You Off

Without understanding the reason for a cutoff, shunned siblings feel their reality and emotions are invalidated. They are rendered voiceless. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brothers-sisters-strangers/202212/the-anguish-of-not-knowing-why-a-sibling-cuts-you-off #silenttreatment #silence #siblings #family #cutout

Message in a Box!

On one of our visits to the small German town my mother fled as an unaccompanied minor in 1938, a woman my mother hardly remembered asked that we visit her in her nursing home. My mother wasn’t interested, but the woman insisted, saying she had something she absolutely had to give to my mother. Finally, we stopped by her home, and she presented Mom with this box. “Before your mother ...

Anniversary of the Kindertransport and the lesser-known American program

The World Jewish Congress marked the 84th anniversary of the Kindertransport with this post: "After the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 1938, Jewish groups organized a secret rescue operation to get Jewish children of out of Nazi-occupied Europe. Because of immigration laws, their parents were unable to join them. "The first group of children arrived in the UK in December 1938. It is estimated that up to 10,000 children were saved ...

Families often gaslight to project “perfect” holiday gathering

An ongoing family dynamic of toxic positivity and avoidance leads to superficial relationships that may devolve into distance and estrangement. Photo credit: Askar Abayev/Pexels https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brothers-sisters-strangers/202212/the-desire-appear-perfect-amps-family-holiday-stress