When My Family “Forgot” About Me On Thanksgiving, I Finally Stopped Showing Up For Them.

a moment. Then he said, “What you’re describing sounds like a pattern of invisible labor.”

“Invisible labor?”

“Emotional labor,” he clarified. “You were maintaining connections. Remembering dates. Initiating contact. Showing up. That’s work. The family system came to rely on you doing it.”

“So what happens when I stop?”

Dr. Woo’s mouth twitched like he’d continue reading …