Struggle for Intimacy

Ten years ago, Janet Woititz broke new ground in our understanding of what it is to be an adult child of an alcoholic. Today, she re-examines the movement and its inclusion of adult children from various dysfunctional family backgrounds who share the same characteristics. After more than 10 years of working with ACoAs, she shares the recovery hints that she has found to work. Listen to Adult Children of Alcoholics to see where the journey began and for ideas on where to go from here.

Healing the Shame That Binds You is the most enduring work of family relationship expert and New York Times best-selling author John Bradshaw. In it, he shows how unhealthy toxic shame, often learned young and maintained into adulthood, is the core component in our compulsions, co-dependencies, addictions and drive to superachieve.

The trauma and grief of growing up in an alcoholic or addicted family create a lifetime of baggage. If you grew up in an addicted family, the dysfunction that permeated every aspect of your childhood may have seemed "normal", and you may not even realize the level of affect alcohol still has on your adult life - whether or not you drink. If you are one of the millions of Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs), the cost of your childhood pain can be unbearable. You may have learned how to "survive", but are you "living" your life?

The causes of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder range from severe neglect to monstrous abuse. Many survivors grew up in houses that were not homes-in families that were as loveless as orphanages and sometimes as dangerous. If you felt unwanted, unliked, rejected, hated, and/or despised for a lengthy portion of your childhood, trauma may be deeply engrained in your mind, soul, and body. This book is a practical guide to recovering from lingering childhood trauma. It is copiously illustrated with examples of the author's and his clients' journeys of recovering.

The ACA Fellowship Text was anonymously written by ACA members and provides guidance on working the 12 -step ACA program, leading to recovery from the effects of growing up in an alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional family. ACA WSO has adapted AA's steps (with permission from AA) to address the effects of childhood trauma and neglect and offer hope to ACAs worldwide.

"Toad", the famous character in Kenneth Graham's The Wind in the Willows, is in a very depressed state, and his good friends Rat, Mole, and Badger are "worried that he might do something silly"…. Robert de Board’s engaging account of Toad's experience of counselling will capture the imagination of the growing number of people who are interested in counselling and the counselling process. In this sequel to the story of lifeon the riverbank, Toad and his friends come to life all over again.

From the author of the New York Times best seller Adult Children of Alcoholics - a wonderful book that affirms and encourages ACoAs by developing your skills for living. Imagine how good you would feel if: you could stand up for yourself without losing your temper; you could make a decision without second guessing yourself; and you didn't have that sense of worthlessness every time someone criticized you. In Lifeskills for Adult Children you can learn how to do these things and more.

Using a combination of workshop presentations and exclusive, practical exercises, accompanied by the soothing music of Steven Halpern, John Bradshaw demonstrates how your wounded inner child may be causing you pain and offers the tools to help you gradually, safely go back to reclaim, and nurture that child - and literally help yourself grow up again. This special presentation will show you how to: validate your inner child through meditations and affirmations; give your child permission to break destructive family roles and rules; adopt new rules allowing pleasure and honest self-exploration; deal with anger and difficult relationships; pay attention to your innermost purpose and desires...and find new joy and energy in living.

Have you ever heard of your inner child? Well, this is the classic book that started it all. In 1987, Charlie Whitfield's breakthrough concept of the child within - that part of us which is truly alive, energetic, creative. and fulfilled - launched the inner child movement. Healing the Child Within describes how the inner child is lost to trauma and loss, and how by recovering it, we can heal the fear, confusion and unhappiness of adult life.

In a powerful new vision, Dr. Brené Brown challenges everything we think we know about vulnerability and dispels the widely accepted myth that it's a weakness. She argues that, in truth, vulnerability is strength, and when we shut ourselves off from vulnerability - from revealing our true selves - we distance ourselves from the experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our lives.