Hey Everyone,
I finally got this one up!
Mothers Who Can't Love by Susan Forward is one of the first, and one of the better resources I came across when looking for recovery from being raised by a toxic mother.
One of the most notable parts of this book is that literally 50% is devoted to recovery tools. Although many of the tools offered by Susan are meant to be used with either a therapist or a role play partner (and not the fun, leather bound kind..) they can be used as thought experiments or writing exercises on your own. At the beginning of my recovery path - I felt way too vulnerable to be doing these exercises with someone else. Also - over the years of therapy, I find that role playing is awkward and a little forced for me. It's way more effective to use tools and coping strategies that 'work' for each individual. No sense in doing the square hole->round peg thing.
Susan's decades of experience with helping women recover from unloving mothers shows in her ability to articulate the issues we most often come into adulthood with. She does an excellent job at extracting the underlying damage and explores enough tools to help get anyone started on this journey.
The first half of this book is more condensed and concise in describing the social taboo surrounding the topic, the 5 different types of mothers who can't love, and a quick overview of how those become expressed by those who have suffered each.
I highly recommend this book to anyone beginning their recovery - and would even go as far as recommending it to spouses/friends/siblings of people struggling with this issue. Susan Forwards work as a therapist, lecturer and author is well established and for a very good reason. She grasps both understanding of the damage as well as how to start moving beyond when it comes to being raised by a mother who can't love.
If you would like to buy a copy of this book on Amazon.ca - Click here
If you would like to buy a copy of this book on Amazon.com - Click here
Cheers!