Showing results for "LIFE" in Dysfunctional Families

Evan Stark, founder of one of America's first battered women's shelters, shows how "domestic violence" is neither primarily domestic nor necessarily violent, but a pattern of controlling behaviors more akin to terrorism and hostage-taking. Drawing on court records, interviews, and FBI statistics, Stark details coercive strategies that men use to deny women their very personhood, from "beeper games" to food logs to micromanaging dress, speech, sexual activity, and work.

A highly illuminating examination of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) and its insidiously traumatic impact on family members and partners. Packed with insight, compassion, and practical strategies for recovery, this is a must-read for survivors and clinicians alike. Narcissistic...

As a young adult, years after her physical abuse has ended, Maggie Walters struggles with an unpredictable temper and socially difficult behaviour. After several false starts she finds a therapist who she trusts, just enough, to start talking about the childhood locked away behind the anger and isolation she has learnt to live with. Eventually she is diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder, MPD (now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID). Gradually, she understands.

A worship disorder: This is how Edward T. Welch views addictions. "Will we worship our own desires or will we worship the true God?" With this lens the author discovers far more in Scripture on addictions than passages on drunkenness.

In this groundbreaking audiobook, business consultant Patrick Lencioni turns his sights on the most important organization in our lives–the family. Lencioni realized the discrepancy between the time and energy his clients put into running their organizations and the reactive way most people...

A riveting family drama evocative of Angela’s Ashes and The Glass Castle, about a woman who discovers the shocking secret at the center of her mother’s life. Justine had always been told that her mother came from royal blood. The proof could be found in her mother’s elegance, her...

A beautiful, startling, and candid memoir about growing up without boundaries, in which Ariel Leve recalls with candor and sensitivity the turbulent time she endured as the only child of an unstable poet for a mother and a beloved but largely absent father, and explores the consequences of a...

“Heart-pounding, illuminating, and ominously timeless” (Gina Frangello), this honest and poignant memoir reflects on a woman’s escape from a violent marriage and what it cost to protect her and her family’s safety. “Once upon a time, I disappeared.” So begins Karen Palmer’s...

Jackson is aggressive, confrontational and often volatile. His mother, Kayla, is crippled with grief after tragically losing her husband and eldest son. Struggling to cope, she puts Jackson into foster care. Cathy, his carer, encourages Jackson to talk about what has happened to his family, but...

When 16-year-old Jess arrives on foster carer Maggie Hartley's doorstep with her newborn son, Jimmy, she has nowhere else to go. Arriving straight from the hospital, having just given birth, Jess is like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Scared, alone, and practically a child herself, she is overwhelmed with the responsibility of caring for a newborn without the support of a loving family or her beloved boyfriend. With social services threatening to take baby Jimmy into care, Jess knows that Maggie is her only chance.

Quiet streets hide the worst crimes Manchester’s Manor Estate is the kind of place people want to live – smart houses, neighbours who look out for you. But what if you don’t want to be seen? Behind the tidy front gardens and glossy painted doors it seems everyone’s got something to hide...

People can buy your silence, but not your loyalty… Macy Taylor was born in the shadow of Tavistock Square, at the heart of her Manchester estate. It’s got a reputation as a place where bad things happen. But it’s kept her secrets and she’s kept its code of silence. If you need something...

A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR USA TODAY BOOK CLUB PICK ONE OF AUDIBLE'S BEST BIOS AND MEMOIRS OF 2023 “A raw, intimate look at [Hendrickson's] life with a stutter. It’s a profoundly moving book that will reshape the way you think about people living with this condition...

Have you ever wanted to be someone else? Vanessa has always found it easy to pretend to be somebody different, somebody better. When things get tough in her real life, all she has to do is throw on some nicer clothes, adopt a new accent and she can escape. That's how it started: looking round houses she couldn't possibly afford. Harmless fun really. Until it wasn't. Because a man who lived in one of those houses is dead. And everyone thinks Vanessa killed him.

Cult victims and those who have experienced abusive relationships often suffer from fear, confusion, low self-esteem, and post-traumatic stress. Take Back Your Life explains the seductive draw that leads people into such situations, provides insightful information for assessing what happened, and hands-on tools for getting back on track.

A shocking true story that reveals how one woman was tormented to the very depths of despair by her husband through coercive control and continual physical and sexual abuse. Broken in mind, body and spirit and completely isolated from the rest of the world, Hannah thinks she’ll never find the...

Casey’s Unit is, as ever, full of troubled, disaffected pupils, and new arrival Leo is something of a conundrum. Thirteen year old Leo isn’t a bad lad – in fact, he’s generally polite and helpful, but he’s in danger of permanent exclusion for repeatedly absconding and unauthorised...

Can I Let You Go? is the true story of Faye, a wonderful young woman who may never be able to parent her unborn child. Faye is 24, pregnant, and has learning difficulties as a result of her mother’s alcoholism. Faye is gentle, childlike and vulnerable, and normally lives with her grandparents...

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER A heartbreaking memoir from a girl who escaped county line trafficking only to become prey to other abusers… Emily has always felt like an outsider, so when a family friend takes her under his wing she is delighted. But soon it becomes clear that his motives...

Control. Jealousy. Isolation. Blame. Anger. Violence. The inspiring true story of a young woman who suffered a terrifyingly abusive relationship culminating in a horrific acid attack from the man who claimed to love her. Adele was just 23 years old when she was scarred for life by an acid attack...