A wife keeps a secret bank account.... A husband has an affair.... A teen refuses to say where she goes at night.... A family therapist for twenty-five years, Evan Imber-Black fills her book with compelling real-life stories of people confronting the dilemmas of family secrets. She challenges the popular notion that secrets are always bad and that the best medicine is to tell all; thoughtless "truth-telling" (often modeled by talk shows) can create years of dangerous fallout.With insight and compassion, "The Secret Life of Families" offers realistic guidance on a range of issues: how to tell when a secret is hurting your family how to handle difficult issues like sexuality, race or religion, adoption and artificial insemination, serious illness, and divorce what to tell -- and not to tell -- young children questions to ask yourself before revealing an important secret what to expect after a secret is opened; and much more