The Emotionally Absent Mother: A Guide to Self-Healing and Getting the Love You Missed

This is based on a study of maternal levels of oxytocin (sometimes called the love hormone) during pregnancy, which revealed that mothers with higher levels “gazed at their babies longer, touched their babies affectionately, had positive expressions while interacting with their baby, and reported checking on their baby more often than moms with low

Journey from Abandonment to Healing (New York: Berkeley Books, 2000), pp. 77-78.

The Attachment Connection: Parenting a Secure and Confident Child Using the Science of Attachment Theory (Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, 2008),

Giving the Love That Heals: A Guide for Parents (New York: Pocket Books, 1997), p. 214.

Rosenburg with Marjorie L. Rand and Diane Asay’s book Body, Self & Soul: Sustaining Integration

We’re doing the best we can, and some days are simply harder than others.

Cycles of Power: A User’s Guide to the Seven Seasons of Life

Becoming Attached: First Relationships and How They Shape Our Capacity to Love (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 230.

There is grace in the healing process, so although it’s not like one good cry can make up for years of repressed sadness, it can take you further down the field than you might think.