A guide to the tools needed to leave painful, destructive relationships behind, both at home and at work, with dozens of helpful case histories

Starting with details of how to recognize the manipulative or sweetly corrosive partner, the family dynamics that make Christmas and other get-togethers hell, and the nightmare boss, this book teaches readers what they can do to leave painful, destructive relationship patterns behind. Toxic relationships come in many guises, which can make them hard to identify. This guide explains that often they don't entail physical violence so much as a slow erosion of self esteem, a loss of personal identity, or a growing desire to please friends, partners, family members, and others who are impossible to please. Many toxic relationships begin early in childhood, or as people start to form their own personal relationships, and even when they find the courage to move on, if the fallout from these relationships is not dealt with, they may end up attracting more of the same. This book teaches how to observe these patterns in relationships, making it possible to truly move on.