No Contact in Relationships: Healthy Boundary or Avoidance? (opens in new tab)

Once upon a time, cutting off a family member meant something enormous had happened. A daughter stopped taking her mother’s calls. Two brothers quit speaking after a political argument that was never really about politics. A married couple began calling prolonged silence “space,” when what they meant was grief. These things happen quietly now. Violence. Cruelty. A betrayal so destabilizing it altered the architecture of trust. Now it may mean someone texted in the wrong tone. That sounds flip...