With her usual warmth and wisdom, best-selling psychotherapist Julia Samuel explores the family: what we inherit and how we can change.

Relationships fundamentally influence our health and happiness – and family is the only relationship that we cannot leave, however much we might like to. But we think too narrowly about the impact of our families on our lives.

Every Family Has a Story sees best-selling psychotherapist Julia Samuel turn from her work with individuals to sessions with a wide variety of families. Diving deep into eight case studies, with her usual storytelling panache and the latest academic research, she analyses a range of common issues including separation, step-relationships, leaving home, trauma and loss. In doing so, she reveals insightfully how deeply we are influenced by our families – including the often underappreciated impact of grandparents and siblings – and offers universally applicable insights into how families can face challenges together. Her 12 touchstones for family wellbeing – from fighting productively to making time for rituals, and from setting boundaries to allowing difference – provide us with the tools to ultimately be better family members ourselves.

Revealing forgiveness and learning amidst trauma and hardship, this is an honest and compassionate meditation on what we inherit and how we can create the families we wish for.