When Dad Hurts Mom: Helping Your Children Heal the Wounds of Witnessing Abuse

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Summary: A wonderful resource for moms.
Review: An easy to read book with a wealth of valuable information. It is an excellent book for parents who have been involved with controlling partners or anyone who works with families. The book gives a detailed description of how batterers affect the children with whom they live. Bancroft's book offers parents user friendly ideas for helping their children heal after being exposed to a partner who physically or emotionally batters. Bancroft offers an options based model that recognizes the parent knows the batterer the best and she is the best person to support her children.

Rating:
Summary: For those new to the subject, it is great!
Review: I work in a family violence prevention agency and hear women frequently say, "He treats me horribly but he's a great dad." This book uses research and 16 years experience to show how children raised in this environment are negatively affected by the abuse and that the abuser is not a "great dad." The author focuses less on the overt abuse and more on the atmosphere created by the dynamics of abuse with the effects on children. It is a wonderful guide for people debating whether or not to leave and how to mitigate the effects of the abuse for those who choose not to leave.