Perfect Daughters: Adult Daughters of Alcoholics

by Robert J. Ackerman

Book Overview

This new edition of Perfect Daughters, a pivotal book in the ACoA movement, identifies what differentiates the adult daughters of alcoholics from other women.

When this groundbreaking book first appeared over ten years ago, Dr. Ackerman identified behavior patterns shared by daughters of alcoholics. Adult daughters of alcoholics--"perfect daughters" --operate from a base of harsh and limiting views of themselves and the world. Having learned...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1558749527
• ISBN13: 9781558749528
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Health Communications
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Great Read

Great book and is helping me to understand who I have become... Reading slow, alot to digest😢.....

Great information

This book is excellent if you have recently discovered you are an Adult Child of an Alcoholic. I read and saw so many of the same problems and characteristics that I had been struggling with. At the end it provided information on what to do next and gave me a very upslifting feel of how things can change for the better.

RIGHT ON!

I have never read a single "recovery" book with as much information about the many "experiences and issues" I have dealt with in my adult life that began in infancy and sometimes I wonder if they began in the womb! It is one of those books that seems to have been written by the reader themself. I highly recommend it to all women who grew up in dysfunctional families. It speaks in terms of alcoholic parents but many parents who do not drink, exhibit the same behavior and personalities. Though we know we are not unique in this area, it is reassuring to read the stories of other women who have experienced the same things and feelings; to understand ourselves better and that we can turn our experiences, pain, trauma, etc. into assets if we want to live our best lives. To become the person we were meant to be.

Wake Up Call!

I bought this book through a suggestion from a co-worker. When I received it at work in the mail, I opened the cover, checked out the chapters and turned to one in particular. I read only half the page and broke down crying. The truth is written in these pages. I have given a copy of this book to my sister. I recommend that if you are an adult daughter of an alcoholic parent, that you read this book. It ISN'T your fault, you are a valuable human being and it's about time that YOU take charge of your life. Get strong, face the truth, conquer your fears, find peace within yourself. No one says it's not going to hurt. Facing ourselves is the hardest part. Getting well is the reward. I can let go of the past and learn from it or I could go on holding a grudge. Good-bye Mom, sorry you were so sick from alcoholism. Hello new life, I am reborn. I am a wonderful human being. Thanks to this book I can say these things. It will take time to heal, but I have a new start because my eyes have been opened and I don't want to make the choices I've made in the past. I don't have to make those choices anymore, I am set free from the truth of my "brainwashing" of childhood.

Perfect Daughters

This book was so helpful with it's insight into the experience of having an alcoholic parent. It is written well, easy to follow and answers questions you didn't even know you had. I highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially to people like myself who are at the beginning of their quest for the truth and don't want to read a book that feels too clinical and complicated.

The Perfect Daughter

I am a child of an alcoholic Mother. I try very hard to avoid books that talk about adult children of Alcoholics becuase they usually make things sound very over technical and impersonal. I am not a very emotional person and I know the decisions I make in my life are because of my families alcoholic issues. However, this was a book that was not very hard to read and I would highly recoomend it. After reading the very first story and bawling my eyes out about that little family princess who never understood and was always trying to make it okay, I knew the book was for me to read. That's ME!!! That's ME!!! I kept saying over and over. Ironically I highlighted every sentence and passage that had to do with my childhood and feelings in the book and I believe I ended up with 90% of it highlighted. I couldn't help to think that someone had a hidden journal on my heart and feelings growing up. If only that person had stepped in when I was young what a difference it would have made. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!!!