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Cutting Ties with Your Parents: A Workbook to Help Adult Children Make Peace with Their Decision, Heal Emotional Wounds, and Move Forward with Their Lives
Powerful tools to help you accept your decision, manage intense emotions, and thrive.
Estrangement from one or both parents—even by choice—can take a huge emotional and psychological toll. If you have cut ties with a parent, you may have lingering feelings of anger, loneliness, guilt, and shame. You may question or second-guess your decision. And you may have trouble setting or keeping boundaries with your parent, as well as others in your life. This workbook offers evidence-based skills to help you heal the emotional wounds of your past, so you can finally move forward.
With this compassionate guide, you’ll identify the reasons why you cut ties, so you can accept and feel validated in your decision. You’ll discover powerful tools to help you manage intense emotions, develop healthy coping strategies, and build a lasting and trustworthy support network. Most importantly, you’ll learn to cultivate self-compassion and live your life authentically—on your own terms.
You’ll also find step-by-step guidance to:
Grieve your losses and release guilt, anxiety, shame, and anger
Understand and overcome the effects of difficult family relationships
Manage difficult days and occasions like holidays, weddings, and funerals
Maintain boundaries and build healthy relationships
They say that family comes first; but it shouldn’t be at the expense of your mental health, happiness, or future. If you’ve decided to cut ties, this book will help you confirm that you’ve made the right choice, and give you the tools you need to live your life with confidence.
Estrangement from one or both parents—even by choice—can take a huge emotional and psychological toll. If you have cut ties with a parent, you may have lingering feelings of anger, loneliness, guilt, and shame. You may question or second-guess your decision. And you may have trouble setting or keeping boundaries with your parent, as well as others in your life. This workbook offers evidence-based skills to help you heal the emotional wounds of your past, so you can finally move forward.
With this compassionate guide, you’ll identify the reasons why you cut ties, so you can accept and feel validated in your decision. You’ll discover powerful tools to help you manage intense emotions, develop healthy coping strategies, and build a lasting and trustworthy support network. Most importantly, you’ll learn to cultivate self-compassion and live your life authentically—on your own terms.
You’ll also find step-by-step guidance to:
Grieve your losses and release guilt, anxiety, shame, and anger
Understand and overcome the effects of difficult family relationships
Manage difficult days and occasions like holidays, weddings, and funerals
Maintain boundaries and build healthy relationships
They say that family comes first; but it shouldn’t be at the expense of your mental health, happiness, or future. If you’ve decided to cut ties, this book will help you confirm that you’ve made the right choice, and give you the tools you need to live your life with confidence.
176 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2024
8 people are currently reading
1523 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 18, 2024
This is a great resource for anyone trying to cut ties or for me who have recently cut ties with my mother. It helped to validate that I did the right thing, what was best for me and my mental health. This book is full of great resources and exercises to help readers through the experience of removing a family member from their lives.
December 19, 2024
Must read for anyone dealing with estrangement, I read it to help support my husband as he navigates this difficult situation with his family. Very thoughtful and helpful advice.
November 12, 2024
This is the first book I ever read on this topic and I am only sorry this wasn't written when I most needed it.
I feel this book is invaluable. To find this level of understanding and representation to a situation that feels so heavy and so troublesome is truly remarkable. All throughout this book you can see the author has a big experience at handling this kinds of situations and the examples given are so helpful in covering a big variety of situations.
I loved everything about this book, the richness of details and situations, the understanding, the empathetic tone and the respect for the huge palette of situations that can surface, as each case can seem unique.
In a world where there are so many people thinking about severing contact with one or more family members, and in this world that is always ready to judge, this book is an ally for anyone looking to make the best choice for themselves.
I cannot recommend this book enough and I am so very grateful to have received this in order to share my view on it, especially as it comes as a holistic approach, offering a great deal of value for anyone affected by this topic, being in their beginning of this process or just trying to live their best life after it.
I feel this book is invaluable. To find this level of understanding and representation to a situation that feels so heavy and so troublesome is truly remarkable. All throughout this book you can see the author has a big experience at handling this kinds of situations and the examples given are so helpful in covering a big variety of situations.
I loved everything about this book, the richness of details and situations, the understanding, the empathetic tone and the respect for the huge palette of situations that can surface, as each case can seem unique.
In a world where there are so many people thinking about severing contact with one or more family members, and in this world that is always ready to judge, this book is an ally for anyone looking to make the best choice for themselves.
I cannot recommend this book enough and I am so very grateful to have received this in order to share my view on it, especially as it comes as a holistic approach, offering a great deal of value for anyone affected by this topic, being in their beginning of this process or just trying to live their best life after it.
August 16, 2025
An absolute must read for those who are estranged from their parents!
In this compassionate and sensitive guide, Martin brings much-needed attention to a topic rarely explored—cutting ties with toxic parents. Grounded in both research and clinical experience, she offers both validation, clarity, and hope to adult children who have removed themselves from toxic family relationships. This must-read book for survivors is as empowering as it is healing, reminding readers that they are not alone—and exercises and prompts in this workbook will help validate that choosing peace is not only brave, but essential to well-being. The section on thriving and living authentically is especially impactful, offering survivors a path toward healing and freedom.
Dr. Tracy Hutchinson, Ph.D. author of: Adult Children of High Conflict Parents.
In this compassionate and sensitive guide, Martin brings much-needed attention to a topic rarely explored—cutting ties with toxic parents. Grounded in both research and clinical experience, she offers both validation, clarity, and hope to adult children who have removed themselves from toxic family relationships. This must-read book for survivors is as empowering as it is healing, reminding readers that they are not alone—and exercises and prompts in this workbook will help validate that choosing peace is not only brave, but essential to well-being. The section on thriving and living authentically is especially impactful, offering survivors a path toward healing and freedom.
Dr. Tracy Hutchinson, Ph.D. author of: Adult Children of High Conflict Parents.
November 4, 2025
In this compassionate and must-read guide for adult survivors of toxic family dynamics, Martin brings much-needed attention to a topic rarely explored—cutting ties with toxic parents. Grounded in both research and clinical experience, she offers both validation, clarity, and hope to adult children who have removed themselves from toxic family relationships. This is an essential read for survivors and is empowering as it is healing, reminding readers that they are not alone—and exercises and prompts in this workbook will help validate that choosing peace is not only brave, but essential to well-being. The section on thriving and living authentically is especially impactful, offering survivors a path toward healing and freedom.
Dr. Tracy Hutchinson, Ph.D., graduate faculty at the College of William and Mary, psychotherapist, and author of Adult Children of High Conflict Parents.
Dr. Tracy Hutchinson, Ph.D., graduate faculty at the College of William and Mary, psychotherapist, and author of Adult Children of High Conflict Parents.
November 20, 2025
It can be so hard to decide to cut ties with a parent. In this book, you’ll understand why going no contact can be necessary, to protect yourself and your well-being.
Dr. Martin shares adult children’s stories and exercises, to delve more deeply into the concepts, such as the reasons for cutting ties. You’ll learn to process how you’re feeling and why, and to see those feelings as valid.
This book helps you build confidence, feel supported, and see that you’re not alone. I especially enjoyed the information on self-care, how to build self-trust, and how to create healthy relationships with good boundaries.
This is such an important book to those who struggle with the decision to cut off ties with their parents, because it allows them to feel less guilty, more supported, and less alone.
Dr. Martin shares adult children’s stories and exercises, to delve more deeply into the concepts, such as the reasons for cutting ties. You’ll learn to process how you’re feeling and why, and to see those feelings as valid.
This book helps you build confidence, feel supported, and see that you’re not alone. I especially enjoyed the information on self-care, how to build self-trust, and how to create healthy relationships with good boundaries.
This is such an important book to those who struggle with the decision to cut off ties with their parents, because it allows them to feel less guilty, more supported, and less alone.
January 4, 2026
As a clinician who works with trauma survivors, I found Dr. Sharon Martin’s “Cutting Ties with Your Parents” to be an exceptionally validating and compassionate resource. It addresses not only why estrangement can be necessary, but how to live with that decision in a way that supports healing, self-trust, and values-based living.
Martin thoughtfully normalizes the emotional conflict that often accompanies healthy boundaries, reminding survivors that good decisions don’t always feel good. This workbook honors the loss involved while offering a hopeful, empowering path forward. I would readily recommend it to both clients and fellow clinicians.
— Stacey Pinatelli, PsyD
Author of Hope and Healing for Survivors
Martin thoughtfully normalizes the emotional conflict that often accompanies healthy boundaries, reminding survivors that good decisions don’t always feel good. This workbook honors the loss involved while offering a hopeful, empowering path forward. I would readily recommend it to both clients and fellow clinicians.
— Stacey Pinatelli, PsyD
Author of Hope and Healing for Survivors
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews