Mothers Who Can't Love: A Healing Guide for Daughters

Written by Susan Forward and Donna Frazier Glynn

Narrated by Susan Forward, Kathleen Gati, Julia Whelan and 2 more

With Mothers Who Can't Love: A Healing Guide for Daughters, Susan Forward, Ph.D., author of the smash #1 bestseller Toxic Parents, offers a powerful look at the devastating impact unloving mothers have on their daughters—and provides clear, effective techniques for overcoming that painful legacy.

In more than 35 years as a therapist, Forward has worked with large numbers of women struggling to escape the emotional damage inflicted by the women who raised them. Subjected to years of criticism, competition, role-reversal, smothering control, emotional neglect and abuse, these women are plagued by anxiety and depression, relationship problems, lack of confidence, and difficulties with trust. They doubt their worth, and even their ability to love.

Forward examines the Narcissistic Mother, the Competitive Mother, the Overly Enmeshed mother, the Control Freak, Mothers who need Mothering, and mothers who abuse or fail to protect their daughters from abuse. 

Filled with compelling case histories, Mothers Who Can’t Love outlines the self-help techniques Forward has developed to transform the lives of her clients, showing women how to overcome the pain of childhood and how to act in their own best interests. 

Warm and compassionate, Mothers Who Can’t Love offers daughters the emotional support and tools they need to heal themselves and rebuild their confidence and self-respect.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9780062283948

Susan Forward

Susan Forward, PhD, is an internationally renowned therapist, lecturer, and author. Her books include the number-one New York Times bestsellers Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them and Toxic Parents. In addition to her private practice, she has served as a therapist, instructor, and consultant in numerous Southern California psychiatric and medical facilities.

Reviews for Mothers Who Can't Love

[Titaness Writes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was like my very own counseling session. I'm going to listen again and perform the exercises.

[Erin · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing! I wish I had read this book sooner! There were so many relatable stories and great advise for daughters dealing with unloving mothers.

[Elisavièta Marycheva · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thank you so much for writing this book for healing. So helpful??‍♀️

[Sherri Scott-Wilder · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very emotional! The author has given us daughters helpful tools to get us thru this difficult and painful life journey of mothers who are incapable of loving their daughters.

[Tigran Gonzales · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Changed how I looked at myself growing up and as an adult! Absolutely phenomenonal!

[sterling · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very helpful and a great breakdown of the reality of what this looks like in different scenarios

[Jenna · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very helpful if you have a toxic mother! I have been no contact with my mother for years now but this helped me work through some things that were still bothering me. There are so many helpful, practical suggestions. I wish this therapist was practicing near me.

[Carla · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book! It’s insightful and helps you come to terms with and deal with the “mother wounds” left behind. I’m going to show this to my therapist and work on some of the prompts she has listed in this book.

[Alisha Catanach · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book felt like it was written for my mother and I. Thank you so much for all this practical knowledge and advice in an easy to understand format.

[Lizi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

All of Susan Forward's books are incredible. Not only is she a gifted therapist, but the clarity of her words and exercises is absolutely stunning. I wish I found her books earlier.

[gina · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just so incredible. While i wish to have had this book years ago, im so glad to have it now. Bless the therapist and patients for sharing their lives.

[nemo hersi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This audiobook gave me a lot of insights and had me thinking back to my relationship with my mother and helped build a ground for what I can do and how to fix my inner child trauma, amazing book I might say.

[cissa_5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I wish I had had this book available 30 or so years ago, when I was wrestling with my mother's nastiness and what my acceptance of it was modeling for my daughter. My instincts did help- but it would have been very supportive to have had the information and perspectives in this book at the time!

Most, close to all mothers, do the best they can. Some do not, and for some, the "best they can" is utterly inadequate. This book addresses the daughters of such mothers with both perspective and ways to cope with the reality of our lives- from effectively setting boundaries up through "divorcing" her if nothing else works.

Highly recommended for daughters of unloving mothers.

[heduanna · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A very taboo topic, but if it applies to you, you can't afford to be prim: read it.

BooksintheBurbs: you're probably right about it being basic, but that doesn't mean that many people who ought to know better (including some therapists!) are totally clueless. I hope, as time goes on, that ceases to be the case, and your approach becomes the standard attitude! :)