Dysfunctional Families: The Truth Behind the Happy Family Facade is a collection of 45 inspirational essays by Katherine Mayfield, author of the award-winning memoir "The Box of Daughter: Healing the Authentic Self," which help readers recover from the problems caused by a dysfunctional family.
These eye-opening and often humorous essays, originally published on the popular blog TheBoxofDaughter.com, expose many of the secrets that hide in dysfunctional families, and include reflections on Spider Love, the caregiving experience, money, recovering from toxic parenting, learning to live authentically, and much more.
Divided into four groups--Families, Caregiving, Recovery, and Spirituality--the essays offer comfort and insight to readers, helping those who were raised in dysfunctional families to uncover negative messages, heal their pain, gain freedom, and raise self-esteem.
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.
Author Biography:
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.
