Father Wound

Break Unhealthy Patterns to Reclaim Your Worth and Power

By: MSW LCSW Terri Cole

From bestselling author and psychotherapist Terri Cole comes The Father Wound, the first book of its kind on the impact of emotionally unavailable, absent, immature, or harmful father figures.

Damaging father-daughter relationships persist, creating lifelong problems for women into adulthood. In this first of its kind book, psychotherapist Terri Cole applies her unique wisdom to this often-ignored personal and societal phenomenon. Cole dispels myths, identifies the effects of father wounds, and offers a path to heal the resulting cycles of shame, guilt, and anger.

Father wounds aren’t just caused by abusive fathers, or only apply to biological fathers. They also permeate relationships where father figures are inconsistent, emotionally unavailable, absent, or immature. Cole invites readers to understand their unique Father Wound Blueprint—a set of deeply ingrained beliefs, values, and behaviors based on childhood experience, culture, society, and family. Through this discovery, Cole moves readers into active healing, starting with the crucial step of grieving the father relationship, and providing tools that allow readers to reparent themselves, break intergenerational cycles, and reclaim joy, pleasure and sensuality.

“At its core, a father wound is a worthiness wound,” writes Cole. “It's where you learned that you weren't good enough to be worthy of love and attention.” With Cole’s insightful guidance, filled with body-based somatic practices, integration exercises, and actionable steps, Father Wound helps readers move towards transformation, ensuring the healing work continues beyond reading.

Critic reviews

Praise for Boundary Boss and Too Much:

“This powerful book is a clear path to deep healing work. If you’re ready for true emotional freedom, let Boundary Boss show you the way. And thank you, Terri Cole! Your brilliant (and often hilarious!) guidance is a blessing to us all.” —Kris Carr, New York Times bestselling author

“Not only does Terri have such actionable and poignant insights, but she approaches it with such levity and grace. I will never be the same after reading this book and suggest it to any modern woman of today.” —Krista Williams, cohost of the Almost 30 podcast