Book Bearings
Cover of Toxic Parents by Susan Forward

Toxic Parents

  • 326 pages · about 5 hours
  • First published 1988
  • 12 editions

Bookshop.org links may earn us a commission. It supports independent bookstores and costs you nothing.

1 About this book

When you were a child...Did your parents tell 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 frightened of your parents? Did your parents do anything to you that had to be kept secret?

Now that you are 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 parents control you with threats or guilt? Do they manipulate you with money? Do you feel that no matter what you do, it's never good enough for your parents?

In this remarkable self-help guide, Dr. Susan Forward drawn on case histories and the real-life voices of adult children of toxic parents to help you free yourself from the frustrating patterns of your relationship with your parents -- and discover an exciting new world of self-confidence, inner strength, and emotional independence.

  • Self-help
  • Child abuse
  • Codependency
  • Problem families
  • Adult child abuse victims
  • Dysfunctional families
  • Adult Survivors of Child Abuse
  • Parenting

2 About Susan Forward

1938–2020

Susan Forward was an American clinical social worker and best-selling author who coined the term "emotional blackmail". Her book Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them was a No. 1 New York Times best seller, and spent 40 weeks on the list. She appeared on many talk shows as a guest, including Oprah and The Today Show.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

3 More by Susan Forward

4 Similar books

Find a book that fits your moment