Coming out can be fraught with difficulty for both parents and child— On June 2, 2016, on Psych Up Live with Host Suzanne Phillips, Wesley Cullen Davidson, a popular blogger on gay rights issues, and Dr. Jonathan L. Tobkes, a New York City-based psychiatrist, discuss their valuable new book, When Your Child is Gay: What You Need to Know. They combine real-life cases with a psychiatrist’s tips to help straight parents and gay children through identity issues. They are joined by one of the parents interviewed for their book, Dr. Shawne Duperson, Emmy Award winner and founder of Project: Forgive who shares her self-journey with her son’s coming out.
Phoenix, AZ -- (ReleaseWire) -- 06/02/2016 -- Wesley C. Davidson and Dr. Jonathan Tobkes' new book When Your Child is Gay: What You Need to Know is a personal and powerful contribution. Co-author Davidson shares that she accidentally discovered her son was gay. While cleaning her thirteen year-old son's room, a love note fell out of her son's composition book. This was the first sign that her son might be gay. She describes the lack of information and support available in the 90's and her efforts to handle the situation while still maintaining a loving relationship with her son. Davidson says, "I wrote this book to help parents and kids through similar difficult situations."
What brings the fears and feelings associated with coming out to the forefront are the stories told by the parents and children interviewed by Davidson. She shares the reactions of parents when they realize their children are gay, the resulting emotional upheaval, and the process they go through leading to eventual acceptance. From the children's perspective, Davidson provides the children's descriptions of their straight parents reactions to their coming out. Sometimes supportive, sometimes painfully rejecting, what becomes clear is that children of any age need their parents to love and accept them.
Co-author, Dr. Tobkes, who is gay, has worked with many gay adolescents and their families over the last ten years and adds an important dimension to this book. He identifies consistent patterns in the ways parents react to their gay children, including denial, guilt, fear, anger, shame, loss and finally acceptance. With respect and understanding he offers research, dispels myths and offers important advice in every chapter. One of his important messages is to love, listen and learn. Authors Wesley Davidson and Dr. Jonathan Tobkes succeed in their goal of writing this book as a "positive, progressive guide to raising healthy, well-adjusted adults."
You can listen to this episode of Psych Up Live at 11am PST or On Demand anytime.