Description Philippa Perry—a psychotherapist with over 20 years of experience, TV and radio host, documentary producer, and teacher at Alain de Botton's 'The School of Life'—speaks to us with warmth and compassion about how we treat ourselves. Drawing on rich case studies and personal experience, she shows how the wounds and emotions we carried from our own childhoods are passed down to our children, and how healing our own pain becomes the surest path to repairing our relationships with both our children and our parents. "I wrote this book with the stories I wish my parents had known when I was a child." After years of psychological counseling, the author witnessed countless cases where a parent's own childhood experiences became obstacles to connecting with their child—and this realization led her to write this book. In this sense, the book is truly our own story: the wounds we received from our parents, and how we might go about healing them. We carry hurt from careless words or mistakes our parents made, wounds often covered over in the name of love. Most of these wounds pass by unaddressed, buried under love's name. But unhealed wounds and the emotions attached to them lodge deep in our hearts like thorns, casting a shadow over our lives. These wounds surface most often when we become parents ourselves. Every parent can relate to the experience of suddenly realizing, "I'm saying the exact same thing to my child that my mother used to say to me"—this is the passing down of emotion from one generation to the next. Without realizing it, we end up giving our own beloved children the same wounds we once received. There is only one way to heal past wounds and stop passing them down: parents must look their own emotions squarely in the eye, understand them, and accept them. Being honest with your own feelings is the only bridge connecting "wound" to "healing." In this book, you'll find answers to the struggles we all face: the unintentional mistakes parents make, how childhood wounds from our own parents shape our lives, how to build a healthy relationship with our children, and how to recover from old hurts. The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read invites us to think beyond childcare and parenting—to the very relationships that shape who we are inside. We build ourselves through our relationships with others, and we come to understand that our relationship with our parents is the single most important one in shaping our inner core. Like a wise letter from a trusted friend, this book offers every reader—whether as a person, a child, or a parent—courage and hope to keep growing. A book for every parent who loves their child but struggles in the relationship "To a child, a parent is like a mirror reflecting who they are." Through relatable real-life counseling cases and thoughtful advice, the author shows just how powerful healthy relationship-building can be in everyday life. She also reveals that the true essence of parenting isn't about controlling your child, but about building a steady, unshakable relationship. The book covers every stage—from the first experiences of pregnancy and childbirth, through infancy and adolescence, to adulthood—addressing struggles that every parent will recognize and relate to. The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read will serve as a guide for anyone hurting from relationships with others, helping them face their own emotions and become a better version of themselves. - Why do I struggle in my relationship with my child? Some days, even dressing, feeding, bathing, and putting your child to bed feels overwhelming. Sometimes you'd rather go watch a movie or just lie down and rest than play with your child. Beneath the wish that your child would just sleep or play alone without taking up your time lies your own childhood experiences and wounds. "Wanting distance from your child like this is often because you, the parent, don't want to be reminded of the painful emotions from your own childhood—and so you end up keeping your child at arm's length." (p. 36) - Why do I keep repeating the same mistakes my parents made? Some small, seemingly trivial thing your child does...