The Ultimate Betrayal: The Enabling Mother, Incest and Sexual Abuse

This pioneering self-help book takes a close look at a topic that has been ignored or downplayed by other books on incest and childhood sexual abuse: that the non-perpetrating parent usually bears a great deal of responsibility for the child's abuse. In this examination of the complicated dynamics of abuse, the enabling mother is not treated as a victim, rather as an adult responsible for her failure to protect her child. Self-help exercises are interspersed with case histories and analytical material throughout the book, useful to both survivors and therapists.

Audrey Ricker, PhD, is a practicing psychologist, the author of Backtalk for Grandparents and Their Grandchildren, and the coauthor of Backtalk: 4 Steps to Ending Rude Behavior in Your Kids and Bad Attitude: Reverse Your Child's Rudeness in 1 Week—with Food. She works as a therapist at the Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault in Tucson, where she has treated hundreds of survivors of incest, sexual abuse, and rape. She lives in Tucson, Arizona.