Courage to Heal, The - Ellen Bass, Laura Davis

"One out of three girls and one out of seven boys is sexually abused by the age of eighteen. All sexual abuse is damaging and the trauma does not end when the abuse stops." ? from The Courage to Heal I would never have said that I was the sort of person who believed in things like counselling and self help books. I never believed that talking about your problems would help much and as for self help books, didn?t they just get you desperately repeating "I'm a worth while person!" whenever you got upset by anything? So when it was suggested that I go for counselling, I kept finding excuses not to. But before I start to ...

This has long been the classic recommendation for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to read.....I have yet to read the newer "Beginning to Heal" or the other book suggested in this section currently, "Breaking Free", but imagine they may well be better beginning books than this one. I have a number of concerns about "Courage to Heal", based mainly on its possible effect on abuse survivors just beginning their healing journey, and they are as follows: 1 It's a *very* intense read, and possibly too hard for many people just starting to deal with this part of their lives...don't try it without loads of support. ...

This book is the one that most Survivors and professionals tend to hear about first when they are looking for support for this very difficult subject. The books deals with the question 'Am I a Survivors' as some people question whether what happened to them was abuse. Looks at the linked feelings of grief, anger and how to move on and begin to heal Guidance on self destructive behaviour including low self esteem intimacy and sexuality. Gives insights to others close to the Survivor including partners family members and counsellors Uses stories from other Survivors. Gives information on further support. ...