Unfortunately, I am still living with my mom -- as I can't afford to get my own place yet.

A bit of insight... I am actually adopted, so she is not my biological mom. She had a hard time raising me and my younger brother. My dad passed away about 4 years ago, and it has obviously been very hard on her.

I don't enjoy living with my mom one bit. We very rarely get along. She works long hours, and she will often times complain about something to me right as she gets home from work. To me, her personality is rather negative. I've heard that she gets bossed around at work a lot, so I feel as if she uses this to try to do the same to me at home.

She is an extremely sensitive person; she can't take a hint of criticism, and she'll cry often over petty things. If I'm not mistaken, she's also going through menopause. She has very erratic mood swings. She'll be so kind and friendly to me in one part of the day, something will set her off, and she's instantly negative.

The only thing that seems to work when she's bossy is to ignore her negative behavior. Almost always, if I stop talking to her for a bit, she'll apologize.

Can I use TRP concepts to deal with my mom?

Any advice is welcome; I'm very desperate to resolve this problem.