What is emotional cutoff?

This entry describes emotional cutoff as a lasting reduction of feeling or contact with a spouse, or with a family of origin, used to keep pain at a distance. It separates that cutoff from a short pause in a fight, and from silence used to punish.

What this entry does not do

It does not replace the entries on the silent treatment or stonewalling, and it does not say cutoff is the same as a time-out.