Drama Free: A Guide to Managing Unhealthy Family Relationships

Nedra Glover Tawwab is a New York Times bestselling author, a licensed therapist, and a sought-after relationship expert. This book is a therapeutic and educational tool that addresses how to consciously change behaviors you’d rather not have in relationships, specifically, around your family. For those of us who have delved into the self-help book world, this is an in-depth, thorough refresher, focusing on family dynamics.Nedra’s core belief is that relationships contribute to mental health. They can cause you pain or they heal you. She focuses on taking your relationships seriously and teaches the art of having tough but intentional conversations to create positive change. OR you’ll learn how to sever ties when the relationship is unmanageable.None is more influential than the formative years we’ve had with our family of origin. A lot of people lament that not everything is about the family, but yup, so often it’s true. In childhood, most likely we weren’t allowed to be ourselves, so our true selves started to develop when becoming an adult. Like a butterfly using its colossal strength to break out of its chrysalis, we too must use our emotional colossal strength to break out of our childhood mold in order to fly. We are able to have relationships with family on our terms.

In Nedra Glover Tawwab’s new book, she takes her work on boundaries to the next step: how to maintain relationships with people in our lives with whom we have difficult relationships. The premise of the book is that very often, our boundaries are not because we want to end relationships with people in our lives, but that we want to find ways to keep those relationships without doing harm to ourselves.In her practical voice, she offers examples of situations where this is necessary or important, and tips for how one might respond in these situations. She offers recognition that there are stages to making change, and it takes time to move from contemplating change to implementing it.As always, Nedra uses simple, clear language to help us process a very complicated topic, while continuing to offer us empathy for whatever stage we are at.“Even though you’ve changed, from time to time you might revisit your former thoughts or former behaviors. When that happens, greet yourself in the present with grace and understanding. It’s hard to overcome patterns, and it’s challenging to avoid lapsing into old behaviors. Know that you might not always get it right.”

Read this book if you have a dysfunctional family or relationship with family members (including in-laws and extended family). Read this book if you think you don’t.Nedra outlines several different types of familial relationships and how challenging it can be to work through dysfunction or things we have considered normal that are not. Nedra also provides wisdom and tools on how to overcome the many challenges that occur in relationships with family members with gentleness, understanding and realistic observations and advice.Please keep in mind that there will likely be much to unpack from both your childhood and adulthood. It can be an incredibly emotional process in which you might need to take breaks and pauses. However, it is a worthwhile endeavor that will allow you a new, healthier perspective on your relationships with others, and it will cause you to re-evaluate yourself and how you interact with others. This is necessary wisdom for cultivating peace and harmony in your life.I wish fellow readers an eye-opening and heartfelt journey. Be kind and gracious to yourself during this experience and best wishes in creating and living your most authentic life.

This book is a great addition to Nedra's first book on boundaries. The content is sorely needed: dealing with family relationships. It's a conversational read with immediately applicable content. As a therapist, I will advise clients to read this book, and I recommend other mental health counselors keep it in their libraries as well!

I felt like this book was written just for me. We have been having so many issues with my in laws. This book was so helpful in helping my partner process their family issues. It’s easy to understand and yet goes deep into getting to the root of the issue. I also appreciate the examples and exercises.

Once again, Nedra hits the nail on the head with direct, honest, and concise advice for dealing with challenging family relationships. Honestly, I find a lot of this applicable to relationships with friends and chosen family. A great guidebook to managing family relationships and a complementary tool to assist one’s own therapeutic journey.

This is my second book by this author. She has helped me so much. Drama free is how I intend to spend my life thanks to this book. I am now able to set boundaries without feeling guilty.

I devoured this book. It gives such helpful guidance about navigating through difficult relationships. Excellent parenting information and steps to distancing or removing yourself from unhealthy family relationships. I am going to Recommend this book to everyone!

Love this author's work. So many aha moments for me which have validated my choices with my family of origin. Highly recommended. You won't be disappointed.