Lost Childhoods: The Plight Of The Parentified Child Author: Gregory J. Jurkovic PhD Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (April 1, 1997) Paperback: 272 pages ISBN-10: 0876308256 ISBN-13: 978-0876308257

This book written for use by therapists and academics.  The language is challenging, but the book is incredibly informative and thoughtfully written.  It is organized into two parts: Understanding and Treatment.  The Understanding portion of the book handles defining the issue of parentifiacation and Treatment talks about the practice of evaluation, fallout from parentifiaction --the author spends quite a bit of time discussing the frequency, benefits and pitfalls of parentified children as adults working in 'helping' fields --specifically mental health care.  

I wish there was more information about how parentification effects couples -but the information given was insightful.

This book opened up questions for me regarding parentification, also providing a few answers.  It will allow me to speak more intelligently about the phenomenon with my therapist in my coming sessions.  All in all I am glad I read it.

Contents

Part I Understanding:
1. Mapping the territory
2. A causal model of destructive parentification
3. Consequences - parentified children and their families.

Part II Treatment:
4. Evaluating childhood parentification: The I-D-C model
5. Treating destructively parentified children and their families -systematic and ethical perspectives
6. Breaking the deadlock: The case of Jamie
7.Parentified children grown up: Treating destructive parentification in couples
8.Wounded healer: From parentified child to helping professional
9.Preventing destructive parentification.