Book Review of Necessary Endings  review by Sharon Martin, LCSW

This post contains affiliate links which means I receive a small commission if you purchase the book through my link. This helps support the blog and costs you nothing.

Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward is a useful book by Henry Cloud. I highly recommend the book for anyone who is stuck in a relationship, job, etc. that isn’t working for them.

I did skip some of the early chapters that seemed a bit redundant. I found Dr. Cloud spent too much time at the beginning selling us on the idea that endings are both necessary and good. I guess I already accepted that idea. Dr. Cloud details the change process later in the book. I liked having concrete criteria on which to base a decision about whether to continue to be hopeful about change or whether the evidence is that the person/situation isn’t going to change.

I think this book should be required reading for managers/supervisors. He uses many examples from business. I also anticipate recommending the book to clients who are in unhealthy relationships, but unable to end them and emotionally move forward.

Dr. Sharon Martin, LCSW

Sharon Martin, a licensed counselor and psychotherapist in Northern California, specializes in helping adult children of alcoholics and others who struggle with anxiety, perfectionism, and self-criticism. She has a private psychotherapy practice in CA where she is available for online counseling. Sharon is also the author of The CBT Workbook for Perfectionism and write the blog Conquering Codependency for Psychology Today.