Table of Contents

Author Note

Introduction

Part I: When the Other Parent Is Narcissistic or Borderline

Chapter 1: Self-Focused Parenting

Chapter 2: What the Narcissistic Family Is Like for Children

Chapter 3: What the Narcissistic Family Is Like for You

Chapter 4 Narcissistic Family System: Patterns and Problems

Part II: Building Resilience

Chapter 5: Resilient Parent, Resilient Child

Chapter 6: Changing Directions

Chapter 7: Building Your Own Resilience

Chapter 8: Self-Compassion: Key to Developing Healthy Self-Worth

Chapter 9: Creating an Environment to Thrive

Chapter 10: Responsive Parenting

Chapter 11: Help Your Children Develop Self-Compassion

Chapter 12: Help Your Children Have Their Own Lives

Part III: Parenting Will Be Different

Chapter 13: What to Say: Handling Family Communication

Chapter 14: What Not to Say and Do

Chapter 15: Responding to Emotional and Physical Dangers

Chapter 16: Assessing Your Situation

Chapter 17: Parenting in the Same Household

Chapter 18: Parenting After Divorce

Chapter 19: Being a Good Enough Parent

Chapter 20: Final Words


Appendix A: Vocabulary of Feeling Words

Appendix B: Communication Prompts

Appendix C: Suggested Reading

Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the Authors

Promotional Information

Being partnered with a narcissist or borderline personality can be hard enough, but learning how to shield children from the fallout is paramount. Here, the authors show readers how to manage parenting when a narcissistic or borderline partner is part of the equation.

About the Author

Margalis Fjelstad, PhD, has been a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist for thirty years. For over 25 years she trained and supervised family therapists and was the Clinical Director of Threshold Educational and Counseling Services. She is noted for her work with clients who grew up with a mentally ill parent and those who take on a caretaking role with a borderline or narcissistic family member. Her books, Stop Caretaking the Borderline or Narcissist: How to End the Drama and Get on with Life and Healing from a Narcissistic Relationship: A Caretaker’s Guide to Recovery, Empowerment & Transformation, have been extremely well received. Fjelstad retired from clinical practice in 2016, but continues writing and doing phone consultations with callers from all over the world who have questions about a current or former relationship with someone who has BPD or NPD. Please go to her website at margalistherapy.com for more information. She resides in Fort Collins, Colorado.


JEAN MCBRIDE, MS, LMFT, is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She has maintained a private practice for thirty years. Her areas of specialization include divorce adjustment, high conflict divorce, parenting after divorce, and remarriage and stepfamilies. As president of Divorce Transitions, she taught court ordered parenting after divorce classes to over 20,000 parents in person and online, using a curriculum that she developed. She has additionally developed programs for stepfamily adjustment, and Are You Ready to Remarry? She is the author of Encouraging Words for New Stepmothers, and Talking to Children about Divorce: A Parent’s Guide to Healthy Communication at Each Stage of Divorce. McBride has been a popular speaker on the topics of divorce and remarriage and has trained professionals for the Stepfamily Association of America, Collaborative Divorce, and The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. You can reach her at her website, divorcehelpforparents.com. She resides in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Reviews

Seasoned professionals Margalis Fjelstad and Jean McBride clarify and validate the uniquely challenging experience of parenting with a narcissistic or borderline partner and provide science-based, practical-minded advice and strategies for how to nurture self-compassion and resilience in children in such homes. A much-needed addition to the literature on narcissistic families, this insightful book will help you counterbalance your partner's emotional instability and selfishness with your own realistic expectations, proactive problem-solving, ongoing self-care, and, most importantly, loving connectedness with your kids.