Showing titles in Dysfunctional Families

When Misty was six years old, her family started to live and dress like the Amish. Misty and her sister were kept as slaves on a mountain ranch where they were subjected to almost complete isolation, sexual abuse, and extreme physical violence. When Misty reached her teens, her parents feared she and her sister would escape and took them to an Amish community where they were adopted and became baptized members. Misty was devastated to once again find herself in a world of fear, animal cruelty, and sexual abuse.

Jadie never spoke. She never laughed, or cried, or uttered any sound. Despite efforts to reach her, Jadie remained locked in her own troubled world - until one remarkable teacher persuaded her to break her self-imposed silence. Nothing in all of Torey Hayden's experience could have prepared her for the shock of what Jadie told her - a story too horrendous for Torey's professional colleagues to acknowledge.

The story fast forwards to 1996 when a suspicious death in the family leaves the fate of two young boys in the hands of Tom’s dysfunctional family. Tom, the quintessential lifetime bachelor, and geeky Don Draper is thrust headfirst back into the mayhem of his family’s hippie lifestyle.

A pioneering physician reveals how childhood stress can lead to lifelong health problems, and shows us what we can do to break the cycle. Two-thirds of us have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience, or ACE, such as abuse, neglect, parental substance dependence, or mental illness...

In Gay Girl, Good God, author Jackie Hill Perry shares her own story, offering practical tools that helped her in the process of finding wholeness. Jackie grew up fatherless and experienced gender confusion. She embraced masculinity and homosexuality with every fiber of her being. She knew that Christians had a lot to say about all of the above. But was she supposed to change herself? How was she supposed to stop loving women, when homosexuality felt more natural to her than heterosexuality ever could?

Submitting to unwanted sex destroyed Kate’s love for her husband But she considered killing herself before she could imagine leaving In this electrifying literary memoir, Kate Hamilton deftly traces her complicated journey from loving wife to gaslit victim to furious feminist with an urgent...

Born in the Philippines, young Grace Talusan moves with her family to a New England suburb in the 1970s. At school, she confronts racism as one of the few kids with a brown face. At home, the confusion is worse: her grandfather's nightly visits to her room leave her hurt and terrified, and she learns to build a protective wall of silence that maps onto the larger silence practiced by her Catholic Filipino family. Later, she learns that her family history is threaded with violence and abuse. Despite all this, she finds love, and success as a teacher.

A moving, compelling memoir about growing up and escaping the tragic legacy of mental illness, suicide, addiction, and depression in one of America's most famous families: the Hemingways.

Do you struggle with insecurity, anxiety, or difficulty setting boundaries? Our childhood experiences—from overt trauma like abuse to subtle hardships like bullying or neglect—profoundly shape our emotional responses, often leaving us disconnected from our true selves.

Do you feel like you are living a lie? Do you always feel at fault? Do you doubt every move you make? Are relationships like war zones in your life? Do you attract toxic situations? Do you shrink inside your uncomfortable skin? These are some of the many valid emotions that arise from dysfunctional interaction with a narcissistic carer. Being born to a narcissistic mother can be one of the most destructive scenarios to face, and some daughters never find peace, not even after the death of their mother. This book addresses the realities of maternal narcissistic victimization.

Emily Smith was held in a prison of fear for 10 years. When she was four, her father left and a new man was brought into her life. He loved her, he kept telling her so, but the emotional and physical abuse she suffered at his hands were a daily nightmare. Until one day, after he crept into her bedroom, her life became unbearable. Emily found she was different in another way as her autism became more noticeable and punishments for her 'abnormal' behaviour more severe. Astonishingly, she managed to escape her home of hell, where she was abused right in front of her mother.

This easy-to-understand book explains the standard process from start to finish - through being completely bowled over and convinced that one has found their true soul mate to the games and tests narcissists play once the partner has been successfully seduced. This is a form of narcissistic handbook, essential to keep close at hand when our head is saying one thing but our heart is saying another.

This book teaches people to connect their non-productive present-life circumstances with the source causes, and provides tested methods to change those that can and should be changed. The reader will begin to discover hope that healthy change is possible and gather determination to seek help to make those changes. This book identifies the victim, rescuer and persecutor personalities set forth in earlier ground-breaking work (and bestsellers) by Eric Berne, Claude Steiner and Thomas A. Harris. “Breaking Free…” builds upon this sturdy foundation of conflict resolution and takes the ...

Nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature ""An absolute must-read"" – Shondaland “[Rabbit] tells how it went down with brutal honesty and outrageous humor” – New York Times They called her Rabbit. Patricia Williams (aka Ms. Pat) was born and raised in Atlanta at the...

The family court system is meant to protect domestic violence victims, yet too often, it becomes an endless labyrinth that traps them inside. Abusers weaponize our judicial system to instill their revenge, from long, drawn-out divorces and custody battles to forcing their victims to spend thousands of dollars and endless time in court. In her new book, Kaytee Gillis tells the story of those victims trying to defend themselves against the revenge of post-separation abuse while navigating that legal labyrinth. When our judicial system fails to protect victims from this abuse, they give ...

_______________________ PRAISE FOR DR. MARSHACK’S LATEST READ ON NAVIGATING A NEURODIVERGENT LIFE“Empathy Is More Than Words” is an excellent addition to Dr. Kathy Marshack’s line of books that serve as primers on relating to people who lack Empathy because of Autism, “Asperger Syndrome,” Traumatic Brain Injury, addiction, or illness. She takes a deep dive into the essence of Empathy. _______________________ Enter a roomful of people and, if you have Empathy, you unconsciously gauge who has—or doesn’t have—Empathy. How is it that you can do so, but those without Empathy ...

A searing investigation into the child influencer industry and the perils of childhood internet fame, Like, Follow, Subscribe is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the costs of internet fame, and the ethics of online content. What is it like to grow up with a camera in your face...

Verbal abuse permeates our culture — from the privacy of our own homes to the public glare of our schools, workplaces, and other institutions. But you don’t have to live with it. With Patricia Evans’ assistance, you’ll achieve the clarity you need to build a new life — far from senseless accusations, wounding words, and confusing comments that have taken an untold toll on your psyche. You’ll find validation, and learn to believe in yourself — and a better future — once more.

At seven years old, little Darlene lived a seemingly charmed life-the youngest of five in an upper-middle-class Midwestern family. But that illusion shattered when her two oldest brothers began assaulting her, binding her to silence with threats, fear, and shame. But, as Darlene would discover, secrets eventually leak out. Faced with a lawsuit filed by one of her brothers, Darlene was forced to choose-stay silent or tell the truth.

The only way to get over it is to get through it. Help is here. High-Conflict Divorce for Women has everything that divorce books for women should have - practical strategies, helpful scripts, and realistic advice on how to navigate and cope with a difficult divorce. From understanding the legalities of divorce, to developing a post-divorce budget, and more, this book goes beyond other divorce books for women to offer a wide range of strategies for getting through each stage of the process. Plus, you'll discover tips for emotional and physical self-care and mitigating stress.