Finally, here's a hopeful, comprehensive, and compassionate guide to navigating one of the most painful experiences for parents and their adult children alike.--Lori Gottlieb, psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

Labeled a silent epidemic by a growing number of therapists and researchers, estrangement is one of the most disorienting and painful experiences of a parent's life. Popular opinion typically tells a one-sided story of parents who got what they deserved or overly entitled adult children who wrongly blame their parents. However, the reasons for estrangement are far more complex and varied. As a result of rising rates of individualism, an increasing cultural emphasis on happiness, growing economic insecurity, and a historically recent perception that parents are obstacles to personal growth, many parents find themselves forever shut out of the lives of their adult children and grandchildren.

As a trusted psychologist whose own daughter cut off contact for several years and eventually reconciled, Dr. Joshua Coleman is uniquely qualified to guide parents in navigating these fraught interactions. He helps to alleviate the ongoing feelings of shame, hurt, guilt, and sorrow that commonly attend these dynamics. By placing estrangement into a cultural context, Dr. Coleman helps parents better understand the mindset of their adult children and teaches them how to implement the strategies for reconciliation and healing that he has seen work in his forty years of practice. Rules of Estrangement gives parents the language and the emotional tools to engage in meaningful conversation with their child, the framework to cultivate a healthy relationship moving forward, and the ability to move on if reconciliation is no longer possible.

While estrangement is a complex and tender topic, Dr. Coleman's insightful approach is based on empathy and understanding for both the parent and the adult child.

Are you struggling to connect with your child now that they've left the nest? Are you feeling the tension and heartache as your relationship dynamic begins to change? In Doing Life with Your Adult Children, bestselling author and parenting expert Jim Burns provides practical advice and hopeful encouragement for navigating this tough yet rewarding transition.

If you've raised a child, you know that parenting doesn't stop when they turn eighteen. In many ways, your relationship gets even more complicated--your heart and your head are as involved as ever, but you can feel things shifting, whether your child lives under your roof or rarely stays in contact.

Doing Life with Your Adult Children helps you navigate this rich and challenging season of parenting. Speaking from his own personal and professional experience, Burns offers practical answers to the most common questions he's received over the years, including:

• My child's choices are breaking my heart--where did I go wrong?
• Is it OK to give advice to my grown child?
• What's the difference between enabling and helping?
• What boundaries should I have if my child moves back home?
• What do I do when my child doesn't seem to be maturing into adulthood?
• How do I relate to my grown child's significant other?
• What does it mean to have healthy financial boundaries?
• How can I support my grown children when I don't support their values?

Including positive principles on bringing kids back to faith, ideas on how to leave a legacy as a grandparent, and encouragement for every changing season, Doing Life with Your Adult Children is a unique book on your changing role in a calling that never ends.

We have a choice in how we raise our children. Not only that, but we have a responsibility to them. In Tomorrow's Children, author Dr. Mahalia A. Hines, affectionately known as Mama Hines, a distinguished educator with more than three decades of experience, offers a profound and insightful manual. Drawing from her rich background as both a parent and educator, Hines provides a compelling guide for parents and teachers navigating the complexities of raising children in an era dominated by advancing technology.

She reflects on her personal experiences while amalgamating timeless, old school methods with essential skills required to preserve our humanity in the face of technological ascent. Tomorrow's Children:

- explores crucial themes such as self-love in an age dominated by social media;
- advocates for a return to fundamental values, urging parents to prioritize authentic human connections over digital interactions;
- delves into practical examples, encouraging simple yet powerful gestures like acknowledging others in shared spaces and fostering gratitude for those who serve us; and
- provides a roadmap for cultivating love, compassion, and light in the upbringing of our children, ensuring they're equipped with the interpersonal skills necessary for a balanced and humane future.

Mama Hines offers a heartfelt call to action in this handbook for parents, teachers, and caregivers navigating the challenges of a tech-centric society. Filled with personal stories, insights, strategies, and activities, it provides valuable tools for those impacting the lives of tomorrow's leaders and presents a roadmap for fostering love, empathy, and gratitude in future generations.

Release Guilt and Embrace Grace: A Mother's Guide to Experiencing Hope and Healing

Are you a mother trying to cope with the painful reality of your adult child's addiction or self-destructive behaviors?

Are you overwhelmed with feelings of hopelessness, fear, and despair?

Do you experience regret, as though you could have prevented this from happening to your child?

Are you worn out from trying to save them from themselves?

You are not alone. Dawn Ward has experienced a similar journey in her efforts to save her children who were struggling with substance use disorder. After years of trying to break free from feelings of guilt, shame, and self-blame, she finally surrendered her will to God and embraced His redeeming grace like never before.

From Guilt to Grace: Hope and Healing for Christian Moms of Addicted Children offers guidance to mothers grappling with the anguish of their child's addiction. Through Biblical truths and personal insights, you will discover the lies keeping you trapped in guilt and shame and experience the transforming power of God's grace to set you and your loved ones free.

From Guilt to Grace offers the kind of practical and spiritual guidance I wish I'd had on my painful journey. - Dena Yohe, Co-founder of Hope for Hurting Parents

In Done With The Crying: Help and Healing for Mothers of Estranged Adult Children, Sheri McGregor, M.A., helps kind and supportive parents who know they did their best to break free from emotional pain--and move forward in their own lives.

As a loving mother to whom the unthinkable happened, McGregor knows the horrible shock that wrings a parent dry, triggers denial, blame, anger, and shame. With empathy and understanding, as well as tools, the latest research, and insight from more than 9,000 parents of estranged adult children, McGregor helps parents of estranged adults plan ahead, prepare for emotional triggers, and prevail over setbacks and pain.

You can be happy again. In a calm yet authoritative voice, and with exercises derived from her work as a life coach and her own recovery, McGregor helps mothers who did their best to come to terms with their estranged adult child's choices, and regain their health and happiness.

To fathers of estranged adult children--this book can help you, too. Ninety-three percent of the parents who answer my survey at RejectedParents.Net are mothers, says Sheri McGregor. That's why the title is directed at them. But many of book's examples are from couples, and include the experiences of fathers. Some passages directly highlight men's reactions, including my husband's. The principles presented are relevant to fathers, and the strategies for coping can be used by anyone.

In this encouraging and comprehensive book, McGregor fully covers the phenomenon of estranged adult children from families who never expected a son or daughter to cut ties and walk away.

Nine in-depth chapters provide dozens of inspiring examples from among the thousands of parents of estranged adult children. Gain understanding and practical help from a mother who knows the pain of this devastating loss with all its uncertainty and heartache. Hope can remain, but you don't have to stay stalled, forever waiting. You can move past the disbelief and distress. Take charge. Reclaim yourself and your life--only maybe even better.

The latest research, helpful exercises, reflection prompts, and dozens of real-life examples, cover the following topics and more:

• Managing the shock of The Early Daze.


• Answering the gnawing, Why? Reasons for the growing trend of estranged adult children from loving famlies.


• Getting needed support for this often misundersood problem.


• Managing the persistent and ambiguous nature of loss from estrangement.


• The emotional impact--it's far-reaching and insidious.


• Managing the Effects on the Family.


• What it means to reconcile.


• Life Goes On. Estate planning, end-of-life decisions, grandparents' rights, and other considerations.


• Moving forward in a meaningful life.

Sheri McGregor has a Master's Degree in Human Behavior and is a certified life coach. Her work for parents of estranged adults began at her blog, RejectedParents.Net. As a writer whose soothing words help others heal, she has become a powerful and compassionate voice for parents of estranged adult children.

Congratulations, the day has finally arrived! You're officially a GROWN UP! Which is great in theory, but maybe a bit more stressful in practise...

Here's what's coming towards you very quickly...

You're going to have to learn how to cook, clean, find a job, fix your car, live away from home and manage your money. You'll need to eat the right stuff (sorry, but noodles 24/7 just won't cut it), ace the job interview, impress your boss and fix your flat tire on Monday morning so you get to work or college on time. Ideally you'll make more money than you spend, make new friends, maybe even start your own business and create a life you love.

These are all the important life skills we need to know as an adult, that we're NOT taught in school!

Right, don't panic! You're in the right place. This book will share with you the proven tips & strategies to make your adulting days the best days of your life.

In Adulting for Beginners you'll discover:

• The basics you need to stock your kitchen with to always have something to eat
• Easy meal plans and ideas to keep your body healthy, even if you hate cooking.
• How to do useful stuff like do your laundry, how to fix your toilet and never run out of toilet paper
• First aid tips, better health strategies, and how to make exercise fun
• How to choose the right apartment, house, and flatmates to avoid trouble
• Exactly how to find a job, negotiate your salary and get on the promotion fast track even if it's your first job!
• How to change your oil, fix a flat tire and look after your car even if you're not a mechanic!
• When to create a rainy day fund, 401Ks and how to manage debt without stress
• How to expand your income by becoming an entrepreneur and creating passive income opportunities
• How to make money, pay your taxes and prepare to buy a house in the future.
• And tons more grown up survival tips and tricks in this guide for students, graduates, girls, women, men and boys!

With this book you'll be able to look forward to many happy years as a successful and happy adult. So grab a copy today.

An awesome high school graduation gift

The book is also the perfect high school graduation, new job and college gift. It's packed full of adulting life hacks to help your daughter, granddaughter, niece or friend succeed in the world.

Were you raised by a narcissist? This essential guide will show you how to stop feeling invisible, quiet your critical inner voice, and start living life on your own terms.

Did you grow up with a mother who was controlling or manipulative? Was she emotionally or psychologically abusive toward you? Did she make you feel ashamed, rejected, or crazy? Was it all about her, all of the time? When your mother is a narcissist, it can damage and invalidate your sense of self, and leave you with lasting anxiety, insecurity, self-doubt, and a relentlessly critical internal voice. But there are tools you can use to move forward in your adult life with confidence. The evidence-based skills in this book will help you heal the scars of growing up with a self-absorbed and narcissistic mother.

Written by a psychologist and expert in narcissism, Adult Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers offers proven-effective strategies drawn from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to help you reduce anxiety, build confidence, overcome self-criticism, and live the life you deserve. You'll also find tons of practical tips to help you build healthy, trusting relationships; stop apologizing for the failures of others; and start trusting your own good judgment.

If you were raised by a narcissistic mother and are struggling with the lingering effects of a toxic upbringing, this is the road map you need to heal the past and thrive in the present and future.

Finally, here's a hopeful, comprehensive, and compassionate guide to navigating one of the most painful experiences for parents and their adult children alike.--Lori Gottlieb, psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

Labeled a silent epidemic by a growing number of therapists and researchers, estrangement is one of the most disorienting and painful experiences of a parent's life. Popular opinion typically tells a one-sided story of parents who got what they deserved or overly entitled adult children who wrongly blame their parents. However, the reasons for estrangement are far more complex and varied. As a result of rising rates of individualism, an increasing cultural emphasis on happiness, growing economic insecurity, and a historically recent perception that parents are obstacles to personal growth, many parents find themselves forever shut out of the lives of their adult children and grandchildren.

As a trusted psychologist whose own daughter cut off contact for several years and eventually reconciled, Dr. Joshua Coleman is uniquely qualified to guide parents in navigating these fraught interactions. He helps to alleviate the ongoing feelings of shame, hurt, guilt, and sorrow that commonly attend these dynamics. By placing estrangement into a cultural context, Dr. Coleman helps parents better understand the mindset of their adult children and teaches them how to implement the strategies for reconciliation and healing that he has seen work in his forty years of practice. Rules of Estrangement gives parents the language and the emotional tools to engage in meaningful conversation with their child, the framework to cultivate a healthy relationship moving forward, and the ability to move on if reconciliation is no longer possible.

While estrangement is a complex and tender topic, Dr. Coleman's insightful approach is based on empathy and understanding for both the parent and the adult child.

As parents of addicted adult children we need our own recovery. It's a long process and there are no shortcuts. Watching our adult child struggle with drugs and alcohol is both painful and heart wrenching. We did not choose this journey and we have no control over our sons and daughters, but we can choose how we are going to walk it out. The Choose Hope devotional offers biblical insights pertinent to the daily battle's parents wrestle with such as enabling, regret, fear, heartache, and the inability to move forward. Parents can stay hopeful even when facing the harsh realities of our loved one's substance use disorder.

• Possible reasons your mother was distracted or hurtful--and what she was unable to give
• The lasting impact of childhood emotional neglect and abuse
• How to find the child inside you and fill the mother gap through reflections and exercises
• How to secure a happier future for yourself (and perhaps for your children).

Is your child ready to launch into adulthood, or are they stuck on the runway?

Today, more young adults than ever are struggling to achieve independence. Over fifty percent of 18-29-year-olds are still living at home, and an alarming number leave home and cut ties with their parents. But what if there was a way to help your child become self-sufficient and independent while maintaining a strong, loving bond with you?

In this book, the author, a seasoned expert in the field, provides a comprehensive guide to achieving a successful launch. You'll learn the importance of practicing unconditional love to secure the relationship, even when fear, anxiety, guilt, or resentment threaten to block it. Through love and five other powerful practices-strengthening your relationship, apologizing, forgiving, showing backbone, and saying goodbye-you'll gain the tools and insights to support your child's journey to responsible independence.

Empower yourself with the knowledge to let go while sustaining a caring connection with your adult child. It's time to prepare for a launch that truly soars.

Launch Code is a beacon of wisdom and compassion for parents navigating the complexities of supporting grown-up children. With its reassuring tone and practical guidance, this book offers invaluable strategies for fostering open communication, setting healthy boundaries, and navigating the delicate balance between support and independence. Each chapter is packed with actionable advice and exercises, ensuring readers can apply the insights gained to their situations. With its blend of empathy and practicality, Launch Code is an indispensable companion for any parent seeking guidance and reassurance in supporting their adult children, offering a comforting hand through the ups and downs of this transformative journey.

Joshua Coleman, Ph.D. Author, Rules of Estrangement: Why Adult Children Cut Ties and How to Heal the Conflict

I have had the pleasure of following Jack Stoltzfus and his books on parenting over the years. Jack's latest book, the Parents Launch Code: Loving and Letting Go of Our Adult Children, addresses the precarious period when children prepare to launch into adulthood. His approach - the combination of unconditional love with backbone -- captures the meaning behind tough love, a phrase I used to describe what I learned in the '60s working with young people on the streets of Harlem. Love and backbone are the formula for the difficult and necessary balance between compassion and resolve that parenting with integrity requires. This is an essential book for parents whose children are entering adulthood.

Bill Milliken

Founder and Vice Chair, Communities in Schools

Author of Tough Love, The Last Drop Out, and From the Rearview Mirror

Uncover the hidden legacies that shape your life and learn to navigate the complex relationships with those who raised you.

Breaking the Chains of the Past is a compelling two-in-one collection that offers a powerful deep dive into the complex world of inherited family trauma and the challenges of dealing with emotionally immature parents.

In Ancestral Shadows, readers will uncover the silent, lingering impact of their ancestors' unspoken stories. This insightful book provides a profound understanding of how trauma is passed down through generations, offering strategies for identifying and healing these deep-seated wounds. With a focus on the science of intergenerational trauma, cultural contexts, and practical therapeutic approaches, Ancestral Shadows is an essential guide for anyone looking to break free from the past and foster resilience for future generations.

Complementing this journey, How to Deal With Emotionally Immature Parents confronts the problematic reality of growing up with caregivers unable to meet their children's emotional needs. This transformative guide illuminates the various profiles of emotionally immature parents. It provides readers with tools for effective communication, boundary-setting, and self-care. It is an invaluable resource for those seeking to navigate these challenging relationships and cultivate emotional maturity in their own lives.

Together, these two books form Breaking the Chains off the Past, a beacon of hope for readers determined to reshape their narratives and embrace a path of healing and growth.

Whether you're a professional in psychology or someone personally touched by these issues, this collection will empower you to release the burdens of the past and step into a brighter, more emotionally healthy future.

Heal the hidden wounds of growing up with a parent who has borderline personality disorder (BPD), develop a healthy sense of self, and reclaim your full potential.

Did you grow up with a parent who has borderline personality disorder (BPD), or you suspect they did? Was your parent's behavior unpredictable or scary? Did it seem like they were angry one minute and happy the next? Were your basic needs ignored? If so, it wasn't your fault. Children raised by a parent with BPD are subjected to a number of unhealthy and damaging behaviors--from uncontrolled anger and abuse, to gaslighting, blame-shifting, lying, and more. As a result of these experiences, you may have developed feelings of guilt, insecurity, and depression that have lingered throughout your adult life.

This compassionate guide offers a trauma-informed approach to help you recover from your toxic childhood and discover the person you were truly meant to be. You'll learn how to identify emotional and developmental wounds, and discover why interactions with your parents were so harmful to your sense of self. Then, you'll learn to create strong interpersonal boundaries and overcome feelings of guilt, anger, and low self-worth. Finally, through the act of emotional reprocessing, you'll reclaim those aspects of yourself that were lost or distorted by your trauma, so you can restart healthy growth processes and become the person you were meant to be.

If you're carrying the hidden wounds of a toxic childhood, you're not alone--and you can heal. With this practical and powerful guide, you can finally understand what happened, build a healthy sense of self, and reach your full potential.

Finally...Hope for Parents in Pain

What parent doesn't want their children to grow up to be happy, responsible adults? Yet despite parents' best efforts, most heartfelt prayers, and most loving environments, some kids never successfully make the transition to independently functioning adulthood.

Following her own journey, Allison Bottke developed a tough-love approach to parenting adult children that helps both you and your child by focusing on setting you free from the repeated pain of your adult child's broken promises, lies, and deception.

Setting Boundaries(R) with Your Adult Children offers practical hope and healing through S.A.N.I.T.Y.--a six-step program to help parents regain control in their homes and their lives.

• S = STOP Enabling, STOP Blaming Yourself, and STOP the Flow of Money
• A = Assemble a Support Group
• N = Nip Excuses in the Bud
• I = Implement Rules/Boundaries
• T = Trust Your Instincts
• Y = Yield Everything to God

As you love your child with arms and heart wide open, know that no matter what happens you are never alone. God is in control and will be with you.

- 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 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 draws 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 a new world of self-confidence, inner strength, and emotional independence.

Beyond Done With the Crying: More Answers and Advice for Parents of Estranged Adult Children contains new information and tools to help parents steer the whole family forward.

• Listen as siblings reveal their turmoil.
• Learn how cultural and familial patterns can influence estrangement or reconciliation.
• Hear from parents what reconciling really takes.

Then make sound decisions . . . and heal.

This follow-up to Sheri McGregor's highly regarded Done With The Crying: Help and Healing for Mothers of Estranged Adult Children (2016) draws from her survey of more than 50,000 parents of estranged adult children, as well as her personal experiences and hundreds of interviews with hurting families. She debunks the faulty thinking and advice of this blame-the-parent era, and provides sensible alternatives that support your well-being. McGregor's reflection points and innovative exercises promote growth and help you connect with your personal integrity and strength.

Ten thorough chapters contain relevant research, reflection questions, exercises, and common-sense advice about the gritty, complex issues parents of estranged adult children face. Expand your self-awareness, strengthen your resilience, and make sound decisions for your life, your family, and your happiness. Gain wisdom from other parents and grandparents, as well as from the grandchildren and siblings.

All parents make mistakes. Some have deep regrets for things they did or didn't do. In one chapter, these parents share how they believe they fell short and how they're managing. How long must a parent bow to guilt, pay penance, and make amends? And, deplorably, do some adult children exploit their guilt? These and other questions are answered.

For any parent of estranged adult children, reconciling may be a solo sport. Even when reconciliations do occur, their success requires wisdom and strength. That's why it's so important to empower yourself, make positive changes, and reclaim your life, even while waiting and continuing to reach out (if you choose to).

Beyond Done With The Crying: More Answers and Advice for Parents of Estranged Adult Children is filled with information and solutions to the complex, real-life problems that plague parents of estranged adult children and their families.

Estrangement leaves a confusing and frustrating legacy for the entire family. McGregor knows firsthand the grit, courage, and determination it takes to reclaim identity, remain a supportive parent to other children, and help the family move forward. In Beyond Done With the Crying, she helps you do the same.

In this groundbreaking book, a social psychologist who's been chronicling the lives of American families for over two decades confronts our deepest concerns, including our silence and self-imposed sense of isolation, when our grown kids have failed to thrive. She listens to a generation that did everything right and expected its children to grow into happy, healthy, successful adults. But they haven't, at least, not yet--and meanwhile, we're letting their problems threaten our health, marriages, security, freedom, careers or retirement, and other family relationships.

With warmth, empathy, and perspective, Dr. Adams offers a positive, life-affirming message to parents who are still trying to fix their adult children--Stop! She shows us how to separate from their problems without separating from them, and how to be a positive force in their lives while getting on with our own. As we navigate this critical passage in our second adulthood and their first, the bestselling author of I'm Still Your Mother reminds us that the pleasures and possibilities of postparenthood should not depend on how our kids turn out, but on how we do!

How will my child bond or form attachments to me?

When and how should I tell my child that he was adopted?

What should schools be told about my child?

Will adoption make adolescent upheavals more complicated?

Up-to-date, sensitive, and clear, Raising Adopted Children is the definitive resource for all adoptive parents and concerned professionals.

Raising Adopted Children is a comprehensive source of practical, reassuring advice and intelligent support for the adoptive parent. [It is also an] excellent professional resource for social workers, physicians, teachers, therapists, and others working with adopted children and their parents.
--North American Council on Adoptable Children

Melina, an adoptive parent, writes both sensibly and sensitively on many critical issues faced by parents and their adopted children from infancy through adolescence.
-- Booklist

Everyone knows some truly fine people in their thirties to sixties whose older parents treat them really badly, with hurtful sarcasm, irrational demands, constant criticism, and undeserved anger. These frustrated, unappreciated adult sons and daughters simply want to be good to their parents. Perhaps you are one of these people yourself.

In this unique handbook, Dr. Chafetz provides adult children of difficult older parents (CODOPs) the tools they need to protect themselves emotionally, effectively love their hard-to-love parents, and create a healthy legacy for their own children.

Here are thirty powerful, time-tested tools for CODOPs:

Ten concepts to empower their minds

Ten insights to comfort their hearts

Ten behavioral skills to guide their actions