At a young age, Jack learned he had an incurable disease. That naturally brought lots of physical and emotional pain into his life. But that suffering led him to say, “The thing I wish most never happened, I am most grateful for.”

So many people from broken families struggle with feeling helpless or needy. Our efforts to heal or grow might even feel fruitless.

After her parents divorced, my guest felt abandoned and badly hoped it was all a dream that she could just wake up from.

It’s said that Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” Doesn’t that describe our culture?

Trauma, such as your parents’ divorce or extreme family dysfunction, doesn’t only affect your emotions. It affects your body too. It quite literally has physical effects. 

If there were 10 things you can do to make therapy succeed (or fail), would you want to know them? I know I would.