Millions of heroic single mothers around the world, poor and rich, are rearing their own or someone else's children. Deaths, separations and divorces, and military deployments send many more women into single mother status every year, while other "hidden" single mothers bring up children virtually alone as fathers are ill, disabled, disengaged or just plain disinterested.
In Soul Mothers' Wisdom clinical social worker Bette Freedson shares seven key insights she has identified through years of workshops, counseling sessions, and her own self-examination as a single mother. She gently guides often-overwhelmed single mothers to a strong personal identity, a rediscovery of resilience, strength, and courage, and an affirmation of parenting purpose.
Soul Mothers' Wisdom helps the woman parenting on her own understand that she can create the life she wants and become the woman she desires to be, transforming challenges into opportunities and solutions, chaos into calm, and discovering (or re-discovering) all she has to offer to her children and her self.
Mental health professionals agree--children have a better chance of becoming emotionally healthy adults when their mothers' choices are guided by the wisdom that emanates from a solid core of self, i.e., "soul." Soul Mothers' Wisdom: Seven Insights for the Single Mother offers single mothers the knowledge, counseling and affirmation to help them and their children thrive.
"This is a fine book full of support for single parents who have to face the job of raising children alone, and having to share them with another caregiver when they return to work," says T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., former host of the Emmy-award-winning show What Every Baby Knows. "I would advise all single mothers to read it."
"The responsibilities of single mothers can be daunting," adds Jeffrey K. Zeig, Ph.D., director of The Milton Erickson Foundation. "Soul Mothers' Wisdom provides inspiring counsel to help them flourish. The stories and insights provide unique resources that will foster a stronger sense of self and more fluid access to inner resources. Practical and eminently readable, Soul Mothers' Wisdom offers a path for single mothers -- and fathers -- to reclaim their identities, and improve the lives of those who depend on them."
Clinical social worker Bette J. Freedson shares insights she has identified through years of workshops, counseling sessions, and her own self-examination as a single mother.
"This is a fine book full of support for single parents who have to face the job
of raising children alone, and having to share them with another caregiver
when they return to work. I would advise all single mothers to read it."
T. Berry Brazelton, M.D.
Professor of Pediatrics Emeritus at Harvard Medical School
developer of the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale
author of more than 30 books on child development
former host of Emmy-award-winning TV show What Every Baby Knows
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"The responsibilities of single mothers can be daunting. Soul Mothers' Wisdom provides inspiring counsel to help them flourish. The stories and insights provide unique resources that will foster a stronger sense of self and more fluid access to inner resources. Practical and eminently readable, Soul Mothers' Wisdom offers a path for single mothers—and fathers—to reclaim their identities, and improve the lives of those who depend on them."
Jeffrey K. Zeig, Ph.D.
director, The Milton Erickson Foundation
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"Bette Freedson has written a winner in Soul Mothers' Wisdom. Her numerous insights and suggestions—gleaned from her own experience as a single mother as well as her years of practicing psychotherapy—are infused with compassion and wisdom. Her goal is to have women not just survive single parenting but instead thrive, and she succeeds wonderfully. Soul Mothers' Wisdom is thus the go-to guidebook for anyone navigating these often-confusing and painful waters."
J. Wesley Boyd, M.D., Ph.D.
author, Almost Addicted
faculty member in psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
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"For twenty-six years I've had a solo general practice of Osteopathic medicine. This has taught me and continues to teach me that the body's inherent mechanism has the wisdom and potency to heal. In Soul Mothers' Wisdom, Bette Freedson has given a flexible road map to access this soul's sparkle, the spirit of one's truth, the psychic intuitive wisdom and the realization of inner peace. This is a gift that will last forever and is useful to everyone. It transcends so-called self-help books, for it allows one to see the truth that life's friction gives us direction and is the centripetal force that keeps us on the spiral path."
Tim Kingsbury, D.O.
Kittery, ME
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"Bette Freedson has written an enormously useful book on single parenting. As an expert clinician, she has illustrated her suggestions about single parenting with real life clinical cases. But most important, she describes her own experiences from shock and despair through adaptation after successful adaptation. This book gives advice and hope to so many overwhelmed parents traveling the same path. A must read!"
Jack Weltner, M.D.
child & family therapist
international lecturer on family therapy
author, "A Structural Approach to the Single Parent Family"
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"As an educator, I particularly found the parenting advice on dealing with stress, building self esteem, and handling misbehavior to be on target and helpful. Single mothers will find this inspirational book to be a valuable resource."
Rich Weinfeld
director, Weinfeld Education Group LLC
author, Smart Kids with Learning Difficulties,
Helping Boys Succeed in School,
School Success for Kids with High Functioning Autism,
& Special Needs Advocacy Resource Book
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