Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life

"Toxic Parents is wonderful and extremely useful. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the second half of the book in particular. Susan Forward has written and explained various techniques to help you re-gain control of your life. There are that many techniques and activities that I doubt you wouldn't be able to find one that works for you.

I found the book 'Controlling Parents' by Dan Neuharth to be better at explaining the different types of control and more about the insides to the problem, whereas this book I found to not be as in depth in that area. I just found that this book helped tremendously in regards to its therapy techniques.

Overall, both books work extremely well hand in hand. I recommend them both, regardless of whether you are in therapy yourself or not. There is a lot you will learn and come to understand and ways in which you can help yourself regain control of your life and independence."
~ Written on 2008-08-12

"If Susan Forward never typed another word her life would be well spent. This book should be required reading for every expectant mother or couple... the sooner we stop the legacy of bad parenting the better. Just as important adults can figure themselves out better if they get a better insight into their own childhoods.

I think one of the great unsung books on the subject of toxic parenting and the confusion it creates from an accomplished author about his own childhood is "Be Sweet" by Roy Blount Jr. It is pure genius and I highly recommend it. Interestingly, a lot of the reviewers and subsequent commenters don't "get it." I would hope that these books get discussed a lot on amazon; it is one of the greatest features of our times and can do a lot to enlighten us individually and as a society.

Along the lines of pure psychological brilliance Alice Miller and Alexis Morgan (recently changed her author's name on amazon to Nancy Carter, author of "Fortresses to Build") are also incredible. "
~ Written on 2008-07-05

"I read this book when it first came out in the early 90s. It made me realize that my sister and I were not crazy - our mother was! Our mother had caused us a lot of pain with her belief that her needs always needed to come first. The book opened my eyes. We eventually both broke it off with the selfish monster and led much happier lives. Incredible book."
~ Written on 2008-06-21

"I found this book to be incredibly eye-opening and helpful, both as the daughter of a toxic mother and the parent of two children. The only thing that I am not sure about is whether confronting the toxic parent is always the best option. The most obvious questions in my mind were "What's the point? Why do you still want ANY relationship with this person? Why do you feel you owe this person ANYTHING? At what cost are you willing to keep trying?" Several years ago I made the very difficult decision to end my relationship with my mother when, after years of trying so hard to keep some relationship going and suffering for it, I finally found the courage to ask "what's in it for me?" and realized the answer was "absolutely nothing positive whatsoever". Also, being disgusted by her interactions with my children was a big factor. I profoundly miss having a mother, but I do not miss her or her poison. "
~ Written on 2008-06-11

"Wow. I devoured this book. I found it riveting, fascinating, absorbing - I couldn't put it down. I am intrigued by books that help me understand how people work. Why does my friend have these emotional issues? How has a troubled relationship with her father affected the rest of her life? This book does an amazing job of explaining the psychology of those questions. Plus, it was an enjoyable read. Usually books like this have a tendency to go over the head of the average person. But this was written in an easy writing style. I laughed and cried with the people who were featured as cases."
~ Written on 2008-04-17