Product Description

Cloud and Townsend identify six types of moms and show how they profoundly affect our lives.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15794 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

From the Publisher
Readers learn to make more positive, satisfying life choices as they understand and develop healthier ways to relate to their mothers today.

From the Author
Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend are popular speakers, licensed psychologists, co-hosts of the nationally broadcast New Life radio program, and cofounders of Cloud/Townsend Communications. Best-selling coauthors of several books, including Boundaries, they maintain private practices in Newport Beach, California

From the Back Cover
No one has influenced the person you are today like your mother. The way she handled your needs as a child has shaped your worldview, your relationships, your marriage, your career, your self-image -- your life. The Mom Factor can help you identify areas that need reshaping, to make positive choices for personal change, and to establish a nature relationship with Mom today. Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend steer you down a path of discovery and growth beyond the effects of six common mom types: - The Phantom Mom . . . - The China Doll Mom - The Controlling Mom . . . - The Trophy Mom - The Still-the-Boss Mom . . . The American Express Mom -- You'll learn how your mom affected you as a child and may still be affecting you today. And you'll find a realistic and empowering approach to filling your unmet mothering needs in healthy, life-changing ways through other people. The Mom Factor is a biblical route to wholeness and growth, to deeper and more satisfying bonds with your family, friends, and spouse -- and to a new, healthier way of relating to your mother today.

Customer Reviews

some good ideas and insight
I read this book primarily to study and implement what was written about "The Phantom Mom". The information was satisfactory and insightful, but I thought that perhaps more could be said about the solution phase or implementing the plans of action. The symptoms the authors gave were spot on. I grew up without a mother and the symptoms of having a phantom mom were so fitting that it looked like I was reading my life story. Basically, the only solution the authors suggest is to seek out friends who have what one has missed growing up without a mother. It's overly simplified because as was mentioned in the book people like me who've grown up without a mom have severe relational problems. What I think should have been emphasized about the phantom mom offspring is that we should practice eliciting what we want from others more (i.e. warmth and empathy, nonintrusiveness, mutual dependency, honesty).

Overall, it's a good book and if one has intentions on working hard to transform themselves then it can work but don't expect change to happen overnight nor should you just use this book as the only reference.

not so sure
At first I was excited about this book. Now, I am not so sure. I think they are ignoring the cultural bias we have in america towards independence from family. Their work does not seem to be based on clinical research, but just experience in therapy. Many of the outcomes are the same.... anxiety, depression. There are many reasons for one to experience such difficulties, not just mom. The book contributes to the mom bashing we already hear about in therapy. It does call for some responsibility on the reader's part to change, but not enough. Aren't we supposed to honor our parents? They do not operate in a vacuum. We helped create our own existence. Wondering how biblical this book is really.... It really is just a pop psychology book with little substance to back it. It may be helpful for some self awareness, but like I said.... not so sure.

Its alright
I think this book will be great for some people, but it really didn't help me all that much. The different mothers hardly applied to my situation with my own mother. The controlling chapter fit a little bit, but all it talked about was "learning to say no" and finding your identity. I was the one who rebelled, and I held onto my identity very well. The mothers in this book were much more loving than mine was. It would have been nice if they talked about mothers who were verbally, emotionally, and physically abusive. Where's the "Bi-Polar Mom" in this book?? From a real young age (around 7) I teamed up with God determined to turn out just fine. I even grew up setting my own boundries & parented myself (ex: I wouldn't allow myself to see PG13 movies until I was 13... my mom however could have cared less). I read this in attempt to understand why my mother does the things she does. I've tried to reconcile with my mother, but she refuses to have a relationship with me at all. My mother has resented me since childhood, and even now shes in an imaginary war with me. I'll probably give the book to one of my friends or sell it to half-price books.