Don Carter

Thawing Toxic Relationships Don Carter

Publisher Marketing: Thawing Toxic Relationships is number three of a four part series entitled Thawing the Iceberg. The Thawing the Iceberg Series is designed to address various issues outlined in the author's bestselling book, Thaw - Freedom from Frozen feelings. The other two books in the Series are: Thawing Adult/Child Syndrome and Thawing Childhood Abandonment Issues. Thawing Toxic Relationships is a book about healing and co-creating healthy, functional relationships for those who grew up in a dysfunctional family. If you relate to Don Carter's Iceberg Model, would like to have a genuinely happy and functional relationship then this book is for you Building healthy relationships, a skill that eludes most people who have been raised in a less-than-nurturing family, is the ultimate objective for Thawing Toxic Relationships. Read about the Cycle of Drama, the Chemistry of drama how to save your marriage, improve communication, how to set and maintain healthy boundaries, be assertiveness, identify relationship mind games (Distance and Pursuit games, the Punishment Cycle, the Drama Triangle - and why we play them). Gather the tools and skills necessary to overcome these and many other dysfunctional relationship patterns. Thawing Toxic Relationships - Sample of content NOTE: All books in the Thawing the Iceberg Series contain the Iceberg Model in the first five chapters so that they stand-alone as a complete work. Chapter 1: What the hell is wrong with you? (p.4) Motivation, Dependency Needs, Iceberg Model Chapter 2: Anatomy of an Emotional Wound (p.16) Abandonment, Shame, & Contempt - False Self Chapter 3: The Art of Survival (p.28) External Focus, Impression Management - Invented Self Chapter 4: Who am I Really? (p.36) Imperfect World & Spirituality - True Self Chapter 5: Distractions & Dependencies (p.40) Addictions, Obsessions/Compulsions, and Other Issues Sample of Exercises & Recovery Activities: Workbook Introduction: Separateness & Connectedness (p.46) Distance & Pursuit; Ego-State Functioning From Section 1.1: Core Issues & Relationships Styles (p.49) Externalizers & Internalizers; Codependents & Counter-Dependents From Section 1.2: Exploring Your Developmental Stages (p.54) Assessing the Development of Psychological Positions & Relationship Styles From Section 1.3: Infatuation & Identification vs. True Intimacy (p.65) Why we Hurt the Ones we Love: Cycles of Abandonment, Shame, and Contempt From Section 1.4: Psychological Sweatshirt's (p.72) Examples of Mixed Messages & Relationship Polarities From Section 2.1: Structuring Time & the Three Hungers of the Inner Child (p.76) Structure Hunger, Stimulus Hunger, & Position Hunger From Section 2.3: Games We Play (p.86) Complimentary & Crossed Transactions From Section 2.3: Distorted Perceptions, Payoffs for Playing Games (p.94) Some Classic Mind Games, Moves, and Payoffs From Section 3.3: Are You Living Life in Reaction? (p.110) Friend or Foe? - Treating Each Other Like an Enemy From Section 3.7: Key Relationship Skills (p.119) Communication & Ego-State Functioning From Section 3.7.6: Analyzing Your Transactions (p.127) Analyzing Communication, Feelings & Emotions Contributor Bio:  Carter, Don Don Carter, MSW, LCSW has been a therapist for nearly three decades during which time he has been employed at several mental health agencies around Mid-Missouri. He has held positions from entry level up to manager of a chemical dependency program at a large hospital. His primary specialty areas include addictions, codependency, mood disorders, PTSD, and Adult/Child Syndrome. The middle of seven children, Don grew up on a farm with hard-working parents who had their own issues from childhood. The farm work lead to a scholarship to play football at the University of Missouri at Columbia in 1977-79. He followed that with a brief stint with the New Orleans Saints in 1980. That experience was cut short by a developing problem with alcohol and drugs. A series of childhood tragedies and bouts with addictions lead Don to his first encounter with the mental health system when he entered an inpatient treatment program at 29 years old. Don found treatment and recovery such a profoundly gratifying experience that he returned to school, finished two degrees, became a licensed therapist and dedicated himself to helping others find their way out too. The Iceberg Model in his bestselling "Thawing the Iceberg Series" was a product of the years that followed. Don attributes most of the success of that series to his relationship with God. "I really feel I am living the plan He has for my life and carrying a message He wants me to carry."