Running On Empty: Overcome Your Childhood Emotional Neglect

Written by Jonice Webb, Ph.D and Christine Musello, PsyD

Narrated by Karen White

Do you sometimes feel as if you're just going through the motions in life? Are you good at looking and acting as if you're fine, but secretly feel lonely and disconnected? If so, you are not alone. The world is full of people who have an innate sense that something is wrong with them. Who feel they live on the outside looking in, but have no explanation for their feeling and no way to put it into words.




If you are one of these people, you may fear that you are not connected enough to your spouse, or that you don't feel pleasure or love as profoundly as others do. You may drink too much, or eat too much, or risk too much, in an attempt to feel something good.




Running on Empty will give you clear strategies for how to heal, and offers a special chapter for mental health professionals. In the world of human suffering, this book is an Emotional Smart Bomb meant to eradicate the effects of an invisible enemy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jun 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781494583163

Reviews for Running On Empty

[terrell_sanzone · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I got my copy from a Goodreads giveaway in return for an honest review.

This book is very informative, clearly written and does not leave you with that 'preaching' feeling that many other books do. I enjoyed the conversation the author laid out in this book.

[Keith Zauderer · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

good book. but horrible reading. it sounds like a robot.

[TAS · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very insightful and relatable. I appreciated the depth of analysis and understanding, but also the action items which, put into practice, would effectively break the chain of emotional neglect. Highly recommend.

[Nthabiseng Kekae · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

good book i recommend it to anyone who wants to understand about feeling better

[debbie ansong · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyed the format of this book, I personally am a fan of the more narrative based self help books that convey ideas through using story example, these stories make it easier to connect to and visualize the experiences.

This book provided valuable insight on the impacts of emotional neglect and what that could look like

It’s also very similar to “the adult children of emotionally immature person” even in the format so you could listen to either one and take the same value but I was happy to have read both

[Bengi Egima · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My healing journey has never gotten such a boost... I feel like Dr Janice was talking directly about me 95% of the time, this book is like a surgery

[mom23bamaboys · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The book content was excellent. It was recommended by my therapist and I feel will be helpful in my journey for healing. The narrator’s voice took me a bit to get used to as I felt she was somewhat flat in her reading tone.

[Adelina Chirila · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

best book ever! now i know why i've been feeling this way and what to to about it!

[Jenny Lu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Insightful, Scientific & Research based theories and tools. This book not only gives a validating and penetrating examination of the consequences of emotional neglect in childhood but pairs it with tools and strategies to help those that have unfortunately been afflicted by this in their life or those that are interested in psychology. Definitely a book I will read more than once as there is so much value in what is said.

[Debora Nowoczek · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is great. It finally made me understand why I feel and act in certain ways. Not to mention the exercises to help you change and finally start living. Wonderful book changed my life

[Alexis McGhee · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I feel reborn after reading this book.
I’m finding myself for the first time

[Eva Szalma · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Gave me a lot to think about. First psychology book I did not hate.

[Margarita Shlyakhova · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was advised to me and it truly opened my eyes and gave answers to the questions I was looking for during some years. Thanks a lot for this great book!

[thewestwing-864351 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Got some definite insights into my life

[scottjpearson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Much attention of psychologists around neglect focuses on physical neglect. Likewise, in academic literature, the word “neglect” is used in tandem to form the phrase “emotional abuse and neglect.” However, as noted by the author, emotional neglect by itself is not directly discussed much (at all?) in the academic literature. Perhaps this occurs because of it is a diagnosis of omission – that is, it’s something that doesn’t happen with significant results. In this self-help book, Jonice Webb describes this condition to provide a potential lifeline to sufferers to make sense of their life and emotions.

As a biomedical researcher, I’m not sure a self-help book is the appropriate place to debut this condition. The academic literature or an academic conference seems a better place to describe it. Bringing it straight to the reading public unnecessarily risks doing some degree of harm. The phrase “first, do no harm” rings through my head. Self-help books require subjective identification with symptoms and do not provide the academic rigor needed to explore and define a new condition. Subjective identification only works when based on evidence. There is none here (yet).

That said, Webb’s description seems fairly true to my life story. Everyone outside of my home talked about emotions, but my parents did not. If anything, they argued about emotional intelligence. Indeed, they fit into several categories described in this book. As I grew into an adult, I had to take many steps for my personal emotional health described in this book. Webb’s constellation of symptoms provides a degree of peace of mind in that I know other people have experienced similar events. I also encountered numerous people who had a “mysterious maladaptive condition” growing up that wasn’t well understood. Perhaps Webb might be able to shine some beneficial light on their life experiences, too.

I’m not sure I can recommend this book because it lacks a rigorous, scientifically validated definition. It’s certainly nice to identify with people of similar backgrounds, but this suggestion really needs to be tested through peer-reviewed academic literature before it’s disseminated. I do wish Webb the best and hope that she will persevere through rigorous scrutiny to discover whether this hypothesis can indeed be verified. In the eight years since this book was published, perhaps she has made some progress in research.

[garbygal · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An interesting book for someone who has read a host of self-help books, it delivers on what it advertises. It plainly, and in a non-judgmental way works through the reasons that the reader might be struggling, even if they feel their parent was the best parent ever. It offers solutions and explanations that help the reader understand where their underlying pain is coming from and how to help address it. The book gives a, "yep that's me" feeling of support and real life examples to relate to for the readers who may have a history of emotional neglect. Additionally, it opens the reader's eyes to understand their behaviors when interacting with their children, brining an awareness to trying our best to make sure children are fulfilled emotionally too. It is worth the time to read if not only to help yourself or your children, but also to better understand where other people might be coming from.

[terrell_solano · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I got my copy from a Goodreads giveaway in return for an honest review.

This book is very informative, clearly written and does not leave you with that 'preaching' feeling that many other books do. I enjoyed the conversation the author laid out in this book.