Author Guide · Psychology · Self-help
Books Written by
Jonice Webb has worked as a licensed psychologist since 1991, in a psychiatric emergency service, in substance abuse programmes and as director of outpatient clinics, before opening a private practice in Lexington, Massachusetts. In her clients she kept meeting the same thing: adults who felt empty or disconnected without any obvious harm in their past. She called it Childhood Emotional Neglect, and when she found no books written on the subject, she wrote one. Running on Empty appeared in 2012, a follow-up on relationships in 2017. This guide covers her two key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 2 key books · 2012–2017 · Updated October 2026
ClickTap a spine to jump to that book below.
Quick answer
Jonice Webb has written two books, both about Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN): Running on Empty (2012), written with Christine Musello, and Running on Empty No More (2017). Start with Running on Empty, which defines CEN and sets out how to recover from it; the second book applies the idea to partners, parents and children.
Where to Start with Jonice Webb
If you want to understand what emotional neglect is
→ Running on Empty (2012) — the book that introduced the term.
If you want to work on it yourself
→ Running on Empty (2012) — it ends with strategies for recovery.
If you want to repair a relationship
→ Running on Empty No More (2017) — CEN between partners, with parents and in your own children.
If you are a therapist
→ Running on Empty (2012) — it includes a chapter for mental health professionals.
2 Jonice Webb Books, in Order
Running on Empty
Webb defines Childhood Emotional Neglect not as something parents did to a child but as what they failed to do: respond enough to the child’s emotional needs. She describes the different kinds of emotionally neglectful parents, and how the gap shows up in adults as emptiness and disconnection. The book closes with strategies for recovery and a chapter for mental health professionals. It was published by Morgan James and became a bestseller.
Running on Empty No More
The follow-up, published by Morgan James in November 2017, turns from the reader’s own childhood to the people around them. Webb looks at how CEN affects a marriage or partnership, an adult’s relationship with the parents who neglected them, and the way it can pass to their own children. She gives ways to talk about it honestly and to repair the relationships it has damaged.
In What Order to Read Jonice Webb
Read them in publication order. Running on Empty No More assumes you already know what Childhood Emotional Neglect is and whether it applies to you, which is what the first book is for.
If your main question is about someone else, a partner or a child, you can go straight to the second book, but expect it to refer back to the ideas of the first.
A reading path
1. Running on Empty (2012)
2. Running on Empty No More (2017)
The years · 1991–2024
Quick facts about Jonice Webb
- Known for
- Naming and popularising Childhood Emotional Neglect, the idea that what parents fail to give a child emotionally can shape an adult’s life as much as what they do.
- 1991
- Licensed as a psychologist
- 2012
- Running on Empty
- 2018
- Interviewed on CBS Boston and NECN
- 2024
- Guest on The One You Feed podcast
- Profession
- Licensed psychologist, practising since 1991
- Education
- PhD in clinical psychology
- Practice
- Private psychotherapy practice in Lexington, Massachusetts
- Earlier work
- Psychiatric emergency service, substance abuse programmes, director of outpatient clinics
- Writing
- The Childhood Emotional Neglect blog on PsychCentral
- Also created
- The Fuel Up For Life online CEN recovery programme and the CEN Questionnaire
The red mark is 2012: Running on Empty, the book that introduced Childhood Emotional Neglect to a general readership.
How Jonice Webb Writes: Naming What Is Missing
Webb writes from the consulting room. The books grew out of what she kept seeing in her clients, and she writes as a practising therapist rather than a researcher: plain explanation, examples from family life, and practical steps for the reader, ending in Running on Empty with a chapter addressed to other clinicians.
Her central move is a definition. Childhood Emotional Neglect, as she put it in a 2024 interview, “is not what your parents did to you. It’s what they failed to do for you.” Because it describes an absence, she spends much of Running on Empty on how to notice it at all, and she pairs the books with a self-test, the CEN Questionnaire.
She keeps the focus on what can still be done. “We’re not at fault for feeling that way,” she said in the same interview, “but we are responsible for what we do with those feelings.” The recovery she proposes starts with feelings, learning to notice and name them, and in the second book extends to the conversations that repair a relationship.
Watch
Jonice Webb on Childhood Emotional Neglect
Eric Zimmer talks with Jonice Webb on The One You Feed podcast, posted in September 2024, about what childhood emotional neglect is, how to recognise its subtle signs, and practical steps towards healing, self-soothing and more supportive relationships. From the official TheOneYouFeedPod channel.
Frequently asked questions about Jonice Webb’s books
How many books has Jonice Webb written?
Two: Running on Empty (2012), written with Christine Musello, and Running on Empty No More (2017). Both are about Childhood Emotional Neglect.
What are Jonice Webb’s books in order?
Running on Empty: Overcome Your Childhood Emotional Neglect (2012), then Running on Empty No More: Transform Your Relationships with Your Partner, Your Parents, and Your Children (2017).
Where should I start with Jonice Webb?
With Running on Empty. It defines Childhood Emotional Neglect, explains how it shows up in adults and sets out how to recover. The second book builds on it.
What is Jonice Webb’s most famous book?
Running on Empty (2012), the book that introduced Childhood Emotional Neglect to a general readership. Webb wrote it after finding no books on the subject.
What is Childhood Emotional Neglect?
Webb’s term for a parent’s failure to respond enough to a child’s emotional needs. In her words, it “is not what your parents did to you. It’s what they failed to do for you.” She argues it can leave adults feeling empty or disconnected without knowing why.
What is the difference between Running on Empty and Running on Empty No More?
Running on Empty is about the reader’s own childhood and recovery. Running on Empty No More is about relationships: how CEN affects a partner, an adult’s relationship with their parents, and their own children, and how to talk about it and repair the damage.
Who co-wrote Running on Empty?
The psychologist Christine Musello is credited as co-author of Running on Empty. Running on Empty No More is by Webb alone.
Is Jonice Webb a real psychologist?
Yes. She holds a PhD in clinical psychology, has been a licensed psychologist since 1991 and runs a private practice in Lexington, Massachusetts. She has also trained therapists to identify and treat CEN.
Is there a Jonice Webb workbook or course?
Not as a separate book. Alongside the two books she created the CEN Questionnaire, a self-test, and Fuel Up For Life, an online CEN recovery programme.
Where can I hear Jonice Webb speak?
She has been interviewed about CEN on NPR, CBS Boston and NECN, and on podcasts including The Mental Illness Happy Hour (2016) and The One You Feed (2024).
Footnotes
- About Dr. Jonice Webb — drjonicewebb.com
- Media — drjonicewebb.com
- Running on Empty No More — Morgan James Publishing, 2017
- Running on Empty — Bookmate
- Jonice Webb Ph.D. — Psychology Today
- How to Overcome Childhood Emotional Neglect — The One You Feed, 2024
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“Childhood emotional neglect is not what your parents did to you. It’s what they failed to do for you.”
— Jonice Webb, interview on The One You Feed (2024)
If this shelf interested you, the full bookshelf has more: reading lists by theme, author guides, and notes on what is actually worth your time.
Browse the full bookshelf Get book recommendations