Janet Steinkamp, EdD (Doctor of Education)
Communication Expert | Relationship Strategist | Estrangement Coach | Trainer - Educator | Researcher
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Professions: Behavior Expert, Behavioral Specialist, Communication Coach, Family Estrangement Coaching
Specialties: Adult Development, Communication Skills, Estrangement Grief, Family Dynamics, Personal Growth
Allow me to introduce myself. I am a leader, teacher, trainer, and educator with 30+ years of experience in medical and higher education. My work and personal education focused on building and delivering formal education and training to meet the highest accreditation and licensure standards for a vast range of health care roles.
My research has focused on emergency care, sudden cardiac arrest, the chain of survival, and the impact of inter- and intra-team communication, as well as integrated team communication in the primary care setting.
In 2021, I decided to pivot from my work in health care and medical education, taking my years of experience in team building, effective communication and crisis management to work directly with families experiencing varying degrees of family estrangement.
My shift into family relationship building, teaching communication strategies, and navigating parental estrangement allowed me to bring my years of experience and formal training to people experiencing relationship estrangement and alienation.
I am currently the developer, author, researcher and podcaster for JES Consultancy and the When Our Adult Children Walk Away podcast. I coach and consult with parents and adult children who are struggling with faltering and fractured relationships. While some are grappling with “What happened?”, others are quite clear about their perspective on what happened, but they have lost the drive to stay connected. They want to find a new normal and establish a satisfying life without the unhealthy familial relationship.
Working together, my clients learn how to communicate authentically and respectfully, listen actively, and, inch by inch, rebuild trust. They learn how to sit in uncertainty, find purpose during the most difficult days, and use their grief for growth. We focus on self-awareness, accountability, acceptance and forgiveness. We explore the value and importance of relationship boundaries and master the art of making amends. With time and thoughtful consideration, they begin to understand the complexities of their estrangement.
Ideas for podcast episodes :
- Family estrangement is a growing yet often silent source of grief in both clinical practice and personal life. Dr. Janet Steinkamp offers healthcare professionals research-informed insight into the emotional, relational, and health implications of parental estrangement.
- Parental Estrangement: Clinical Realities, Emotional Impact, and Communication Strategies That Initiate Repair
- When Adult Children Go No Contact With Parents: Understanding the Parallel Experiences, Psychology, Grief, and Family Dynamics
- The Estrangement Continuum: A Clinical Framework for Understanding Family Distancing and Cutoff
- Estrangement Grief: A Developmental Model of Ambiguous and Disenfranchised Loss
- Estrangement as a Hidden Health Stressor: Implications for Mental and Physical Well-Being
- When Communication Breaks Down in Adult Families: Clinical Insights and Reconnection Strategies
- The Hidden Grief of Estrangement: Supporting Parents Through Ambiguous Loss and a Relational Fracture
Questions I'm always ready to answer :
- Why is it important to understand and identify familial estrangement in a clinical setting?
- What recommendations do you have to help healthcare professionals identify and understand familial estrangement as an emerging health risk factor?
- What is your Estrangement Continuum, and how can it guide patient care?
- In what ways does prolonged family estrangement manifest as chronic stress?
- How can clinicians differentiate relational stress from primary pathology?
- How does estrangement grief present differently from traditional bereavement?
- What distinguishes protective distancing from reactive cutoff in adult family systems?
- What communication behaviors unintentionally escalate family distancing?
- What language promotes emotional safety during clinical encounters?
- What adaptive coping strategies support long-term health and functional stability?