When you enter a relationship, you expect to build a connection with one person. But for many, the reality is far more complex. You are not just entering a relationship, you are entering a system. In some families, what appears to the outside world as “close-knit” can, behind closed doors, feel suffocating, controlling, and emotionally unsafe. These are often enmeshed family systems.

Co-parenting is often seen as the gold standard for separated parents—working together, prioritising the child, and maintaining...