Books The Emotionally Absent Mother: How to Recognize and Heal the Invisible Effects of Childhood Emotional Neglect, Second Edition Book by Jasmin Cori

"The Emotionally Absent Mother: How to Recognize and Heal the Invisible Effects of Childhood Emotional Neglect, Second Edition" by Jasmin Lee Cori is a psychotherapeutic guide that addresses the impact of having a mother who was physically present but emotionally unavailable during childhood. This absence of emotional nurturing often leads to feelings of unworthiness, insecurity, and difficulty in forming healthy relationships as adults.

Key points include:

An emotionally absent mother fails to provide the essential emotional nourishment, mirroring, and support a child needs for healthy development, leaving emotional wounds described as "undermothering."

Children of such mothers often develop insecure attachment patterns, coping strategies shaped by neglect, and struggle with self-esteem and emotional regulation.

The book highlights the importance of "Good Mother messages"—affirmations of presence, safety, love, and joy—that emotionally nurture a child's development and the absence of which causes deep emotional deficits.

Causes for the mother's emotional absence vary and can include personal trauma, depression, overwhelm, or lack of her own nurturing models.

Healing involves acknowledging these difficult emotional truths, reframing perceived personal flaws as adaptations to neglect rather than inherent defects, and cultivating self-mothering—developing a nurturing inner voice and self-care practices to fill the maternal void.

Cori provides strategies for re-mothering oneself and suggests alternatives such as therapy or finding surrogate nurturing figures to support healing.

The book is praised for blending clinical insight with accessible language, offering a compassionate pathway for adults to understand their childhood wounds and build emotional resilience.