E155 Mothers! w/ Karen C. L. Anderson
Difficult Mother – Daughter relationships over 50
Let’s get emotionally prepared for Mother’s Day, how fun! Okay, maybe not.
Some of us have beautiful and healthy relationships with our mother. I don’t know those people.
My guest today is an author/expert on Mother-Daughter relationships as we find ourselves in our 50s. Just as we are cleaning out the junk from our basement, let’s do a bit of housekeeping on our emotional reactions to our mother.
Karen and I both have difficult mothers whom we have “divorced” only to come back to the “Well of Pain” asking for more. Within the interview, we each provide a quick synopsis of our personal versions of difficulty with the mother.
As you listen, be prepared to pick up on our themes of boundaries, expectations, idealized perfection, rejection, fear, anger, guilt, anxiety, and trauma… just to mention a few. Okay, that made me laugh.
The A Peaceful Daughter’s Guide to Separating From a Difficult Mother by Karen C. L. Anderson and her updated and expanded Difficult Mothers Adult Daughters: A Guide For Separation, Liberation, and Inspiration remain among one of my favorite personal development books. If you have any difficulty in your relationship with your mother (or ANY family member for that matter), this book is extremely helpful. It is the most shared book on my shelf.
As mentioned in the episode, probably the most often read piece of my writing is this article I wrote several years ago about writing a letter to my deceased mother Sharon Murphy Keyes on Mother’s Day.
That article led to my being interviewed on Pearls From My Mother. Enjoy!
My Guest: Karen C. L. Anderson
Karen C.L. Anderson is a writer and author who helps women take a compassionate look at the troubled relationships they have with their mothers and/or daughters. Her next book, The Difficult Mother-Daughter Relationship Journal: A guide for revealing and healing toxic patterns that sabotage your relationship, will be released in December 2019.
She also runs workshops for mothers and daughters who wish to have healthy boundaries and is at work on a memoir, A Letter To The Daughter I Chose Not To Have.
Karen does this work because she believes it is one way women will finally achieve true equality and freedom in a world that has never valued women equally.
She lives in Southeastern Connecticut with her husband Tim and their two cats, Bella and Starla. She acknowledges that, at times, she has been a difficult stepmother, but never evil.
Prior episodes featuring Karen:
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