The Resilient Family: Living With Your Child's Illness

The Resilient Family is written by a psychotherapist and a rehabilitation counselor and addresses the many complex feelings families experience when dealing with stressors such as a chronic physical disability or mental illness, severe accident, or fatal illness.


The book addresses feelings of anger, blame, and guilt and examines the role of spirituality in coping and a choice to focus on what is in one’s control rather than getting stuck in “what might have been.”


The book points out that each individual family member may react differently and may make the situation better or worse for the family as a whole. It emphasizes the need for self-care and a diversion from responsibilities of caregiving. One chapter deals specifically with needs and reactions of siblings of a child with special needs.


One chapter includes tips for how to get the most out of your relationship with physicians and other professionals involved in your child’s care.


Each chapter lists tidbits of wisdom to “Keep in Mind”: “Stress can be managed. An open acknowledgement of its cause is the first step to managing difficulties.”


The book’s lack of “people–first” language and use of words like “normal” and “invalid” are an irritation. However, the book does contain many real families’ stories and honest feelings about their struggles and their ability to reframe expectations and see that “the future is possible.”

By Paul Power and Arthur Dell Orto. Publisher: Sorin Books: 2003. $12.95


Updated: 08/03/2010