This book had a lot of good ideas for the manner in which to approach difficult relationships. However, the biggest thing I took away from this book is that if you yourself have not handled your own grief, your own backlog of emotional baggage, you are not ready to take this step yet. Sure, perhaps a few little things here and there - but you can't begin to overhaul your relationship with others until you've taken a good hard look at yourself and your own growth. Maybe that sounds cliche here, but as you continue to read through this book it seems more and more painfully clear. Spend some time on your own growth, give yourself some distance from the difficult relationship if that is what you need to grow. That said, this book does give some tools for your own growth as well as that of relationships.