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Katherine Mayfield
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Dysfunctional Families: The Truth Behind the Happy Family Facade Kindle Edition

by Katherine Mayfield (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 21 ratings
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This new book by the award-winning author of "Bullied: Why You Feel Bad Inside and What to Do About It" and "The Box of Daughter" is a collection of 45 essays from the author's popular Dysfunctional Families blog.

"Dysfunctional Families" exposes many of the secrets that hide in dysfunctional families, and includes reflections on "Spider Love" -- the toxic form of love that exists in most dysfunctional families, the difficulties of caregiving in a dysfunctional family, money issues, recovering from toxic parenting, learning to live authentically, and more.

Along with offering guidance in recovering from dysfunctional family dynamics, "Dysfunctional Families" also provides a profoundly unique perspective on money problems, clearing clutter, recovering from caregiving, creating your own reality, and deepening spirituality.

The only way to heal from the trauma of dysfunctional family life and discover who we really are is to expose the secrets we grew up with, see through the illusions we were taught, and figure out what’s really true about our families, ourselves, and the world.
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  1. Print length
    96 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    July 27, 2012
  5. File size
    686 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Excellent book for a person just starting out on their healing journey or one deep on the path.
Solid recovery activities and guidance. The journaling exercises are thought provoking and can be used alone, or as a complement to therapy.
Will return to this book time and time again."--The Pierced Librarian, Goodreads.com

"There comes a time in your life where you stand and look back, reevaluating your family of origin's lessons and value system. For the most part, you choose to continue the patterns you were taught. Other times, you realize that you must adjust and carve something completely different for your own family of creation.
This book is a great resource tool in "how" to do that. Katherine Mayfield gives specific ways of coping with what you've discovered as well as provides the proverbial "big sister" helping hand to guide you through the journey.
This is the first book I've read from Ms. Mayfield. I will definitely keep my eye out for her other books and helpful resources."--Amazon.com

About the Author

Katherine Mayfield is the award-winning author of The Box of Daughter: Healing the Authentic Self, a memoir describing her journey of recovery from family bullying and emotional abuse; a guide to recovery from bullying, Bullied: Why You Feel Bad Inside and What to Do About It; Stand Your Ground: How to Cope with a Dysfunctional Family and Recover from Trauma; a book of poetry, a book of essays, two books on acting, and other books on dysfunctional families. She has appeared as keynote speaker for regional conferences, and has presented at schools and libraries across the Northeast on recovery from bullying and emotional abuse. Ms. Mayfield appeared on NBC-TV's 207 to talk about her work, and has been a guest on radio shows across the country, discussing dysfunctional family issues, recovery from bullying, and prevention of teen suicide. She has written for national magazines, local newspapers, and numerous websites, and has received funding from the Maine Arts Commission for her work. Ms. Mayfield's memoir, The Box of Daughter, won awards in the New England Book Festival and Reader's Favorite Awards, and was nominated as a finalist in the Maine Literary Awards. Along with her books, publication credits include Dance Teacher Now magazine, Dance Spirit magazine, The Significato Journal online, Sasee magazine, The Women's Times, the Greenfield Recorder, Salon.com, TinyBuddha.com, MeaningfulWomen.com, and WomensMemoirs.com. A former actress, she appeared Off-Broadway and on the daytime drama Guiding Light. She blogs on dysfunctional families on her website, www.TheBoxofDaughter.com.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B008Q19TDE
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Essential Word (July 27, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 27, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 686 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 96 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 21 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Katherine Mayfield

Katherine Mayfield

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Katherine Mayfield is the award-winning author of "The Box of Daughter: Healing the Authentic Self"; "Bullied: Why You Feel Bad Inside and What to Do About It," a guide to recovery for teens and adults who have been bullied; the Kindle book "Stand Your Ground: How to Cope with a Dysfunctional Family and Recover from Trauma"; two books of essays on dysfunctional families; two books on the acting business: "Smart Actors, Foolish Choices" and "Acting A to Z," both published by Back Stage Books; and a book of poetry, "The Box of Daughter and Other Poems."

"The Box of Daughter" won awards in both the 2012 New England Book Festival and Reader's Favorite Book Awards, and was nominated as a Finalist in the 2013 Maine Literary Awards. Ms. Mayfield also won the Honorable Mention award in the 2011 Warren Adler Short Story Contest for her short story "The Last Visit," which is based on the last time she visited her father in hospice care.

She has been published in Dance Teacher Now magazine, Dance Spirit magazine, The Significato Journal online, Sasee magazine, The Women's Times, the Greenfield Recorder, and on Women.com, Fiftyshift.com, and numerous other websites. She is also the editor of the literary review, the Maine Review.

She loves writing, painting, jigsaw puzzles, and cats, and teaches writing in Maine. She blogs on Dysfunctional Families on her website, TheBoxofDaughter.com.

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
3.6 out of 5
21 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

W. Custance
5.0 out of 5 stars You can get to the point you really see the Spiders for who they are
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2019
Verified Purchase
I liked her giving her experience with trying to shift her thoughts to a more positive outlook. It takes a while. I have been working on myself after walking away from my family going into three years. For my husband and grown daughters
Sake. Like the author it takes a while to shake loose the effects of spider love in my case from parents and siblings. Then reaffirming over & over how less stressed and happier I was feeling. Finally it sank in. Now tackling piles of my own, being kind to myself, and finding it feels good. If it took my mother's
death, and selfishness from family, while dealing with my husband's three surgeries in two years, it made me be kind to me. Now starting on and enjoying kindness to me.
One person found this helpful
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Chris Randt
5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2015
Verified Purchase
This book is well written and an easy read. It was very helpful in understanding and dealing with my dysfunctional up bringing.
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Redtrees
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2017
Verified Purchase
good. Quality ok
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Top reviews from other countries

Maureen Kipp
5.0 out of 5 stars interesting
Reviewed in Canada on August 7, 2021
Verified Purchase
nothing
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Luisa
1.0 out of 5 stars She didn't make much progress until her parents died
Reviewed in Italy on May 16, 2014
Verified Purchase
This writer just isn't in the position to give advice to anyone. As long as her parents were alive, she stayed psychologically enslaved, completely codependent, unable to rescue herself. Only when they died she began her journey to 'freedom'. That's too easy, and not very useful for most, since so many 'entrapped' adult children's parents are in perfect health, and they just can't wait for their death in order to own their own life. Some childre have a worse health than their parents even. Just a waste of time reading this.
One person found this helpful
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