PODCASTS & Videos

Jane Middleton Moz After The Tears: Substance Use and The Family https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8hUr-PMakA
We Need to Talk With Kris Godinez Narcissistic Abuse & Family Relationships https://krisgodinez.com/podcast/
Tim Fletcher Complex Trauma https://www.timfletcher.ca/
The Pedophile Huntress (Apple, Spotify, YouTube) https://podcasts.apple.com/my/podcast
Kris Reece counselor, coach, author, speaker. krisreece.com
Love Letters and Mixtapes, a mental health podcast https://www.lovelettersandmixtapes.com/

BLOGS & websites

The Crappy Childhood Fairy https://crappychildhoodfairy.com/

BOOKS

All of the books listed give valuable insight and support for Adult Children of Alcoholics. I derived most of the book descriptions through Amazon or from the authors' personal website. If you have a book suggestion please contact me. Greater education enhances our lives and enriches our healing journey.
Perfect Daughters, Adult Daughters of Alcoholics ~ Robert J. Ackerman Ph.D The new edition of Perfect Daughters, is a pivotal book in the ACoA movement, identifies what differentiates the adult daughters of alcoholics from other women. When this groundbreaking book first appeared over ten years ago, Robert Ackerman identified behavior patterns shared by daughters of alcoholics. Adult daughters of alcoholics—"perfect daughters" —operate from a base of harsh and limiting views of themselves and the world. Silent Sons, A Book for and About Men ~ Robert J. Ackerman Ph.D Silent Sons, Robert Ackerman, a silent son himself, examines the problems that commonly confront silent sons, keeping them from experiencing the full range of human emotions. In a compassionate and hopeful voice, the author defines the silent son and examines the impact of parents, particularly fathers, on these men and shows how their dysfunctional upbringing affects their present relationships, especially with women.By putting aside anger, finding peace with one's self, and looking for support from other silent sons, Dr. Ackerman feels every man can realize his full potential and become a well balanced, healthy survivor.
After The Tears: Helping Adult Children of Alcoholics Heal Their Childhood Trauma ~ by Jane Middleton Moz and Lorie Dwinell: The trauma and grief of growing up in an alcoholic or addicted family create a lifetime of baggage. If you grew up in an addicted family, the dysfunction that permeated every aspect of your childhood may have seemed "normal", and you may not even realize the level of affect alcohol still has on your adult life - whether or not you drink.If you are one of the millions of Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs), the cost of your childhood pain can be unbearable.
Adult Children of Alcoholics" by Janet G. Woititz Ten years ago, Janet Woititz broke new ground in our understanding of what it is to be an adult child of an alcoholic. Today, she re-examines the movement and its inclusion of adult children from various dysfunctional family backgrounds who share the same characteristics. After more than 10 years of working with ACoAs, she shares the recovery hints that she has found to work.
Boundaries ~ by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life A a self-help book that focuses on the concept of personal boundaries and how they are crucial for emotional and psychological well-being.
It Will Never Happen to Me by Claudia Black: Claudia In an all too familiar scenario, played out in millions of homes every day, children who grow up in addictive families abide by certain rules: don't talk, don't trust, don't feel. The rigid survival roles and youthful coping behaviors they take on, such as the responsible child, the adjuster, the placater, and the acting-out child can eventually contribute to problems of depression, loneliness, and addiction in adulthood.
The ACOA Trauma Syndrome: The Impact of Childhood Pain on Adult Relationships by Tian Dayton Growing up in a home where there is addiction or relationship trauma puts a child at great risk for long-term, post-traumatic stress effects that adversely compromise adult relationships. Best-selling author, psychologist, and psychodramatist Tian Dayton examines this trauma through an exploration of the way the brain and body process frightening or painful emotions and experiences in childhood. She shows how these traumas can become catalysts for unhealthy, self-medicating behaviors including drug and alcohol abuse, food issues, and sex, gambling, and shopping addictions.
Complex PTSD: From Surviving To Thriving ~ Pete Walker A self-help book that focuses on Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) and offers guidance and support for individuals who have experienced significant trauma and are looking to heal and thrive.
Struggle for Intimacy by Janet Geringer Woititz: Janet Woititz, mother of the recovery movement, sensitively addresses the barriers of trust and intimacy that children learn in an alcoholic family. She provides suggestions for building loving relationships with friends, partners, and spouses. The author discusses the challenges ACoAs face when it comes to forming and maintaining healthy intimate relationships.
The Complete ACOA Sourcebook: Adult Children of Alcoholics at Home, at Work and in Love by Janet Geringer Woititz and Foreward by Robert Ackerman: The Complete ACoA Sourcebook is a compilation of three of Dr. Woititz's classic books, addressing head-on the symptoms of The Adult Children of Alcoholics syndrome and providing strategies for living a normal life as an adult. Readers will find help for themselves: at home, in intimate relationships and on the job. They will discover the reasons for the way they think, believe and feel about themselves; ACoAs often feel isolated, have difficulty in relationships, in the workplace and in feeling good about themselves.
Codependent No More, How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourselft ~ Melody Beattie A self-help book that focuses on codependency and offers guidance and support for individuals struggling with codependent behaviors and relationships. Codependent No More, introduced the world to the term “codependency” in 1986. Millions of readers have trusted Melody’s words of wisdom and guidance because she knows firsthand what they’re going through. In her lifetime, she has survived abandonment, kidnapping, sexual abuse, drug and alcohol addiction, divorce, and the death of a child. “Beattie understands being overboard, which helps her throw bestselling lifelines to those still adrift,” said Time Magazine.
Recovering My Kid: Parenting Young Adults in Treatment and Beyond by Joseph Lee In his engaging and straightforward style, Lee explains the difficult concepts of addiction, treatment, and recovery in a way parents and families can understand and gives them concrete strategies they can put into practice.This book will help family members begin to understand what their loved one is going through and how they can help the addict adjust to a clean-and-sober life while still taking care of themselves.
Recovery: A Guide for Adult Children of Alcoholics by Herbert L. Gravitz and Julie D. Bowden Rich with insight and awareness, Recovery explores the secrets, fears, hopes and issues that confront adult children of alcoholics. Authors and widely respected therapists and ACOA workshop leaders Herbert Gravitz and Julie Bowden detail in a clear question-and-answer format the challenges of control and inadequacy that ACOAs face as they struggle for recovery and understanding.
Educated ~ Tara Westover "Educated" is a memoir that chronicles Westover's remarkable journey from growing up in a strict and abusive household in rural Idaho to eventually earning a PhD from the University of Cambridge. The book explores themes of family, education, identity, and the power of self-determination. Her memoir is about resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity.
The Glass Castle ~ Jeannette Wall's memoir, a story of her unconventional and tumultuous upbringing. A compelling narrative and glimpse into her life while growing up in a dysfunctional family. Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly.
The Body Keeps The Score ~ Bessel Van Der Kolk This book provides a comprehensive and insightful exploration of how trauma affects the human mind and body, offering valuable insight into treatment and healing. Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent more than three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments - from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga - that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity.
An Adult Child's Guide to What's 'Normal' ~ John and Linda Friel An Adult Child’s Guide to What’s “Normal”, John and Linda Friel have written a practical guide to living a healthy life. A self-help book aimed at adult children who grew up in dysfunctional families.
What's Wrong With Your Dad ~ Kristine Godinez, LPC What’s Wrong With Your Dad is the true story of what it was like growing up and surviving a family with both alcoholism and Borderline Personality Disorder. It is told in the first person in a very conversational way, like the author and the reader are just sitting over coffee talking. It explains in clear layman’s terms the behaviors of both alcoholism and Borderline Personality Disorder and lets the reader know in no uncertain terms that the behavior was not in any way created by any adult child of either an alcoholic or BPD.
A Prisoner by No Crime of My Own: Incest, Rape, Murder and Then I Turned Four ~ Jodie Tedder At three years old, Jodie watched her father murder a woman in a seedy hotel room. He, a true-born sociopath, strolled undetected, using religion as his disguise. A life suffocating the truth wouldn't work for Jodie. The murdered woman's spirit seemed to ignite a search for answers in Jodie's adulthood. A budding darkness around the reality of her past was coming sharply into focus. Fighting to free yourself from generational trauma? This is a must read.
The Invisible Girl ~ Yvonne Sandomir From the age of four, Eve wandered through a maze of injustice, exploitation, and unthinkable parental betrayal. After escaping home at the age of fifteen, it disheartened Eve to find that her childhood was only the beginning of a road fraught with violent relationships.
Facing Codependence ~ Pia Mellody The author creates a framework for identifying codependent thinking, emotions and behaviour and provides an effective approach to recovery.
https://link.mail.tailwindapp.com/ngs/1297595/GvpbOhIvpUJaWV25YCoy