Relationships > Families

In today’s increasingly complicated world, it’s often difficult for parents to connect with their daughters–and especially so for fathers. In this unique and invaluable guide, Dr. Meg Meeker, a pediatrician with more than twenty years’ experience counseling girls, reveals that a young woman’s relationship with her father is far more important than we’ve ever realized. To become a strong, confident woman, a daughter needs her father’s attention, protection, courage, and wisdom. Dr. Me... read more

This is an easy-to-follow, practical guide to understanding how your relationship with family can affect your life. Most people's lives are complicated by family relationships. Birth order, our parents' relationship, and the 'rules' we were brought up with can affect our self-esteem and relationships with spouses, children, and other family members. "Family Ties that Bind" is an easy-to-read, practical book that explains how families function and what you can do to change the way you act in your family and with other people. Featur... read more

If you’re one of the more than 15 million stepmothers in the country, you know the particular trials—and joys—of stepfamily dynamics today. You wonder if you’re doing the right thing and, as a stepmother, many of your specific questions are unique. In this second edition of Stepmotherhood: How to Survive Without Feeling Frustrated, Left Out, or Wicked, journalist and stepmother Cherie Burns brings together countless insights and sound advice, based on the latest research and interviews with experts in ... read more

For many of us, walking through the door of our parents' home is like stepping back in time. We leave our independent adult lives out on the pavement and resume our old roles-with all the emotional baggage that goes with them. Instead of enjoying a time of togetherness and connection, most of us spend holidays and homecomings torn between resentment and sadness. But author Andra Medea, a renowned conflict management expert, believes that you can go home without going crazy, if you learn how to solve conflicts here and now. This goo... read more

Dr Phil on how to deal with family difficulties and create a strong, harmonious, lasting family.

A sister is for life: your best friend, or your worst enemy. She is the yardstick by which you measure how well you're doing and the keeper of your family secrets. She may be the first person you rush to when something wonderful happens or the one whose shoulder you cry on. She's the one you're compared to and the one to compete with. In this entertaining collection there are sisters ranging from the loving Brontes to the scrapping Mitfords (who could never remember who was in and who was out of favour), to the Pankhursts (who foug... read more

Do your relationships tend to follow the same destructive pattern? Do you feel trapped by your family's expectations of you? Does your life seem overwhelmingly governed by jealousy or competitiveness or lack of confidence? In this ground-breaking book, clinical psychologist Oliver James shows that it is the way we were cared for in the first six years of life that has a crucial effect on who we are and how we behave. Nurture, in effect, shapes our very nature. James combines the latest scientific research with fascinating interview... read more

Mother- and daughter-in-laws have one thing in common the son and husband who unites them in the relationship of being a family. To one woman, the man will always be her boy, and to the other, he will always be her man. They just need to learn how best to fit into each others lives and, well, share him.
This is a delightful and light-hearted look at what makes a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law's relationship special. It's also a glimpse into how many women who share the common bond of loving the same man and seeing him in... read more

'Grey divorceees' are remarrying in record numbers, as are their widowed and single counterparts, a trend that is shaking up their grown-children, and sending shock waves through extended families everywhere. The issues that come up when parents and their adult children clash over remarriage pack an emotional as well as financial wallop. Conflicts arise over: family rituals, inheritances and wills, trust funds and prized possessions, living arrangements, care giving and illness. Author Terri P. Smith has interviewed dozens of famil... read more

Based on the public television series of the same name, Bradshaw On: The Family is John Bradshaw's seminal work on the dynamics of families that has sold more than a million copies since its original publication in 1988. Within its pages, you will discover the cause of emotionally impaired families. You will learn how unhealthy rules of behavior are passed down from parents to children, and the destructive effect this process has on our society. Using the latest family research and recovery material in this new edition, Bradshaw a... read more

In this inspiring book, Wayne Muller draws on eighteen years of work with adult children of troubled families to show how hard-won wisdom born of hurt can become a powerful source of strength and peace. He teaches us how to recognize and transform the damaging effects of childhood wounds and rediscover our natural vitality, creativity, and joy. A gentle, entirely new approach to uncovering a source of spiritual strength hidden in the scars of childhood. Wayne Muller brings together the teachings of many different religions and s... read more

Life as a preteen (a.k.a. 'tween') can be challenging. Life as a step-kid can be equally tough. Put them together, and it can be like climbing Mount Everest...daily. Step-tweens are not only caught between childhood and teenage - they're also often caught between two parents, two families, and two homes. This book lets them know they are not alone, helps them identify and express their feelings, and teaches them how to effectively communicate their wants and needs. The engaging format includes lively illustrations, quizzes, advice ... read more

How do middle-aged parents cope with sharing their homes with young adult children? Examines this modern phenomenon with sympathy, humour and wisdom. Offers strategies and insights to help parents and adult children survive and learn to live together.

In Dr. Phil's #1 New York Times bestseller Family First: Your Step-by-Step Plan for Creating a Phenomenal Family, he gives parents courage and a solid understanding of the principles for making your family phenomenal. Now, with The Family First Workbook: Specific Tools, Strategies and Skills for Creating a Phenomenal Family, Dr. Phil puts you to work practicing purposeful parenting, walking you through scenarios and exercises in which you and your family will act on these proven principles to build pride, unity and hope for... read more

As the baby-boomers age, increasing numbers of people are facing difficult questions about the care of their parents and how they themselves will cope with retirement. Facing Age is a practical self-help guide that explains how mainstream professionals deal with ageing, death and its aftermath. Ageing is considered from three points of view: The ageing parents; The family; Individuals concerns. Facing Age provides immediate practical advice on a wide range of relevant issues, including making the most of retirement, choosing the ri... read more

Family relationships are probably the most complex and far-reaching you'll ever experience. This text contains tried-and-tested strategies for making family life safer, warmer, less frustrating and more nurturing all round.

Are you the child of toxic parents? When you were a child... - Did your parents tell you 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 often frightened of your parents?- Did your parents do anything to you that had to be kept secret? Now that you' re 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... read more

The most important job parents have is to pass basic virtues on to their children, and this invaluable book is designed to help make that job a little easier.
Compiled by The Virtues Project, an international organization dedicated to inspiring spiritual growth in young and old alike, this multicultural, interfaith handbook shows parents and teachers how to turn words into actions and ideals into realities. Drawn from the world's religions, the 52 virtues included here - one for each week of the year - nurture togetherness in... read more

More than half a million parents confront the empty nest for the first time each year. It is one of the most challenging phases of parenting, often creating feelings of loss, lack of purpose and crisis of identity which can lead to depression. Yet it receives little recognition. And contrary to popular opinion it doesn't only affect women who've put their careers on hold: working mothers and fathers suffer too. Equally, it can be a period of liberation and discovery of new challenges, when marriages long overstressed by childcare c... read more

After learning she had breast cancer, Kathy Weingarten - a family therapist and mother of two - became acutely aware of the crippling cultural messages about mothering that kept her from sharing herself intimately with her children. "I wanted to understand why I was so willing to let my children express themselves, " she writes, "but so uncertain how to express myself with them." Drawing on the tools and case histories of her professional life, the example of her own loving (and beloved) but constrained mother, and the experience o... read more