Our principles

Careful words for complicated lives.

The standards we use when writing about adult family relationships.

We write for agency

Readers know more about their circumstances than a webpage ever can. Our role is to offer frames and questions, not to choose for them.

We distinguish boundaries from control

We focus on actions a person can take themselves and avoid presenting boundaries as a way to force someone else to behave.

We avoid remote diagnosis

A painful behaviour can be named without turning a relative into a clinical label. Diagnosis belongs with qualified professionals working from adequate information.

We acknowledge safety

Ordinary communication advice may be inappropriate where there is abuse, coercion, stalking or immediate danger. Readers in those situations should use trusted local professional or emergency resources.

We revise

Language and evidence evolve. We review core guides for clarity, harm and overstatement, and update them when better framing is available.