The Emotional Incest Syndrome: What to do When a Parent's Love Rules Your Life

Summary

Do these "endearments" sound familiar to you?

"Of all my children, I expect the most of you." Translation: I've selected you to be the one to make my life worth living.

"You've never caused me a minute of trouble." Translation: Ignore your own needs, I can't handle them.

"You're the only one who truly understands me." Translation: I would be totally alone if it weren't for you.

If so, you may have been a "chosen child," seemingly the focus of loving and devoted parents, but in reality a child walking a psychological tightrope—learning early on to deny your own needs in order to meet the emotional needs of a parent. Today, there is a name for this devastating form of child abuse: emotional incest.

Here, Dr. Patricia Love offers adults real hope—and help in overcoming the hurtful legacy of being a chosen child. Based on proven therapeutic techniques and using real-life case histories, her total program of recovery will help you identify the signs of emotional incest, confront your parents—and your past—with love and understanding, disentangle your life from theirs, and create a positive relationship with your parents—and your own children.