Difficult Mothers Understanding and Overcoming Their Power

by Apter, Terri

• ISBN13: 9780393081022
• ISBN10: 0393081028
• Edition: 00
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-05-07
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

Mother love is often seen as sacred, but for many children the relationship is a painful struggle. Using the newest research on human attachment and brain development, Terri Apter, an internationally acclaimed psychologist and writer, unlocks the mysteries of the complicated bond. She showcases the five different types of difficult mother-the angry mother, the controlling mother, the narcissistic mother, the envious mother, and the emotionally neglectful mother-and reveals the patterns of behavior seen in each type. She explains why a mother has such a powerful impact on us and why we continue to care about her responses long after we have outgrown our dependence, and she shows how we can conduct an emotional audit on ourselves to overcome the power of the complex feelings a difficult mother inflicts. In the end the book acknowledges the extra challenges facing sons and daughters of difficult mothers but also celebrates their great resilience.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. vii
Difficult Mothers: Common Patterns	p. 1
The Science Behind a Mother's Power	p. 23
The Angry Mother	p. 43
The Controlling Mother	p. 75
The Narcissistic Mother	p. 93
The Envious Mother	p. 115
The Emotionally Unavailable Mother	p. 133
Am I a Difficult Mother?	p. 161
Resilience: Overcoming a Difficult Mother's Power	p. 187
Notes	p. 207
Bibliography	p. 217
Acknowledgments	p. 227
Index	p. 229
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.