How to Co-Parent With Someone Who Makes Everything Hard
A young boy stands between two emotionally distant parents, capturing the silent strain of high-conflict co-parenting and its impact on children.
Co-parenting with a high-conflict ex can drain your peace and leave you emotionally depleted. Learn how therapy can help you create boundaries, reduce stress, and protect your child’s well-being.
Co-parenting with a high-conflict ex can feel like walking on eggshells. You may dread every drop-off, text message, or custody handoff, not because of your child, but because of the emotional toll that comes with the other parent.
If you constantly defend yourself, overexplain, or feel emotionally drained after every interaction, it’s not just “co-parenting stress.” It might be time to explore new boundaries, and therapy can help.
What High-Conflict Co-Parenting Can Look Like
Constant blame, gaslighting, or manipulation
Passive-aggressive texts or “emergency” emails
Refusing to follow agreements or undermining parenting choices
Using the child as a messenger, spy, or emotional pawn
Creating confusion or chaos around schedules
Making you feel like the “bad guy,” no matter what you do
These patterns don’t just wear you down; they can affect your ability to parent with clarity, patience, and calm.
How This Affects You and Your Child
Even when you try to stay calm, high-conflict co-parenting can lead to:
Chronic stress and emotional burnout
Anxiety, self-doubt, or hypervigilance
Guilt about how your child is being impacted
Feeling like you have to “prove” you’re the better parent
Difficulty trusting your instincts or communicating clearly
You’re doing your best. That doesn’t mean you have to do it alone.
What Therapy Can Offer Co-Parents
You don’t need to change your ex. You need tools to protect your peace and model resilience for your child.
In therapy, you can:
Learn how to respond (not react) to triggering behavior
Set boundaries without guilt or fear
Practice parallel parenting when true collaboration isn’t possible
Build coping skills for moments of overwhelm
Reconnect with your confidence, values, and long-term vision
You’re allowed to create stability for yourself, even if your co-parent won’t.
Work With Jennifer Anyaugo, RMHCI
Jennifer helps moms and co-parents who feel stuck in stressful parenting dynamics. She provides a calm, empowering space to help you stay grounded and emotionally present, despite the drama. If you’re ready to build a healthier co-parenting system (with or without your ex’s cooperation), Jennifer offers virtual therapy across Florida.
You Don’t Have to Keep Losing Your Peace to Keep the Peace.
Therapy can help you hold your boundaries, protect your child, and stay rooted in who you want to be.
Book a consultation with Jennifer today.
