Overcoming Your Difficult Family: 8 Skills for Thriving in Any Family Situation

by Eric Maisel

Overview

When you encounter difficult people in your daily life, the easiest solution is to cut and run. But when the difficult people in question are your parents, siblings, children, or all of the above, you can’t always end the relationships. What happens when you’re stuck with people who don’t respect boundaries or listen to reason? Author Eric Maisel, a licensed family therapist and life coach, tackles this awkward question in his new book Overcoming Your Difficult Family, providing answers gleaned from his own therapy practice. The first half of the book lists eight strategies for dealing with difficult relatives, whereas the second half acts as a kind of “field guide” to common types of dysfunctional families — authoritarian families, factionalized families, drug-addicted families, and more. By following Maisel’s battle-tested advice, you’ll learn to maintain inner peace in the midst of family chaos, and in the process, make everyone’s life a little better.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608684519
Publisher:	New World Library
Publication date:	06/09/2017
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 5.50(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Eric Maisel, PhD, is a retired family therapist, a creativity and life coach, and the author of more than fifty books. He writes the “Rethinking Mental Health” blog for Psychology Today and the “Coaching the Artist Within” column for Professional Artist magazine and lectures throughout the world. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part 1 Your Family Survival Tool Kit

1 Being Smart 13

2 Being Strong 19

3 Being Calm 27

4 Being Clear 35

5 Being Aware 43

6 Being Brave 51

7 Being Present 59

8 Being Resilient 67

Part 2 Ten Difficult Family Types

9 Sad and Anxious Families 77

10 Loveless and Distant Families 89

11 Warring and Divided Families 101

12 Bullying, Aggressive, and Abusive Families 113

13 Demanding, Critical, and Argumentative Families 123

14 Compulsive and Addicted Families 135

15 Rule-Bound, Intrusive, and Authoritarian Families 149

16 Dramatic and Chaotic Families 159

17 Acquisitive and Materialistic Families 171

18 Frustrated, Hopeless, and Defeated Families 185

Epilogue: Twelve Tips for Emotional and Mental Health 197

Notes 205

Index 209

About the Author 219

Editorial Reviews

With gentle humor and compassion, Eric Maisel acts as a wise friend in this clear and practical guide that offers specific tools for navigating the roughest of family seas. It even helps you calm the waters! A wonderfully useful, unique, and comforting book.”
— Judith Schlesinger, PhD, author of The Insanity Hoax

“Eric Maisel rejects diagnostic labels in this insightful, practical, and extremely helpful book. Anyone should find his no-nonsense approach and practical tips useful.”
— James B. Gottstein, Esq., President of the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights

“Throughout this book, Dr. Maisel maintains a nonmedical and non-pathology theme, describing family problems as natural human phenomena rather than mental disorders. His eight skills are introduced and applied step-by-step within the context of several unique family cultures whose members unwittingly develop problematic ways of coping. This refreshing guide to overcoming interpersonal conflict with respect for personal diversity, coexistence, and cooperation is invigorating to those of us who struggle to rehumanize the mental health industry!”
— Chuck Ruby, PhD, executive director of the International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry

“With characteristic clarity, Dr. Eric Maisel lays out an approach to family difficulties that cuts through the surface tension to reach the compassionate core of human relationships. An accessible guide grounded in current research and the author’s own clinical experience.”
— Dr. Dale McGowan, coauthor of Raising Freethinkers

“Dr. Maisel offers more than just understanding; he also offers hope by way of practical suggestions for dealing with difficult family members that can provide relief for those who have for years been beleaguered by hard-to-deal-with parents, siblings, in-laws, and others. I recommend this book not only to family, individual, and couples therapists but also to the clients with whom they work.”
— James E. Maddux, PhD, George Mason UniversityProfessor Emeritus, Department of Psychology

“Overcoming Your Difficult Family is a treasure trove of ideas and strategies. Eric Maisel has a gift for making complicated ideas easy to understand. I’m sure anyone who is struggling with family relationships of any sort will find something in this book that they can identify with and that’s bound to help them!”
— Sami Timimi, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Director of Medical Education, Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation NHS Trust

“This may be the most important book you will ever read. If you want to have a more joyful life and a relationship full of real, lasting love, this book is for you. Practical and powerful, it will teach you how to be smart, strong, calm, clear, aware, brave, present, and resilient — qualities that too many of us lack living in our stressed-out world. Get a copy for yourself and one for everyone in your family. It will change your life.”
— Jed Diamond, PhD, author of The Enlightened Marriage

“This accessible book shines a liberating light on past family pain and patterns as it offers new skills and hope for creating the healthy, supportive family you’ve always dreamed of — right here, right now. Highly recommended!”
— Donald Altman, LPC, bestselling author of The Mindfulness Toolbox and One-Minute Mindfulness

“Spoiler alert: after you read Overcoming Your Difficult Family, you will feel less distress and be more able to utilize your personal power to create the life you want! Dr. Maisel eloquently offers practical tools on every page, teaching you how to stay calm and effective in even the most challenging family environment. You will be equipped with the knowledge of what family type you are from, and you will learn eight essential skills to overcome lingering family-of-origin problems that have, consciously or unconsciously, caused you upset for years. In short, this book will set you free.”
— Dr. Lee Jampolsky, author of Healing the Addictive Personality and founder of Inspirational Psychology

“An uber-pragmatic how-to guide on overcoming not just your difficult family but your own internal demons. Through powerful examples, exercises, and tips, Maisel masterfully guides you to cultivate eight pillars of inner strength. Thoughtful, empowering, and practical, this book will help you overcome whatever family pattern may still be holding you back in your life and your relationships!”
— Anna Yusim, MD, psychiatrist and author of Fulfilled

From the Publisher