I'm OK, You're My Parents: How to Overcome Guilt, Let Go of Anger, and Create a Relationship That Works
Dale Atkins, PH.D
Holt, Apr 2004, $24.00, 320 pp.
ISBN: 0805073531

This self help guide is to assist adults dealing with estranged or non-relationships with their parents or for that matter any other adult as the suggestions apply. Dr. Dale Atkins makes a case that the individual can only control his or her behavior and not that of the other person involved in a dysfunctional relationship. The author furbishes steps to enable the participant to let go of their anger and replace it with positive honest actions and reactions.

This manual is easy to follow though results are never guaranteed because there are at least two parties in the relationship, but at least the reconciliatory member will be able to look at his or herself in the mirror and know they tried. This work is well written and simple to use because the concentration is on changing you not the other party. If you want to wear the shoes of the other person, try a different self help book, but if you want to try to draw a straight line from you to other adults rather than a broken meandering curve then I'M OK, YOU'RE MY PARENTS, is the right stuff. Just don't expect instant miracles as the dysfunction took time to create.

Harriet Klausner