cover image When He's Married to Mom: How to Help Mother-Enmeshed Men Open Their Hearts to True Love and Commitment

When He's Married to Mom: How to Help Mother-Enmeshed Men Open Their Hearts to True Love and Commitment

Kenneth M. Adams. Fireside Books, $18.99 (267pp) ISBN 978-0-7432-9138-5

Psychologist Adams and scientist/writer Morgan revisit territory covered in Adams' first book, Silently Seduced: parents and children becoming too close. Here they focus on ""men who have excessive emotional ties to their mothers. They feel trapped, guilty, and disloyal when attempting to follow their own wishes and lead their own lives."" Half of the chapters are dedicated to case histories from Adams' psychological practice, outlining seven species of mother-enmeshed men (MEM): commitment-phobe, womanizer, perpetual adolescent, burned-out caretaker, cybersex addict, disappointed hero and lost man. These are followed by a questionnaire designed to determine if the reader is an MEM, and a chapter on seeking therapy. The final third of the book is dedicated to advice: for MEM to improve their interpersonal relationships, for women romantically involved with MEM, and for parents who want to avoid raising MEM. Authors Adams and Morgan offer a logical and practical survey of the Oedipus complex in the modern world.