A practical guide to begin dealing with the pain and trauma of being raised in a dysfunctional family. Your parents may not have been able to teach you lifeskills but it is not too late to learn them now. This book will help the reader to learn how to respond to the challenges, problems and traps that they are faced with daily....

Psychologists John and Linda Friel have written an enormously readable and infinitely practical book that explores some of the worst mistakes we can make as parents, and guides us through examples and ideas on how change can be effected immediately. The Friels examine the seven most ineffective and self-defeating behaviors that parents display again and again. Working from the ideas that even small changes can have big results, the authors give parents concrete steps they can take to end these behaviors and improve the quality of their parenting. Whether you're contemplating starting a family, have children who haven't entered school yet, are struggling with rebellious teenagers, or are empty-nesters wondering how to be better parents to your grown children, you can't afford not to read this book. With the same clarity and concrete examples that have sold over 350,000 copies of their books, the Friels offer readers forty years of combined experience as practicing psychologists, and fifty years of combined experience as blended-family parents. The material in The 7 Worst Things Parents Can Do has been field-tested in the authors' own household, with hundreds of their clients, and with thousands of their workshop and Clearlife Clinic participants. It will cause immediate changes in your behavior, in your child's behavior and will improve the lives you share together....

It is estimated that as many as 34 million people grew up in alcoholic homes but what about the rest of us? The authors provide a readable explanation of what happens to those of us who have had no alcoholism, but did have perfectionism, workaholism, compulsive overeating, intimacy problems, etc....

This follow-up to the Friels' national bestseller will help teens successfully negotiate the many difficulties they face as they grow up.

In The Seven Worst Things Good Parents Do, therapists John and Linda Friel gave parents an easy-to-understand guide to overcome the seven worst mistakes even good parents make while raising children. Now they've written a book for teens based on the same formula: it includes the seven worst things even smart-and outwardly successful-teens do, and shows teens how they can change these behaviors and assure their success in life as they grow towards adulthood.

This book was written expressly for teenagers as a unique roadmap into adulthood. It's designed to stimulate the brain as well as the heart because when we listen to both we can negotiate adolescence successfully. If you like to think, wonder, question and challenge, or if you feel you haven't quite figured out this "life" thing, this book is for you.

The Friels show you the seven things you need to do to overcome common roadblocks we all face in life:

Become competent-don't expect to have self-esteem without becoming competent
Master your feelings-don't let your feelings run the show
Break the silence-don't silently scream instead of making yourself known
Get healthy power-don't avoid learning about power
Face the serious stuff-don't hide the really important things you're experiencing
Find an identity-don't avoid the struggle to find yourself
Learn to stake out the extremes-don't live only in the extremes.

Written in clear, straightforward language and including many interesting and colorful story interludes, this book is an easy-to-use, powerful tool for all teens....