Emotional Blackmail: When the People in Your Life Use Fear, Obligation, and Guilt to Manipulate You

A lifesaver! Very direct, clear and very practical advices.

Emotional blackmail is used by someone that has some sort of importance in your life. That person can be a spouse, sibling, parent, boss, co-worker, etc. As the subtitle suggests, they use fear, obligation, and/or guilt to get what they want. Susan Forward, Ph.D., describes the various forms of emotional blackmail and gives numerous real-life examples of people in her practice that have experienced emotional blackmail.

The answer to breaking the cycle is by changing your response to the individual with one sentence at a time. Standing your ground, building your confidence and maintaining integrity are vital to breaking the cycle. Forward gives tools (strategies and suggested sentences) to assist you in creating healthier relationships.

It show more has taken me over two months to read this book. There was just so much information to process that I decided to read it in bite-sized portions. I found it to be an excellent source to give insight on what may be transpiring in any awkward relationship. The majority of the book is identifying what type of blackmailer you may have, while the actual solution to rectifying the situation is the minority - and that solution isn't rocket science either. However, when someone is stuck in a relationship like this, it is often difficult to identify what is really happening and it is extremely difficult to break free due to the patterns developed. Forward's suggestions are simple, doable, and most importantly, life-changing solutions. (4.5/5)

Originally posted on: "Thoughts of Joy..." show less

A useful book for any of us who feel pressured by friends, family, church or club members to do things we don't feel comfortable doing. If you have trouble saying "no," this book will help you find your voice. The author provides an analysis of why we get ourselves into these types of situations, but most importantly, she gives practical advice on establishing boundaries in a calm but persuasive manner.

This book is worth it for so many insightful comments and practical advice nuggets. The greatest of all is the response to the Emotional Blackmailer: "I am going to have to see whether that works for me and I will get back to you." I have used this as a litmus test for many situations hypothetically and practical.

Interesting read. I needed a little more in-depth explanation on the actual implementation with particular situations/relationships. All around: very helpful.

Clarifies things like "why do I often feel like shit in my perfect relationship".

This is just another great book about how I got to where I was, not as relevant because I have moved on so much.
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