Reconnecting with Your Estranged Adult Child

Reconnecting with Your Estranged Adult Child PDF Author: Tina Gilbertson
Publisher: New World Library
ISBN: 1608686582
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Get Book Here

Book Description
Parents whose adult children have cut off contact wonder: How did this happen? Where did I go wrong? What happened to my loving child? Over time, holidays, birthdays, and even the birth of grandchildren may pass in silence. Anguish may turn into anger. While time, in and of itself, does not necessarily heal, actions do, and while every estrangement includes situation-specific variables, there are practical, effective, and universal techniques for understanding and healing these not-uncommon breaches. Psychotherapist Tina Gilbertson has developed these techniques and tools over years of face-to-face and online work with parents, who have found her strategies transformative and even life-changing. Gilbertson cuts through the blame, shame, and guilt on both sides of the broken relationship. Parents will feel heard and understood but also challenged — and guided — to reclaim their role as"tone setter" and grow psychologically. Exercises, examples, and sample scripts empower parents who have felt powerless. Gilbertson shows that reconciliation is a step-by-step process, but the effort is well worth it. It is never too late to renew relations and experience better-than-ever bonds.

Reconnecting with Your Estranged Adult Child

Reconnecting with Your Estranged Adult Child PDF Author: Tina Gilbertson
Publisher: New World Library
ISBN: 1608686582
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Get Book Here

Book Description
Parents whose adult children have cut off contact wonder: How did this happen? Where did I go wrong? What happened to my loving child? Over time, holidays, birthdays, and even the birth of grandchildren may pass in silence. Anguish may turn into anger. While time, in and of itself, does not necessarily heal, actions do, and while every estrangement includes situation-specific variables, there are practical, effective, and universal techniques for understanding and healing these not-uncommon breaches. Psychotherapist Tina Gilbertson has developed these techniques and tools over years of face-to-face and online work with parents, who have found her strategies transformative and even life-changing. Gilbertson cuts through the blame, shame, and guilt on both sides of the broken relationship. Parents will feel heard and understood but also challenged — and guided — to reclaim their role as"tone setter" and grow psychologically. Exercises, examples, and sample scripts empower parents who have felt powerless. Gilbertson shows that reconciliation is a step-by-step process, but the effort is well worth it. It is never too late to renew relations and experience better-than-ever bonds.

Constructive Wallowing

Constructive Wallowing PDF Author: Tina Gilbertson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1936740966
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 159

Get Book Here

Book Description
“Constructive wallowing” seems like an oxymoron. Constructive is a good thing, but wallowing is bad. Right? But wait a minute; is it really so terrible to give ourselves a time-out to feel our feelings? Or is it possible that wallowing is an act of loving kindness, right when we need it most? Just about everyone loves the idea of self-compassion -- the notion that maybe in spite of our messy emotions and questionable behavior, we really aren’t all that bad. In recent years there’s been an explosion of books that encourage readers to stop beating themselves up for being human, which is terrific. Unfortunately, readers who aren’t interested in Buddhism or meditation have been left out in the cold. Self-compassion is an everyday habit that everyone can learn, even if they a) aren't particularly spiritual, b) find most books about self-compassion too serious, or else c) have already overdosed on meditation. Constructive Wallowing: How to Beat Bad Feelings by Letting Yourself Have Them is the first book to cut right to the chase, bypassing descriptions of Eastern philosophy and meditation techniques to teach readers exactly how to accept and feel their feelings with self-compassion for greater emotional health and well-being … while making them laugh from time to time. It seems that the wisdom of “keeping your friends close and your enemies closer” applies to emotions as well as people. It’s tempting to turn away from menacing, uncomfortable feelings like anger, grief or regret and treat them like unwanted guests; however, ignoring them just seems to make them stick around. They lurk in the background like punks with switchblades, waiting to pounce as soon as they see an opening. By learning to accept and embrace, rather than suppress, difficult feelings, people can keep their sense of personal power and, better yet, gain greater understanding and ultimately esteem for themselves. Feeling bad can actually lead to feeling better, faster!

Rules of Estrangement

Rules of Estrangement PDF Author: Joshua Coleman, PhD
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0593136888
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Get Book Here

Book Description
A guide for parents whose adult children have cut off contact that reveals the hidden logic of estrangement, explores its cultural causes, and offers practical advice for parents trying to reestablish contact with their adult children. “Finally, here’s a hopeful, comprehensive, and compassionate guide to navigating one of the most painful experiences for parents and their adult children alike.”—Lori Gottlieb, psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone Labeled a silent epidemic by a growing number of therapists and researchers, estrangement is one of the most disorienting and painful experiences of a parent's life. Popular opinion typically tells a one-sided story of parents who got what they deserved or overly entitled adult children who wrongly blame their parents. However, the reasons for estrangement are far more complex and varied. As a result of rising rates of individualism, an increasing cultural emphasis on happiness, growing economic insecurity, and a historically recent perception that parents are obstacles to personal growth, many parents find themselves forever shut out of the lives of their adult children and grandchildren. As a trusted psychologist whose own daughter cut off contact for several years and eventually reconciled, Dr. Joshua Coleman is uniquely qualified to guide parents in navigating these fraught interactions. He helps to alleviate the ongoing feelings of shame, hurt, guilt, and sorrow that commonly attend these dynamics. By placing estrangement into a cultural context, Dr. Coleman helps parents better understand the mindset of their adult children and teaches them how to implement the strategies for reconciliation and healing that he has seen work in his forty years of practice. Rules of Estrangement gives parents the language and the emotional tools to engage in meaningful conversation with their child, the framework to cultivate a healthy relationship moving forward, and the ability to move on if reconciliation is no longer possible. While estrangement is a complex and tender topic, Dr. Coleman's insightful approach is based on empathy and understanding for both the parent and the adult child.

Done With The Crying

Done With The Crying PDF Author: Sheri McGregor
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780997352207
Category : FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS
Languages : en
Pages : 351

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this encouraging book, Sheri McGregor helps parents of estranged adult children break free from emotional pain and move forward in their lives. With the latest research, her own experience, and insight from more than 9,000 parents, McGregor covers the growing trend of estranged adults from loving families. Devastated parents can be happy again.

Restoring Relationships with Your Adult Children

Restoring Relationships with Your Adult Children PDF Author: Karen O'Connor
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 246

Get Book Here

Book Description
The key to creating closer, more meaningful relationships with grown children, writes O'Connor, is learning to relate to grown children in a new way that is more sensitive than assertive, more spiritual than custodial, more nurturing than managing. Offering parents a second chance, this book presents five steps to healing that will help those who feel guilty, angry, or confused about their relationships with their adult children.

Brothers, Sisters, Strangers

Brothers, Sisters, Strangers PDF Author: Fern Schumer Chapman
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525561692
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Get Book Here

Book Description
A warm, empathetic guide to understanding, coping with, and healing from the unique pain of sibling estrangement "Whenever I tell people that I am working on a book about sibling estrangement, they sit up a little straighter and lean in, as if I've tapped into a dark secret." Fern Schumer Chapman understands the pain of sibling estrangement firsthand. For the better part of forty years, she had nearly no relationship with her only brother, despite many attempts at reconnection. Her grief and shame were devastating and isolating. But when she tried to turn to others for help, she found that a profound stigma still surrounded estrangement, and that very little statistical and psychological research existed to help her better understand the rift that had broken up her family. So she decided to conduct her own research, interviewing psychologists and estranged siblings as well as recording the extraordinary story of her own rift with her brother--and subsequent reconciliation. Brothers, Sisters, Strangers is the result--a thoughtfully researched memoir that illuminates both the author's own story and the greater phenomenon of estrangement. Chapman helps readers work through the challenges of rebuilding a sibling relationship that seems damaged beyond repair, as well as understand when estrangement is the best option. It is at once a detailed framework for understanding sibling estrangement, a beacon of solidarity and comfort for the estranged, and a moving memoir about family trauma, addiction, grief, and recovery.

When Parents Hurt

When Parents Hurt PDF Author: Joshua Coleman, PhD
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061877239
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Get Book Here

Book Description
A unique book helping parents whose relationship with their older or adult child has not turned out as they expected deal with their pain, shame, and sense of loss, and take steps toward healing. This unique book supports parents who have lost the opportunity to be the parent they desperately wanted to be and who are mourning the loss of a harmonious relationship with their child. Through case examples and healing exercises, Dr. Coleman helps parents: • Reduce anger, guilt, and shame • Learn how temperament, the teen years, their own or a partner’s mistakes, and divorce can harm the parent-child bond • Come to terms with their imperfections and their child’s • Develop strategies for reaching out and for maintaining their self-esteem through trying times • Understand how society’s expectations contribute to the risk of parental wounds. By helping parents recognize what they can do and let go of what they cannot, Dr. Coleman helps families develop more positive ways of relating to themselves and each other.

We Don't Talk Anymore

We Don't Talk Anymore PDF Author: Kathy McCoy PhD
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
ISBN: 1492651141
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 325

Get Book Here

Book Description
Understand the painful silence of estrangement and finally heal the rift Estrangement from an adult son or daughter is one of a parent's worst nightmares. Becoming estranged from a parent can be equally painful for an adult child, who may miss the relationship they once shared. For both it can mean angry silences and anguished days and nights wondering what went wrong. Written by Kathy McCoy, one of the nation's more revered experts on family relationships, We Don't Talk Anymore is a insightful and relevant new exploration of estrangement for both parents and adult children. Each chapter also provides compassionate, practical tips focused on what both parents and adult children can do, including: Finding courage to reach out to your loved one Understanding the conflict and discovering a new and fulfilling connection Letting go and rebuilding your life Families deserve clarity and understanding. We Don't Talk Anymore will show you those first steps toward dealing with a painful topic and finally healing.

Done With The Crying WORKBOOK: for Parents of Estranged Adult Children

Done With The Crying WORKBOOK: for Parents of Estranged Adult Children PDF Author: Sheri McGregor
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780997352245
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 110

Get Book Here

Book Description
WORKBOOK of exercises to accompany the award winning self-help title: Done With The Crying: Help and Healing for Mothers of Estranged Adult Children by Sheri McGregor, M.A.

When Your Adult Child Breaks Your Heart

When Your Adult Child Breaks Your Heart PDF Author: Joel Young
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1493003968
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 267

Get Book Here

Book Description
Behind nearly every adult who is accused of a crime, becomes addicted to drugs or alcohol, or who is severely mentally ill and acting out in public, there is usually at least one extremely stressed-out parent. This parent may initially react with the bad news of their adult child behaving badly with, "Oh no!" followed by, "How can I help to fix this?" A very common third reaction is the thought, "Where did I go wrong--was it something I said or did, or that I failed to do when my child was growing up that caused these issues? Is this really somehow all my fault?" These parents then open their homes, their pocketbooks, their hearts, and their futures to "saving" their adult child--who may go on to leave them financially and emotionally broken. Sometimes these families also raise the children their adult children leave behind: 1.6 million grandparents in the U.S. are in this situation. This helpful book presents families with quotations and scenarios from real suffering parents (who are not identified), practical advice, and tested strategies for coping. It also discusses the fact that parents of adult children may themselves need therapy and medications, especially antidepressants. The book is written in a clear, reassuring manner by Dr. Joel L. Young, medical director of the Rochester Center for Behavioral Medicine in Rochester Hills, Michigan; with noted medical writer Christine Adamec, author of many books in the field. In the wake of the Newtown shooting and the viral popularity of the post "I Am Adam Lanza's Mother," America is now taking a fresh look, not only at gun control, but also on how we treat mental illness. Another major issue is our support or stigmatization of those with adult children who are a major risk to their families as well to society itself. This book is part of that conversation.