Showing results by publisher "-emdashery books-" in Dysfunctional Families

In this compelling and heartfelt memoir, writer Molly McAleer chronicles the discovery of her father's addiction and subsequent death, how true love saved her life and how she kind of sort of got tricked into going to rehab. She knows you'll probably never believe her side of the story, so she also interviews friends, ex-friends, and her acupuncturist about her history of substance abuse, flailing through her twenties and what kind of person she really is.

Kind and loyal, Elva was a shy young girl from a typical English seaside town who was swept off her feet by a handsome older Italian bodybuilder. It was all she had ever wanted; the promise of life as a loving mother and devoted wife. But a dark secret from her past left her vulnerable to Bruno's brooding, possessive nature, and behind closed doors, Elva's family idyll turned into a reign of terror of both mental and physical abuse for her and her children. Their daughter Natalia speaks for the first time about how the family suffered.

The Silence Between Us is a raw and original double memoir tracing a mother and daughter as they try to understand and rebuild their relationship after the daughter's suicide attempt. Because Oceane had just turned 18 when she attempts to end her life, the hospital has to respect her request: to not notify her parents. But despite the distance between them, Cécile knows something is wrong with her fiercely independent daughter. As Cécile steps in to care for Oceane, the two reckon with things left unsaid and begin to rebuild a relationship that is both fragile and beautiful.

If You’ve Ever Felt Controlled, Gaslit, or Powerless in a Conversation… This book is for you! Do you constantly find yourself on the losing side of influence? Ever walked away from a conversation feeling manipulated but couldn’t prove it? Do you feel like others are pulling the strings in your relationships, career, or social life… and you can’t figure out how to fight back? Most people are completely blind to the psychological tactics being used against them every single day—by narcissists, salespeople, partners, bosses, and even “friends”.

When we fall in love and find the perfect person of our dreams, most of us don’t stop to evaluate their family. Sadly, the man or women of your dreams can have parents who can literally derail your marriage, taking it from a fairy tale to a nightmare, in what feels like an instant. One of my favorite quotes is: “When did my life go from a Hallmark movie to a Lifetime movie?” This was my life.

You've made a commitment to see your marriage healed, so now what? Whether your relationship is recovering from an affair, pornography addiction, or just years of coasting, Cindy Beall shares from her redeemed-marriage journey to help you heal deeply by restoring faith in a future, build wisely from the foundation up, invest generously in your marriage and in other people, and much more.

This haunting yet wry coming-of-age memoir set at an all-girls summer camp fast-forwards decades into the future as Barbara Graham grapples with the knowledge that the "love affair" she believed she'd shared with her female camp counselor in the 1960s fits every definition of sexual abuse. The book will appeal to anyone who has experienced a betrayal of trust or conflated love and abuse.

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.

Imagine never being able to close your eyes and remember the feel of your mother’s arms wrapped around you. Now imagine closing your eyes and remembering your mother’s tears splashing down on your face as she is on top of you, crying as she is trying to choke you to death. My mother left me these memories and many more during my traumatic childhood. After many years of struggling with trying to understand "Why me?" I took back control of my life and started saying, "It was me, now what am I going to do?" The answer is my book, "Why Me?"

Based on over a decade of clinical and domestic abuse research, Women with Controlling Partners will help you identify the coercive constraints that can be predictive of intimate partner abuse, recognize the harmful effects of psychological abuse on your mental and physical health, and gain the personal strength and power to break free. Using the author's three-stage recovery model, you'll be empowered to move out of denial, deconstruct what holds you psychologically captive, and take back your life.

Chrissie Foster is the mother who brought the rich and powerful Catholic Church to its knees over its global abuse of children, including two of her daughters, Emma and Katie. Like the Boston Globe's Spotlight team, she built an undeniable case in her first book Hell on the Way to Heaven, which helped inspire Australian governments to hold world-leading inquiries.

Frank Senko had always known how to have a good time. But after a job change forced Frank to begin a long car commute every day, his daughter Jen noticed changes in his personality and beliefs. Long hours on the road listening to talk radio commentators like Rush Limbaugh sucked her father into a suspicion-laden worldview dominated by conspiracy theories, fake news, and rants about the "coastal elite" and "libtards" trying to destroy America.

Meredith Maran lived a daughter's nightmare: she accused her father of sexual abuse, then realized, nearly too late, that he was innocent. During the 1980s and 1990s, tens of thousands of Americans became convinced that they had repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse, and then, decades later, recovered those memories in therapy. Journalist, mother, and daughter Meredith Maran was one of them.

Does he treat you badly when no one is looking, including in the bedroom? Is he neglecting you or the opposite–do you feel like you have to give in to intimacy you don’t like and don’t want? Have you wondered if he’s cheating? Do you feel stuck and unable to leave? When you try to talk to him about it, he gives you the silent treatment or goes into a rage–he acts like he’s the victim and blames it on you. You’ve learned to walk on eggshells, and you dread going home to him.

When Michael Clark was arrested for domestic violence and his wife moved out, he saw his world falling apart. He knew this was not the person he wanted to be. He was eager to change, but didn’t know how. Everything he’d tried in the past to control his behavior had fallen short. Part memoir, part how-to, From Villain to Hero is unique among domestic violence and domestic abuse books. Michael’s true story provides listeners rare, first-hand insight into a person’s journey from being a violent and abusive partner to becoming a safe and emotionally healthy one.

Dr. Kerry McAvoy was juggling the life of an overly-committed mom, wife, and psychologist when the loss of her husband brought her world to a crashing halt. Then she meets Cesar, a charming, handsome, and ambitious man who sweeps her off her feet with the promise of new love.

Raised in the Christian patriarchy movement, Cait West was homeschooled and could only wear clothes her father deemed modest. She was five years old the first time she was told her swimsuit was too revealing, to go change. There would be no college in her future, no career. She was a stay-at-home daughter and would move out only when her father allowed her to become a wife. She was trained to serve men, and her life would never be her own.

In this brave and beautiful memoir, written with the raw honesty and devastating openness of The Glass Castle and The Liar’s Club, a woman chronicles how her marriage devolved from a love story into a shocking tale of abuse—examining the tenderness and violence entwined in the relationship...

Setting Boundaries for Survival is more than a workbook to help you heal from toxic family habits; it's a toolkit for surviving in a dysfunctional home without having to isolate yourself or sever relationships. Asking others to respect your boundaries isn't selfish. In fact, it may just be the most compassionate step you can take in life.

Ava Thomas knew leaving was the right decision. Trapped and manipulated in her relationship, and after yet another violent beating whilst she was pregnant, Ava was helped to a women's refuge with her children. Listening to the stories of other women there, Ava began thinking back to where it all started to go wrong. Brought up by a mother who never loved her, Ava sought that missing care and warmth elsewhere. Running away to her father's home as a teenager, she thought she might finally be safe. But after being abused by her own brother, she was thrown out onto the streets.