Book Recommendation: Parentification

This month inside Calling Home, we’re exploring parentification, or what happens when a child is placed in the role of caretaker, mediator, or emotional support system for their parents. These two are great for adults who are now trying to heal from growing up too soon.

Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson

If you grew up being the responsible one, the emotional caretaker, the peacemaker, or the one who seemed to hold the family together, this book will help you understand why.

Gibson’s work gives language to what so many parentified adults experience: having parents who were physically present but emotionally unavailable, unpredictable, or self-focused. She explains the difference between an emotionally mature and immature parent.

If you’ve ever felt like the “adult” in your family since childhood, this book will help you learn how to reclaim your right to be cared for, not just to care for others.

Will I Ever Be Good Enough? Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers by Karyl McBride

This book speaks directly to daughters who grew up feeling that nothing they did was ever enough. McBride focuses on daughters who were expected to meet their mother’s emotional needs, manage her moods, or serve as her confidant and caretaker. Through clear examples and compassionate insight, she demonstrates how these early patterns can lead to perfectionism, guilt, and self-doubt in adulthood.