Healing from the Effects of Growing Up with Emotionally Immature Parents: A Guide for Adult Children of Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents

Yvonne Rupende: Book helped me with some difficult relationships.

I liked the subjects cover. All on point. Most of all loved the steps and guides for self discovery and action.

Dislikes: none

United Kingdom on Nov 20, 2023

Coffee is Helpful: This book both validates and hurts my feelings. Overall it was exactly what I needed to help overcome some issues in my past. I love that it came so quickly and at such a great price. Highly recommend.

United States on Nov 14, 2023

Kristen Brooke: Read it. So worth it. It really was an easy read and overall life-changing. I'm currently 35 weeks pregnant and purchased this when I was about 18 weeks pregnant after getting in a car accident and dealing with a new wave of prenatal anxiety and depression. I think the trauma from the car accident triggered a lot of unresolved things to come up and I started entering a difficult mental state. I knew things had to change and was recommended to read this book by my therapist and I'm super glad I gave it a read. I recommend getting the colorful bookmark tabs and maybe a highlighter and highlighting what speaks to you and bookmarking different parts of the book by color in which they make you feel if that makes sense? Most of all, I felt very seen after reading this book. I'm learning how to navigate my relationships now from A New Perspective that is healthy for me and also I feel more equipped for what kind of parent I would like to be. 10/10!!!!!

United States on Nov 13, 2023

Mallory Fritsch: Got this book to aid my journey of healing while I do not have a therapist. It was a good read and taught me a lot. The stories from others helped show I was not alone and that I could grow more as a person to heal from my childhood. The interactive nature helped to parse out issues and see them plainly. Gibson wrote this very well and makes it feel like talking with someone rather than being filled with psychiatric babble. At times I found myself bored with the content and activities, but I still think they're useful for others. A great book to start a journey to healing!

United States on Nov 08, 2023

LD13: It took me 5 months to finish this book. I wanted to give up so many times because facing generational patterns, abuse, triggers and your own past, unacceptable behavior can be heavy. I have been in trauma therapy working on personal and family issues (mostly my mom) and this book really helped explain the “why and how” of a dysfunctional parent. I always wondered why I felt so emotionally lonely and acted certain ways I did not want to. Abandonment and rejection are major themes in each chapter. I identified with these topics so much….I never could put words or a clear thought to being unwanted, unworthy and unloved until now. I have now made peace with the fact my mom was going through her own mess and did not have the tools to cope. I no longer hold that against her and I no longer maladaptively cope with disorders and addictions I used for 20+ years to numb my perceived unworthiness, rejection and low self esteem. If you suffer with addiction due to emotionally immature parents behavior/words, please get help outside of this book. Speak up. Your life is worth it! Therapy, support groups, exercise, creativity, learning the concepts in this book and a willingness to change...

United States on Oct 31, 2023

sulkycat: This is an interesting book, written in an accessible way.

I'm half way through and finding it useful, it's clear, not too 'hippy speak', and it's helping put some thoughts in order.
Obviously it won't be perfect for everyone, but I'm happy with it. It's aimed at adults.

Bear in mind there are some Americanisms, but I think the bulk of the book so far is readable.

Thanks for reading, I hope you find this review helpful.

United Kingdom on Oct 29, 2023

Daniel: This book is incredibly fluid in its introduction and chapters. I have been going through therapy and my therapist recommended this book to me and after having the pleasure to read it, I’m very grateful to know I am not alone in my upbringing or the way my parents were towards me. Forgiveness shouldn’t come at a price, and nor should your ability to function like an adult either. This was an extremely satisfying read and now I am looking forward to pondering on it and how I can use it in my everyday life while continuing on my journey to heal and to live a happy and successful life based on my wants and needs. Thank you

United States on Oct 27, 2023

Martina: Here's my reading experience:
- a lot of head nodding and delight to have the right language for my experiences;
- a lot of gasping due to hyper-specific instances that I could relate to, way too clearly;
- an incurable itch to share snippets with a few people in my life who would benefit from this 'enlightenment' (I did end up passing this one to a few friends already);
-the strongest desire to go back in time and read this as a teenager.

I wish I had read this book sooner!

Finally, some validation to my family's repeated claim that I am "too sensitive" and guess what: its more a reflection of their own emotional deficiencies than my own!

This book filled a much-needed role of showing what healthy behaviors I should expect in relationships and what healthy behaviors I do need to work on my own. Still a work in progress.

Either way I call this a win.

Italy on Oct 17, 2023

Natalia: TL;DR or should you read this book? Answer: yes

Was your childhood a bumpy road but you don't know how to describe what exactly happened?
Do you do things in your adult life in a way that prevents you from having a fulfilled life?
Do you still struggle? And with what even? And why?
But you want to understand those vague or maybe quite vivid feelings of yours better so that you can live your life finally?
Come close, my friend. I'll give you a hug. Ouff! There you go. You're off to a great start, don't miss this chance. I'm excited for your adventure. This book will be your guide. Maybe I'll meet you somewhere else later in life. If our paths cross - let me know you read the book after my words. It will fill my heart. Now off you go. Go read it. It's good.

My review

I started my journey to healing after losing my father with whom I was very close. With therapy and the help of this book I discovered that - although still strong and binding and grief inducing - this closeness was due to me taking up a certain role self and trying and trying and trying to become seen, acknowledged, and validated by him and my mother, as opposed to my brother who never...

Netherlands on Oct 12, 2023

soCashful: Oh gosh. Please! That is not a scab I can afford to pick right now! Here I was, 10 pages deep in the sample downloaded onto my Kindle on a Monday night, thinking to myself, whilst dazed at the accuracy with which Gibson's words described some essences of my very own upbringing and adult life. I mustered great efforts over years to build a new-self (or role-self as the book would call it) that mostly runs emotionally detached, for such M.O. appears to have always functioned well as a survival mechanism for me, in work and in life. So as much as I love being understood, I was not the least ready to have my new-self fractured by a simple 4 hour read.
But then, rather organically, I let go of that. My experience transformed from rejection to acceptance, as very quickly, I found myself being read like a book by the book.
I wished for more of being heard, understood and advised by the loveable tone Gibson applied consistently throughout the writing of ACEIP.

Just weeks before encountering this read, I was faced with a major family struggle of my own, where I fear for loss of integrity as a result of suspending contact with my biological parents and step-parents. Removing...

Australia on Dec 22, 2020