When Dad Hurts Mom: Helping Your Children Heal the Wounds of Witnessing Abuse

Written by a therapist who specializes in abusive men, this guide reveals how abusers interact with and manipulate children—and how mothers can help their children recover from the trauma of witnessing abuse.

Can my partner abuse me and still be a good parent? Should I stay with my partner for my children's sake? How should I talk to my children about the abuse and help them heal? Am I a bad mother?

Mothers in physically or emotionally abusive relationships ask themselves these questions every day. Whether it’s physical or “just” emotional abuse, whether it’s aimed at them or you, whether they see or hear it, your kids need you.

This book, the first ever of its kind, shows mothers how to:

• Protect children and help them heal emotionally
• Provide love, support, and positive role models, even in the midst of abuse
• Increase their chances of winning custody
• Help their kids feel good about themselves

“A must-read for every mother who has been abused...it offers the knowledge women need to protect their children and help them heal.”—William S. Pollack, Ph.D., author of the national bestseller Real Boys

• Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men
• Daily Wisdom for Why Does He Do That?: Encouragement for Women Involved with Angry and Controlling Men (StyleCity)
• Should I Stay or Should I Go?: A Guide to Knowing if Your Relationship Can--and Should--be Saved
• The Batterer as Parent: Addressing The Impact Of Domestic Violence On Family Dynamics (SAGE Series on Violence against Women)
• It's My Life Now: Starting Over After an Abusive Relationship or Domestic Violence, 2nd Edition
• Healing the Trauma of Domestic Violence: A Workbook for Women (New Harbinger Self-Help Workbook)
• The Batterer as Parent: Addressing the Impact of Domestic Violence on Family Dynamics (SAGE Series on Violence against Women)
• The Day My Daddy Lost His Temper: Empowering Kids That Have Witnessed Domestic Violence (The Empowering Kids Series)
• The Verbally Abusive Relationship, Expanded Third Edition: How to recognize it and how to respond
• Healing from Hidden Abuse: A Journey Through the Stages of Recovery from Psychological Abuse