The toxic parents survival guide : recognizing, understanding, and freeing yourself from these difficult relationships / Bryn Collins, MA, LP.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part one: What is emotional unavailability? Emotional unavailability defined -- Emotional basics -- Emotional dynamics -- Part two: Difficult parents. Inconsistent parents -- Just not good enough -- In his or her own reality -- Hovering controllers -- Brainiacs: all think, no feel -- Glory days parents -- Blame gamers -- Users and other emotional vampires -- Mentally ill and personality-disordered parents -- Addicted to _____ -- Abusive parents -- Absent parents -- Toxic parents -- Stepparents, grandparents, and in-laws -- Part three: Making it work. Relationship skills and dynamics -- Getting rid of expectations, guilt, resentment, and regrets -- Empower yourself to change -- What do emotionally available parents do?

"Free yourself from toxic parents. If you or someone you love grew up with an emotionally unavailable, narcissistic, or selfish parent, you probably struggle with residual feelings of anger, abandonment, loneliness, or shame. For anyone who endured a nightmare or wasteland instead of a nurturing childhood, The Toxic Parents Survival Guide offers the clinical insights and the day-to-day tools so you can break the chains of toxicity that bind you in a mess you didn't create. Psychologist Bryn Collins explores complicated relationships with emotionally unavailable parents. Whether they were unavailable because of addiction, mental illness, or being overly controlling or an iceberg, this imminently practical book will help validate your frustration and emotional struggles, help you set clear boundaries, and teach how to un-mesh yourself and move forward to a place of strength and peace without any guilt. Using case studies, quizzes, and jargon-free concepts, Collins profiles the most common types of toxic parents and offers the tactics and tools you need to change and break free of these painful associations. Your wounds can be healed and you can move forward. The Toxic Parents Survival Guide will help you find different ways of dealing with your parents' painful legacy so that you don't suffer and don't pass along emotional unavailability to the next generation or your current relationships." --Publisher description.