Crossroads at midlife : your aging parents, your emotions, and your self / Frances Cohen Praver ; foreword by Irwin Hirsch.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Foreword / Irwin Hirsch -- My Story -- Getting Your House in Order -- Coping with Midlife Changes -- Media and Midlife -- Limitations -- New Opportunities on Hold -- Career Stages and Changes -- Role Reversal -- Who Is in Control? -- Changes in Identities -- Decisions Are Your Domain -- Abusive Parents -- Relationship Stresses and Strains -- Diverse Role Demands -- Adolescents in Disarray -- Young Adults Holding On -- Love Life -- Work Life -- Coping Mechanisms -- Emotions Evoked -- Identifying Feelings -- Emotional Impact -- Ways to Affirm Your Self -- Dark Feelings in the Spotlight -- Taboo Feelings -- Losing It -- Getting a Grip -- Guilt, Guilt, and More Guilt -- Guilt Pangs -- Where Did You Learn to Suffer? -- Pleasure without Pain -- Caring for Your Self -- Self-Care -- Self-Soothing -- Support Systems -- Problems from the Past -- Childhood Issues Revisited -- Now or Never -- Letting Go -- Changes as Adult Children -- Unfinished Family Business -- Competition -- Differences That Divide -- Power Plays -- Respecting Boundaries -- The Burden Is on You -- Resentment -- Going It Alone or Getting Help -- Long-Distance Caring -- Your Emotional Conflict -- Power Lost and Found -- Handle with Care -- Compassion -- Life Review -- Creative Child Therapy -- Limits with Love -- Playing with Paranoia -- The Setting Sun -- The Final Separation -- Our Own Mortality.

"Here, readers will gain a better understanding of their own lives and know they are not alone in the emotional struggles of caring for an aging patent. Distress can become peace of mind. Relationships that might be weakened by a caretaker rule - between caretakers and their children, spouses, and friends - can actually grow stronger with the experience."--BOOK JACKET.