Divorcing a Parent

Book excerpt: Do you come away from contact with your parent with unbearable feelings of rage, low self-esteem and depression? Is your parent hypercritical, manipulative, and/or controlling? Do you feel unsafe when you are with your parent because of verbal abuse, negligence, or inappropriate behavior? No matter how much you do for your parent, is it never enough? No one should have to endure an abusive, unhealthy relationship that threatens his or her well-being -- even if that relationship is with a parent. In this ground-breaking book, Beverly Engel draws on her own personal experience, as well as the stories and letters of other adult children, to offer a complete guide to why, when and how to divorce a parent. Engel discusses good and bad reasons for taking this step, when to stop trying to reconcile, and how to prepare yourself emotionally for the actual divorce, including such alternatives as temporary separation. If you do decide that parental divorce; how to handle negative pressure from others; how to come to terms with your own grief and guilt; what to tell your own children, and how to deal with their relationships with their grandparents; how to cope with holidays; how to divorce a parent after his or her death; and what to do if you change your mind and want to reconcile.