Helping Children and Families Cope with Parental Illness

"This is a long-overdue look at the impact of a wide range of parental illnesses on children. The authors have ‘been there' in their own lives, and they bring compassion and insight to their discussion of how we can take the needs of children seriously when treating their parents."—William J. Doherty, PhD, is co-author (with Susan McDaniel and Jeri Hepworth) of Medical Family Therapy and Integrated Care.

"As a psychologist whose father had brain cancer when I was a teenager, I can attest to the long-lasting effects of a parent's illness on childhood and adult development, career choices, personal hopes and outlook. This wise book provides a clearly-lined road map for understanding and ameliorating the effects of such medical crises in the lives of families. Davey, Kissil and Lynch have synthesized key family-centered approaches to provide a pragmatic and durable framework for clinicians of all disciplines."—Barry J. Jacobs, PsyD, author of The Emotional Survival Guide for Caregivers

"It is hard to imagine a more informative and useful resource on the challenges of parenting in the face of serious illness. Helping Children and Families Cope with Parental Illness manages to be comprehensive and authoritative while also readable and practical with a human touch – quite an achievement! I was particularly impressed by how consistently and thoroughly it takes into account family illness in its cultural/racial/ethnic contexts. This book is an invaluable gift to the field."—Harry J. Aponte, MSW, LCSW, LMFT, HPhD, is in private practice in Philadelphia, and is a clinical associate professor in the Couple and Family Therapy Department at Drexel University, USA.