Introduction: you have permission -- Part 1. Making peace with your decision -- Understand that severing ties is self-protection -- Why you still hurt -- See boundaries as good to have -- The critical need to grieve -- The social void of broken family bonds -- Part 2. Your personal healing is now possible -- The core wounds of self-doubt and unworthiness -- How toxic shame develops -- Leave toxic shame behind -- Emotional loneliness and feelings of disconnection -- Emerge from feeling broken -- Moving toward empathy and self-love -- The path to your deepest, most lasting connection -- Part 3. Practical ways to handle the aftermath -- Family members can continue to be vindictive -- Handling secondary abuse: gifts and cards, financial abuse, and family illness and death -- The dirty work of using people, holidays, social media, and major events -- Protecting valuable relationships with nontoxic family members -- Conclusion: the liberation of self-reliance.