InThe Whole Parent,parents are taken on a compelling, in-depth journey of discovery and healing that can help them improve their lives and the lives of their children. Wesselmann, an expert in parent-child counseling, contends that contrary to what most people believe, parental instincts are not born to us. Despite the best intentions and genuine love for their children, parents who grew up with inadequate nurturing find themselves trapped in a generational cycle of problematic parent-child relationships. The author shows how moms and dads struggle with shame and frustration as parental ghosts of the past affect their relationships with their children.This is an invaluable guidebook for parents who want to give their children a more solid emotional foundation than the one they received from their own parents. As the author asserts, there is nothing parents can do that will have more impact on their own lives, the lives of their children, and even the lives of their grandchildren than to break unhealthy patterns of relating.The Whole Parentcourageously shows parents how to create a new, complete family legacy that will be passed down for generations.