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THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'Essential, clever and kind' Alain de Botton
'I am a huge admirer of Julia's work' Elizabeth Day
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Why do some families thrive in adversity while others fragment? How can families weather difficult transitions together? Why do our families drive us mad? And how can even small changes greatly improve our relationships?
In Every Family Has a Story, bestselling psychotherapist Julia Samuel turns from her acclaimed work with individuals to draw on her sessions with a wide variety of families, across multiple generations. Through eight beautifully told and insightful case studies, she analyses a range of common issues, from loss to leaving home, and from separation to step-relationships, and shows how much is, in fact, inherited -- and how much can be healed when it is faced together.
Exploring the relationships that both touch us most and hurt us most, including the often under-appreciated impact of grandparents and siblings, and incorporating the latest academic research, she offers wisdom that is applicable to us all. Her twelve touchstones for family well-being -- from fighting productively to making time for rituals -- provide us with the tools to improve our relationships, and to create the families we wish for.
This is a moving and reassuring meditation that, amid trauma and hardship, tells unforgettable stories of forgiveness, hope and love.
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'Everyone who reads this will learn something profound' Dr Rachel Clarke
'Offers vivid insights in a book for all families' Kathryn Mannix
'I love every word she writes' Cathy Rentzenbrink
About the author
Julia Samuel, MBE, is a leading British psychotherapist. During the last thirty years, she has worked first for the NHS and then in private practice. She is Founder Patron of Child Bereavement UK. Her previous books are This Too Shall Pass and Grief Works, both of which were Sunday Times bestsellers. She lives in London with her husband, and has four children and six grandchildren.
Summary
Relationships fundamentally influence our health and happiness -- and family is the only relationship that we cannot leave, however much we might like to. But we think too narrowly about the impact of our families on our lives.
Every Family Has A Story sees bestselling psychotherapist Julia Samuel turn from her work with individuals to sessions with a wide variety of families. Diving deep into eight case studies, with her usual storytelling panache and the latest academic research, she analyses a range of common issues including separation, step-relationships, leaving home, trauma and loss. In doing so, she reveals insightfully how deeply we are influenced by our families -- including the often under-appreciated impact of grandparents and siblings -- and offers universally applicable insights into how families can face challenges together. Her twelve touchstones for family wellbeing -- from fighting productively to making time for rituals, and from setting boundaries to allowing difference -- provide us with the tools to ultimately be better family members ourselves.
Revealing forgiveness and learning amidst trauma and hardship, this is an honest and compassionate meditation on what we inherit and how we can create the families we wish for.
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Engaging, informative and very well written Philippa Perry
