Every Family Has a Story, Julia Samuel
Every Family Has a Story, Julia Samuel
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Every Family Has a Story
How We Inherit Love and Loss

Author: Julia Samuel

Narrator: Julia Samuel

Unabridged: 10 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/15/2022

Synopsis

Why do some families thrive in adversity while others fragment? How can families weather difficult transitions together? Why do our families so often exasperate us? And how can even small changes greatly improve our relationships?

In Every Family Has a Story, bestselling psychotherapist Julia Samuel turns from her acclaimed work with individuals to draw on her sessions with a wide variety of families, across multiple generations. Through eight beautifully told and insightful case studies, she analyzes a range of common issues, from loss to leaving home, and from separation to step-relationships, and shows how much is, in fact, inherited—and how much can be healed when it is faced together. Exploring the relationships that both touch us most and hurt us most, including the often under-appreciated impact of grandparents and siblings, and incorporating the latest academic research, she offers wisdom that is applicable to us all. Her twelve touchstones for family well-being—from fighting productively to making time for rituals—provide us with the tools to improve our relationships, and to create the families we wish for. This is a moving and reassuring meditation that, amid trauma and hardship, tells unforgettable stories of forgiveness, hope and love.

About The Author

JULIA SAMUEL, MBE, is a leading British psychotherapist and the author of the Sunday Times bestsellers Grief Works and This Too Shall Pass. During the last thirty years, she has worked in both public health service and private practice, and she is founder patron of Child Bereavement UK and a vice president of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. She is frequently cited across the national media, and has presented the podcasts Grief Works and A Living Loss.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Lena on July 21, 2023

What an amazing book! As a therapist to be this gave me such interesting insights, but also as a daughter and partner, part of a family it gave me valuable tips and knowledge. So well written. Highlighted so much! I will take this book with me through the therapy I will provide. Thank you Julia, on......more

Goodreads review by Richard Bridge on June 16, 2022

As someone who has gone through significant turmoil in my family life with my parents, I found this a really insightful book and has persuaded me that it may be beneficial to consider some psychotherapy, and potentially even family therapy - although perhaps it is too late for that (apparently it's......more

Goodreads review by Taggie on November 20, 2022

3.5-4 I would say for this book. Type of book I didn’t read in one go but would read different chapters at a time. I’ve listened to Julia samuels a lot on podcasts and really like her thoughts. This book was good, some chapters better then others and some that were a little triggering and sad for me......more

Goodreads review by Calvin on February 09, 2023

Family is a fascinating topic. With the constant shift in dynamics, emotions and roles. There is much to learn. Every family has its own issues but some are deeper than the others, some have more devastating outcomes than others. Julia Samuel talked about a few cases, each unique with the issues pre......more

Goodreads review by Gael on July 11, 2024

Really lovely book - enjoyed some chapters more than others, which is to be expected as certain things resonate personally. I personally found the intro and conclusion very informative and helpful, aside from the case studies. I love the simple truth, that ‘Love is not a soft skill. In a family, not......more

Quotes

AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

"What makes Samuel outstandingly sympathetic as a therapist and as a writer is her unusual willingness to admit to faultiness and not to be remote or over-authoritative. She is a virtuoso listener, but wears her heart on her sleeve and will occasionally admit to feeling unequal to what she is witnessing. Her lovely—and in no way insensitive—character leavens the narratives assembled here. . . . The Samuel magic continues to obtain." —The Guardian

"In the eight case studies we are gently guided . . . towards a deeper understanding of the importance of honesty, self-examination and communication within all relationships. . . . [An] engrossing book [with] extraordinary personal honesty." —Daily Mail

"[Samuel] excels at distilling shrewd insights from her subjects. . . . [Her] candor offers an unusually intimate look at how therapists work. . . . Covering a broad array of family structures and dilemmas, this quietly dazzling consideration of what it means to be a family is sure to resonate." —Publishers Weekly

"An essential, clever and kind book that reminds us that we can never hope to understand ourselves without deeply understanding our families. A testament to the ongoing relevance of psychotherapy and to Julia Samuel's preeminent skill as an author and therapist." —Alain de Boton

"Julia Samuel is so wise and compassionate. I love every word she writes and long for every reader—every person—to experience her unique and generous way of being in the world." —Cathy Rentzenbrink

"Julia Samuel brings her characteristic warmth, compassion and wisdom to the vital matter of how families function. She writes with unfailing grace, tenderness and consummate story-telling. Everyone who reads this will learn something profound—about themselves, their origins and the people they love most dearly." —Dr. Rachel Clarke

"Julia Samuel offers us vivid insights into the way family structure, stories and experience exert their influence across generations. Here is a book for all families, where we can appreciate our own family's strengths and take courage to explore our hurts. The issues are so vibrantly explored that I was utterly drawn in. This is a book about love: a superpower when we use it wisely and well." —Kathryn Mannix

"Fascinating. . . . Julia Samuel's compassionate work never fails to inform, comfort and make me think." —Pandora Sykes

"This book is wonderful, wise and empathetic, so useful but also so beautifully written. . . . What I found really interesting is the sense of reciprocity, how Julia is engaged in the process of working with clients, changed by them and their stories, as we are by reading about them. Every family should have one, to consult in times of trouble." —Gavanndra Hodge

"The families Julia Samuel works with in her moving and fiercely honest book are just like all of us: flawed, paradoxical, difficult and somehow loveable. Her writing is honest, heartfelt and wise. . . . Over and over she extracts the extraordinary from people who didn't know they had it in them. I am grateful to have found her writing." —Raffaella Barker

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