The mother/daughter relationship is one of the most intense relationships a woman will ever experience-it is strong and primary. This first and essential relationship has a powerful, though often subtle, effect on an adult woman's interactions with her mate, children, friends-and herself. Often, this crucial bond, which was initially based in love, turns into one of anger, guilt and resentment, the effects of which can permeate a woman's life; a burden from the past that is haunting, limiting and debilitating.

In this profound book, coauthors Julie Firman and her daughter Dorothy Firman, both psychotherapists who specialize in mother/daughter workshops, help readers sift through old behavior patterns, feelings and thoughts to transform their relationships and, ultimately, themselves. For every woman who experiences the pain in her relationship with her mother or daughter, there is the promise of finding the joy. The Firmans will help readers grow beyond their limitations into more integrated, freer and more fulfilled women, using stories from their own lives, case studies of other women, and practical, revealing workbook exercises.

Daughters and Mothers is an essential guide for women who want to heal their relationship and achieve greater acceptance, love and harmony. It book is for women of all ages-and one that is never too late to read.

The Firmans, a mother-and-daughter team, were two of the coauthors of Chicken Soup for the Mother & Daughter Soul. Taking a more hands-on approach, they offer this look at the often turbulent, emotionally charged relationship between moms and their daughters. Using examples from their own lives as well as case studies from their patients (they run workshops on mother-daughter relationships), the Firmans describe the most common reasons these relationships experience stress and the various strategies readers can use to lessen conflict. Some of the scenarios will be familiar: adult children still wanting to please their parents or expecting their mothers to bail them out of trouble; mothers who can't see their daughters as mature adults able to make their own decisions. The authors intersperse the anecdotes with exercises that include self-assessment tests and writing assignments to help readers identify their roles and how they can make changes. This book mostly deals with mother-daughter relationships between two adults, and the Firmans write, If daughters manage to become `ex-children,' to think and feel like adults, separate and autonomous, they have taken a huge step. So, too, when mothers can become `mother graduates' and can experience themselves as adults beyond the mothering role, they have taken an important step in their lives. Readers looking for the soothing tone of a Chicken Soup volume will be disappointed, as this book, while upbeat, is squarely positioned as a standard self-help volume. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Categories:

• Parenting & Relationships
  
  
  • Parenting
    • Parenting Girls