Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your LifeBONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Dr. Susan Forward's Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them. When you were a child... Did your parents tell you were bad or worthless? Did your parents use physical pain to discipline you? Did you have to take care of your parents because of their problems? Were you frightened of your parents? Did your parents do anything to you that had to be kept secret? Now that you are an adult... Do your parents still treat you as if you were a child? Do you have intense emotional or physical reactions after spending time with your parents? Do your parents control you with threats or guilt? Do they manipulate you with money? Do you feel that no matter what you do, it's never good enough for your parents? In this remarkable self-help guide, Dr. Susan Forward drawn on case histories and the real-life voices of adult children of toxic parents to help you free yourself from the frustrating patterns of your relationship with your parents -- and discover an exciting new world of self-confidence, inner strength, and emotional independence. |
Contents
1 | |
15 | |
Just Because You Didnt Mean It Doesnt Mean | 30 |
Why Cant They Let Me Live My Own Life? | 47 |
No One in This Family Is an Alcoholic | 69 |
The Bruises Are All on the Inside | 92 |
Sometimes the Bruises Are on the Outside Too The Physical Abusers | 111 |
The Ultimate Betrayal The Sexual Abusers | 131 |
You Dont Have to Forgive | 177 |
Im a Grownup Why Dont I Feel Like One? | 182 |
The Beginnings of SelfDefinition | 194 |
Whos Really Responsible? | 205 |
The Road to Independence | 223 |
Healing the Incest Wound | 260 |
Breaking the Cycle | 290 |
EpilogueLetting Go of the Struggle | 301 |
Why Do Parents Behave This Way? The Family System | 157 |
RECLAIMING YOUR LIFE | 173 |
Suggested Reading | 307 |
Other editions - View all
Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life Susan Forward Limited preview - 2002 |
Common terms and phrases
able abuse accept adult afraid alcoholic anger asked beat become begin behavior believe blame cause child childhood clients confrontation continue daughter deal didn't don't drinking emotional especially everything expect experience express face fact father fear feel felt finally forgive friends give Glenn going grief guilt hand happened happy hard hope hurt important incest incest victims it's keep knew learned leave letter lives look marriage matter mean mother never once pain person physical playing problems protect reaction reality realize relationship remember responsibility role rules Sandy scared seemed sense sexual someone started step stop sure SUSAN talk tell therapy things thought tion told took toxic parents true trust truth turn understand wife