Overcoming Toxic Parenting: How to Be a Good Parent When Yours Wasn't

Advice for Parents on How to Break the Cycle of Neglect, Abuse, or Absentee Parenting

Parenting is hard enough when you had good role models in your own parents. But what if your parents were absent, neglectful, or abusive? Are you doomed to repeat their mistakes with your own children? As a parenting expert and someone who experienced negative parenting, Rick Johnson answers that question with an emphatic "No!"

Anyone can be a good parent, even if they didn't have one. Johnson shows anxious readers how to identify the ways in which their past experiences affect their own parenting choices. Then he walks them through the process of healing the emotional and spiritual wounds toxic parenting has left behind. Finally, he outlines healthy habits and practices to take the place of the negative ones that may have been modeled for them.

Any parent who worries about whether they can break the cycle of abuse, neglect, or absenteeism will find in Rick a sympathetic companion on the road to creating a positive family environment now and for the future.

From the Back Cover

You can break the cycle of toxic parenting

Parenting is hard enough when you had good role models in your own parents. But what if your parents were absent, neglectful, or abusive? Are you doomed to repeat their mistakes with your own children? As a parenting expert and someone who experienced negative parenting firsthand, Rick Johnson answers that question with an emphatic "No!"

Anyone can be a good parent, even if they didn't have one. In this compassionate and practical book, Johnson shows you how to identify the ways in which your past experiences affect your own parenting choices. Then he walks you through the process of healing the emotional and spiritual wounds toxic parenting has left behind. Finally, he outlines healthy habits and practices to take the place of the negative ones that were modeled for you.

With Rick as your sympathetic guide, you can break the cycle of abuse, neglect, or absenteeism and create a positive family environment now and for the future.


"All of us as parents truly want to be and give our best. Rick Johnson steps in and shows you how to start now at any age with your kids. You will find the words in these pages alive with ideas, hope, and action steps. Be encouraged by his wisdom that you can use to breathe new hope into your family and relationships. He shows you can do this even if you have had a hurtful past. You will be blessed and encouraged!"--Gregory L. Jantz, PhD, CEDS, bestselling author of Healing the Scars of Emotional Abuse


Rick Johnson is the bestselling author of That's My Son; That's My Teenage Son; That's My Girl; Better Dads, Stronger Sons; and Becoming Your Spouse's Better Half. He is the founder of Better Dads and is a sought-after speaker at parenting and marriage conferences. Rick, his wife, Suzanne, and their grown children live in Oregon. Learn more at www.betterdads.net.