Books like Emotionally Absent Mother by Alden Shifflette

A practical guide for adult children of abusive parents, offering steps to break free from toxic patterns and rebuild confidence and emotional independence.

A young boy comforts his father after his mother’s untimely death, focusing on the themes of grief and loss in the context of family dynamics and the unexpected arrival of a new child.

The Drama of the Gifted Child explains how repressed emotions from an abusive childhood create lifelong feelings of emptiness and alienation, offering readers a path to reclaim personal truth and essential needs.

"The first book specifically for daughters suffering from the emotional abuse of selfish, self-involved mothers, Will I Ever Be Good Enough? provides the expert assistance you need in order to overcome this debilitating history and reclaim your life for yourself. Drawing on over two decades of experience as a therapist specializing in women's psychology and health, psychotherapist Dr. Karyl McBride helps you recognize the widespread effects of this maternal emotional abuse and guides you as you create an individualized program for self-protection, resolution, and complete recovery." "Herself the recovering daughter of a narcissistic mother, Dr. McBride includes her personal struggle, which adds a profound level of authority to her work, along with the perspectives of the hundreds of suffering daughters she's interviewed over the years. Their stories of how maternal abuse has manifested in their lives - as well as how they have successfully overcome its effects - show you that you're not alone and that you can take back your life and have the control you want. Warm and sympathetic, filled with the examples of women who have established healthy boundaries with their hurtful mothers, Will I Ever Be Good Enough? encourages and inspires you as it aids your recovery."--Jacket.

"This book is not about what happened to you as a child; it's about what failed to happen for you as a child. It's an extremely subtle, almost invisible factor called emotional neglect, and it disrupts one's life in untold ways. Psychologist Jonice Webb, PhD shows how emotional neglect in childhood has an insidious effect on us as adults, causing us to struggle with self-discipline and self-care, or to feel unworthy, disconnected, and unfulfilled. People experience childhood emotional neglect to varying degrees--from a few subtle but important events to an entire childhood that's defined by it. This is the first book to give it a name and delve into the profound and often perplexing ways it influences our adult satisfaction and happiness."--