This book chronicles the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games--games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an it.
Dave's bed was an old army cot in the basement, and his clothes were torn and raunchy. When his mother allowed him the luxury of food, it was nothing more than spoiled scraps that even the dogs refused to eat. The outside world knew nothing of his living nightmare. He had nothing or no one to turn to, but his dreams kept him alive--dreams of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son.
Healing victims of sexual assault through transformative journaling. One in six women is the victim of sexual assault. Using her own hard-won wisdom, author Jen Cross shows how to heal through journaling and personal writing
Rape victims and victims of other sexual abuse. Writing Ourselves Whole is a collection of essays and creative writing encouragements for sexual trauma survivors who want to risk writing a different story. Each short chapter offers encouragement, experience, and exercises.
How to change your life. When you can find language for the stories that are locked inside, you can change your life. Talk therapy can only go so far for the millions of Americans struggling in the aftermath of sexual abuse and sexual assault. Sexual assault survivors can heal themselves. Sexual trauma survivor communities (and their allies) have the capacity to hold and hear one another's stories-we do not have to relegate ourselves solely to the individual isolation of the therapist's office.
What You'll Learn Inside Writing Ourselves Whole
- How to reconnect with your creative instinct through freewriting
- How freewriting can help you reclaim the parts of yourself and your history
- How "restorying" the old myths about sexual trauma survivors can set you free
If you have read books such as Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones, or Louise DeSalvo's Writing as a Way of Healing, your will want to read Writing Ourselves Whole.
"I'm recommending a great book about bravery, pain & overcoming childhood... abuse. Judie Mattison's horrifying reality was hidden--even from her own mind--for decades. Her memoir shares her healing journey & is beyond empowering for all "
--GRETCHEN CARLSON, journalist and best-selling author
As a child she had to forget in order to survive. As an adult she had to remember in order to be free.
Judith Mattison had a conventional 1940s Midwestern childhood, followed by college, marriage, and children. Still, throughout her life, she was haunted by a mysterious terror of deer head hunting trophies. With the help of a therapist, she began to recover memories of severe abuse at the hands of her father.
Unearthing her repressed past, she learned that forgetting was how she coped as a child. Remembering as an adult broke her apart--and then put her together again. In the process she struggled to overcome shame and fear, to embrace anger, and to claim her truth.
I Will Not Break was a finalist in the annual book awards of Midwest Independent Publishing Association memoir category. It has been a valuable resource for survivors of trauma and their support people, as well as those people concerned about issues of shame, family, or abuse.
From the bestselling author of" Running with Scissors" comes "Dry" the hilarious, moving, and no less bizarre account of what happened next.
You may not know it, but you've met Augusten Burroughs. You've seen him on the street, in bars, on the subway, at restaurants: a twenty-something guy, nice suit, works in advertising. Regular. Ordinary. But when the ordinary person had to drinks, Augusten was circling the drain by having twelve; when the ordinary person went home at midnight, Augusten never went home at all. Loud, distracting ties, automated wake-up calls, and cologne on the tongue could only hide so much for so long. At the request (well, it wasn't really a request) of his employers, Augusten landed in rehab, where his dreams of group therapy with Robert Downey, Jr., are immediately dashed by the grim reality of fluorescent lighting and paper hospital slippers. But when Augusten is forced to examine himself, something actually starts to click, and that's when he finds himself in the worst trouble of all. Because when his thirty days are up, he has to return to his same drunken Manhattan life and live it sober. What follows is a memoir that's as moving as it is funny, as heartbreaking as it is real. "Dry" is the story of love, loss, and Starbucks as a higher power."
"Both prolific and eloquent in her continuing indictment of parents who abuse their children and societies that tolerate such behavior."--Kirkus Reviews.
- an exploration of modern and ancient therapies and practices for healing
- real-life tragedies turning into stories of triumph, hope, and survival Drawn from the wisdom and insights of the world's top doctors, therapists, and experts, Trauma will show you that no matter what you have endured, how long you have carried it, or how deeply embedded it is, you can be free from pain and suffering. Your road to recovery and whole-body healing is before you, and with it the richer and more profound connections that you seek with yourself and your loved ones.
In this fully expanded and updated third edition of the bestselling classic, you learn why verbal abuse is more widespread than ever, and how you can deal with it. You'll get more of the answers you need to recognize abuse when it happens, respond to abusers safely and appropriately, and most important, lead a happier, healthier life.
In two all-new chapters, Evans reveals the Outside Stresses driving the rise in verbal abuse--and shows you how you can mitigate the devastating effects on your relationships. She also outlines the Levels of Abuse that characterize this kind of behavior--from subtle, insidious put-downs that can erode your self-esteem to full-out tantrums of name-calling, screaming, and threatening that can escalate into physical abuse. Drawing from hundreds of real situations suffered by real people just like you, Evans offers strategies, sample scripts, and action plans designed to help you deal with the abuse--and the abuser. This timely new edition of The Verbally Abusive Relationship, Expanded Third Edition puts you on the road to recognizing and responding to verbal abuse, one crucial step at a time
