Every woman is influenced by her relationship with her father. Your identity began when you were born, and was formed partly by the kind of relationship that you had with your father as you grew up - an identity that continues to be formed today. It's certainly no secret your relationships to your father can be complicated. Whether you haven't spoken in years, or have problems communicating, or simply have small difficulties that need to be addressed, it is possible to take that first step in embracing your father. It's that first step in a process that will leave you happier and more fulfilled - because as you reach out and communicate with your father, you will also be coming into deeper contact with your true self.In this encouraging and healing book, psychologist Linda Neilsen shows every daughter how she can transform her relationship with her father - if she is willing to take that first bold step, and be emotionally embracing rather than hold onto a long-held role of the angry, hurt, or passive daughter who waits for Daddy to embrace her.Based on the phenomenally effective techniques taught in her popular Fathers and Daughters course - the first in the country devoted to exploring father-daughter relationships - Dr. Nielsen explodes the myths that may be holding you back from taking the first step and shows you how to: go first and initiate a better relationship; examine your expectations regarding your relationship with your father; cultivate self-reliance; get to know your father as a person; explore your mother's role in the relationship; stay connected, even through divorce and remarriage; talk to your father without pretending, clamming up, or engaging in superficial chatting; deal with anger, and handle your differences.You'll also find eye-opening quizzes that help you recognize false assumptions and limiting beliefs. No matter how minor or major the need for improvement, your relationship with your father has the potential to become, happier, healthier, and more nurturing. "Embracing Your Father" will empower you to start down that road. Find the connection you always wanted with your father. ""Embracing Your Father" helps fathers and daughters emotionally re-connect, heal their rifts and thereby tremendously improve their emotional lives. It's a must read for any woman who ever longed for a more fulfilling relationship with her father & any man who has felt for way too long he'd lost the capacity to communicate with a central woman in his life - his own daughter." - William S. Pollack, Ph.D., author of "Real Boys", "Real Boys Voices", and "Real Boys Workbook", Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School.Placing the burden of the father-daughter relationship squarely on the daughter's shoulders, Nielsen argues that women who believe dads should always take the first step towards friendship "haven't moved beyond seeing themselves as a little girl." The psychologist, who teaches a class on father-daughter relationships at Wake Forest University, offers many helpful suggestions to her readers, including tips on how to start seeing dad as "more than a wallet" and how to stop playing the innocent virgin daughter. Chapters on handling the turmoil of divorce and remarriage and on getting to know dad as a person (and not just as a father figure), round out this useful, if somewhat guilt-tripping, self-help guide. Copyright [copyright] Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Are you having trouble communicating with your father? Do you wonder if you can really have a better relationship with your dad? Do you feel he loves one of your siblings more than he loves you? Have financial issues created bad feelings between you? Has your parents divorce complicated your relationship? Have you been out of touch for years and want to reconnect with your dad? Your relationship with your father is one of the oldest relationships you have. It has helped form your self-image and influenced your path in life. So changing it in the face of decades of habits and traditions might seem daunting, or even close to impossible.But with the help of Dr. Linda Nielsen, professor of psychology at Wake Forest University, it's possible to create a new, open, and true avenue of communication between you and your father. "Embracing Your Father" provides active steps toward cultivating a better relationship with one of the most important people in your life, and will help you see that in trying to embrace your father, you embrace the best of your self.