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Summary: Reality Doctor... Does The Brain Good
Review: Covert incest? Victims of abuse?
Come on get a grip on reality here.
Incest is a genuinely horrible form of abuse, I have worked years helping survivors put their lives back together and to overcome the abuse, so it really upsets me to see this issue trivialized by people trying to make up a disorder like "Covert Incest". Come on doctor, look up Dependent Personality Disorder in the DSM IV and stop constructing dumb constructs. I wish I had came across this BS when I was writing my book (Codependent... What A Bore) which exposes such BS disorders... for it would have been one chapter longer.
Rating: 
Summary: The truth about covert and overt incest
Review: I am a survivor of incest from the hands of my father. I was searching for a book to read on the topic when I ran across this book. At first I thought that it would not apply to me, but when reading this it gave me my first understanding to what happened to my by the hands of my father. When listening to profilers and how they catagorize different rape preditors I could not really place my father in any of the catagories. Once I read this book I realized that incest (especially from a parent) fits perfectly into the catagories of covert incest to overt incest. As a survivor I have come to the point that I would like to understand why I had suffered this type of violation in my childhood and life. I am really greatful for the insight of such doctors as Dr. Kenneth M. Adams. It was good to read that I was not the disfunctional one in my family but that my family as a whole was disfunctional. This book truly depicts how a relationship between a parent and child can and does cross the line to become very disruptive and at times criminal. A must read book if you are looking to understand incest. --C.J. Wilkes-- Author of "Daddy, I Forgive You"
Rating:
Summary: Illuminating the Roller-Coaster Relationship
Review: I was blown away by the down-to-earth descriptions of "psychological marriage" with a parent, how it develops and how it affects future romantic relationships. I was comforted to be able to understand, yet challenged to take action. It explained all of my recent relationship dilemnas with my partner so much that I felt it was written about us. I was comforted to realize that there were real reasons for our problems and yet, I feel scared to open up this topic for discussion between us. My partner has limited insight. Thank you for helping me see that I am not imagining things or going crazy!
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Summary: Changed my life, my husband's, my brother's and friends'
Review: Many thanks to Ken Adams for this impressive look at the cause and effects of doting parents. It's much easier to put things in perspective when you understand why your mate cannot be intimate. This book helps to understand why these things happen. It provides important tools in taking back control and learning how to separate from parents who use their children to meet their own needs. 10 stars for this book.
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Summary: Finally! A relief to understand!
Review: The author describes in detail what kind of actions from a parent can create an inappropriate dependency from a child, the resulting feelings that can stay with the child and the patterns of behavior through adulthood that follow. Subtle things that might seem innocent in a parent's mind can actually cross a line into inappropriate territory with a child and his/her development. The child may feel "icky," but also privileged to have such special attention from the parent.The author offers advice for recovery and gives very clear statements about what must happen in order for the adult survivor of covert incest to make healthy changes and free him/herself from binding dependencies. I purchased this book based on a recommendation on a message board. Wow! I am filled with relief to suddenly realize why I feel this way and why there are these inexplicable patterns in my life. The biggest relief of all is to know I'm not alone and that my odd feelings about my parents are not unjustified. I read it and said, "Finally! Now I know what is wrong!" If you feel guilty about setting limits on your parents, this book is for you. If you are having difficulty connecting with your spouse and find yourself connecting more with your kids, please read this book.
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Summary: Do NOT miss this book
Review: The single most important thing I have read in my adult life. It's scary but helpful to find oneself being totally described in the pages of a book...and I found this happening to me here.
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Summary: Silently seduced........ and secretly abused
Review: This book is a MUST READ for all aspiring counsellors.
Emotional abuse has enormous effects on the functioning of adults and only recently research is targeted at this topic.
K. Adams has written a foundation for recovery for victims/survivors AND a very recommendable source book for students/teachers/councellors.
Definitions of sexual abuse should include covert incest and the author develops a clear line towards this issue.
Contemporary research opens more up to this thesis, thanks to couraged authors like Kenneth Adams.
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Summary: Silent and invisible
Review: This book is an important addition to the collection of books out there that exist on sexual abuse. Even moreso are the examples of how a mother can be sexually abusive in covert ways unlike fathers who tend to manifest their abuse overtly. This book along with Pat Loves book, The Emotional Incest Syndrome, are the bible of Covert Incest.
It is easy to say covert incest does not exist since it is subtle, indirect and is about what you don't see, but the victims of this all feel it and it is very real!
Rating:
Summary: Wow.
Review: This is the single most powerful book I have read on what it means to grow up in a household where the parents are not fulfilling each other's emotional and physical needs. The children become the receptacle for all the frustrated sexual energy the parents are experiencing, even if they are not talking about it. This is exactly what happened to me -- the oldest daughter of an alcoholic and his angry wife. Finally, I understand the "ickiness" (the author's word) I still feel every time I am required to spend time with my parents. This book talks about the specific, sexualized emotions you experience while growing up in a dysfunctional home that don't get articulated because it's too squeamish to talk about them. And yet, it does so in a very safe and comforting manner. It's like getting the hug and shoulder to lean on that you never got growing up. Facing the truth of being emotionally used by one's parents is a sobering experience -- but oh what a relief to have these feelings explained and validated. I feel extraordinarily relieved to have read this book -- it gives me new hope for my present, my future and my marriage.
Rating:
Summary: A Landmark Book
Review: This was one of the first books ever written about covert incest. Despite only being a little over hundred pages long, it serves as a good introduction to the subject. Ken Adams covers everything from mother-son and father-daughter covert incest to sexual addiction and relationship issues. A must read for covert incest survivors.
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