How to Handle More Than You Can Handle

How to Handle More Than You Can Handle is a guide to navigating the emotional experience of caring for and raising disabled children with high-support needs, written by Amanda Griffith-Atkins, a therapist and parent of a disabled child.

Amanda Griffith-Atkins, who is one of the millions of people raising a disabled child with high-support needs, knows firsthand about the dark places parents go—the grief, the anger, the frustration—and the shame these feelings can bring up. In her practice, and now her book, she provides parents with an invaluable set of tools to find the strength, acceptance, and self-compassion necessary to face these hard emotions. This allows them to become more forgiving and healthier versions of themselves, and ultimately, better caretakers for their children.

She guides readers through the different emotions of this unique parenting journey: the shock of diagnosis, the fight for resources, the anxiety of navigating your child's growing independence, and the uncertainty of how best to prepare for their future without you. She then turns her focus to the parent's world and how to navigate the complex territory of marriage, identity, expectations, guilt, managing non-disabled siblings, and more.

Amanda Griffith-Atkins shows us that bringing your darkest feelings into the light and showing up as your full self is the best way to get out of survival mode. Because you—and your child—deserve it.