Silently Seduced, Revised & Updated

When Parents Make Their Children Partners

By: Kenneth Adams

Narrated by: Craig Jessen

Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

When a parent singles out a child for special privileges and attention, that child is often unaware that the relationship is unhealthy - even incestuous. As adults, these children struggle to feel validated, because while they have not been directly abused, they feel a sense of violation and crossed boundaries - usually done in the name of 'love' and 'caring'. The parent's love feels more confining than freeing, more demanding than giving, more intrusive than nurturing. Yet these children suffer from what psychologist Kenneth Adams calls The Silent Seduction - because there is nothing loving or caring about a close parent-child relationship that services the needs of the parent rather than the child.

In this revised and updated 20th anniversary edition of his groundbreaking book Silently Seduced, Dr. Adams explains how 'feeling close', especially with the opposite-sex parent, is not the source of comfort the image suggests, especially when that child is cheated out of a childhood by being a parent's surrogate partner. He offers a framework to understand this covert incest and its effect on sexuality, intimacy, and relationships, and how victims can begin the process of recovery.

©2011 Kenneth M. Adams (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

excellent

clear, understandable, thorough and straight to the point of this specific subject. 10 / 10

Painful & Healing

I am dealing with separation from a parent only in my late 40s. It has caused havoc in my life, but now I’m on the road to recovery, thanks in part to this book.

Loved it

This book shed a lot of light into my life growing up. It resonated with me and validated me ........

Finally, so glad to find this book!

I have long struggled with intimacy issue and have spent a lot of time in therapy and read numerous books. This book nails my experience and my struggles. Extremely helpful. Highly recommended.

Changed my life

This book help me make sense of why I’ve been in the same relationship but with different faces.

Informative

Very good book about emotional incest. I’m a therapist and recommend this to all of my clients.

life changer

I have not heard this term very much. I've done extensive research on narcissism and codependency. this should really be more commonplace and much more discussion should be done of it

Useful and Still Relevant

I enjoyed this book and found the advice useful, sensitive and logical. There is a FAQ chapter that addresses LGBTQ folks and ways to apply the inner rewiring necessary to make changes.

This book helped me save myself and my marriage.

Helping pinpoint your profile of enmeshment, the characteristics that follow based upon the profile, and the Moving Forward chapter, all give the necessary reinforcement of being autonomous and moving forward with your life free of resentment and guilt.

Fairly good

I could have done without the word "Daddy" being repeated in a childlike voice over and over. However, it validates much of what an unhealthy emotional relationship can do to one's behaviour and thought patterns.