For Mothers of Difficult Daughters - by Charney Herst (Paperback)

About the Book

This groundbreaking mother/daughter book teaches mothers how to better understand their daughters and to recognize their strengths and weaknesses.

Book Synopsis

Many mothers blame themselves for their faltering and failed relationships with their grown daughters. And even more mothers believe that their strained relations are irreparable, and that friendship -- or even civility -- with their female offspring is impossible. Family therapist and clinical psychologist Dr. Charney Herst tells us it isn't so. In this important and empowering book, which has been featured on Oprah and Good Morning America and has sparked print coverage on the mother/daughter dynamic in papers like the los Angeles Times and The New York Daily News, Dr. Charney Herst teaches mothers to better understand their daughters and to recognize their strengths and weaknesses.

According to Dr. Herst, there are three kinds of difficult daughters. The Dependent Daughter is the one who won't leave the nest, who continually expects mom to pay for everything, the one who seems incapable of running her own life. The Dissatisfied Daughter is the chronically unhappy one who is independent but treats her mother as a dumping ground for grievances large and small. The Distant Daughter is the most heartbreaking of all, for these women have withdrawn, gradually or dramatically -- and sometimes completely -- from their mothers.

This book helps mothers untangle the web of personal history and intense emotion, and take the lead in repairing this all-important bond. It offers hope, not criticism.

Review Quotes

"There is something of value in this book for every mother and daughter."
--The Island Reporter (Sanibel, Florida)

About the Author

Dr. Charney Herst is a psychotherapist with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology who specializes in relationship counseling. She leads group therapy sessions and conducts seminars for mothers of difficult daughters. She is married and has three daughters and two sons. She lives in Los Angeles and practices there and in Encino.

Lynette Padwa is a fifteen-year veteran of the West Coast book publishing industry. She is the author of Everything You Pretend to Know and Are Afraid Someone Will Ask and has been a freelance writer since 1991. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.