Books for Children
The books listed below deal with the prevention of child abuse by
talking
about feelings, self esteem in kids, teaching kids their bodies are
private
and some are directed at the direct prevention of child sexual abuse.
"Just Because I Am" by Lauren Murphy Payne, MSW - This book is about self esteem in kids. Ages: 4-8
My Body Is Private by Linda Walvoord Girard - Ages: 4-8
It's My Body by Lory Freeman - Ages: 4-8
"The Right Touch": by
Sandy
Kleven, LCSW - A Read Aloud Story to Help Prevent Child Sexual Abuse
- Ages: 4-8
"Uncle Willy's Tickles"
by
Marcie Aboff - This is a child sexual assault prevention
book.
The person who uses this book uses it with second graders.
These Books no longer in print, but good when working with children.
"No-No the Little Seal"by
Sherri Patterson - This is a child sexual assault prevention
book.
Ages: 4-7
The person who uses this book uses it with preschoolers and
first graders.
Your Body Belongs to You by Cornelia Spelman - Ages: 4-8
"A to Z: Do You Ever Feel Like Me?" by Bonnie Hausman & Sandi Fellman - This book talks about feelings. Ages: 4-9
Teen or Adult
Outgrowing The Pain - A Book For And About Adults Abused As Children by Eliana Gil, Ph.D - This book is about all types of child abuse and could be read by a teen. It is 80 pages filled with information that helps you understand why you feel the way you do. It also helps explain why you have problems in different areas such as trust. This book points out the different roles that people who were abused take on in the world.
Adult - Unless listed otherwise the books below are all for the recovery journey from child abuse.
The Courage To Heal - A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis - This is a very powerful book and comes with a warning! In the first chapters of this book they tell you to set up a support network for yourself as you work through this book. It is important that you do this! This book can cause you to have flashbacks. It goes through the healing process and how to change the patterns in your life to more healthy ones. It also includes a section of stories from survivors. This is a book to be read slowly and thought about - not my words those of my counselor at that time. My personal experience was once I slowly worked through this book I found myself well on the road to recovery.
The Courage to Heal Workbook - For Women and Men Survivors of Child Sexal Abuse by Laura Davis
Allies in Healing- When the Person You Love Was Sexually Abused as a Child by Laura Davis - This is a wonderful book. It explains why the person who was sexually abused reacts the way they do. It answers all sorts of questions that come up for your partner along your healing journey. It also reminds your partner that they are not in this alone! Just like the person who has been abused it is reassuring to the partners that others are dealing with the same issues.
I Never Told Anyone - Writings By Women Survivors Of Child Sexual Abuse by Ellen Bass and Louise Thornton - This is a book I read in my journey through grief when I could not get mad. I found myself being angry over what had happened to other survivors. I finally was able to get in touch with my own anger because I found stories similar to my own. This book is not to be taken lightly as it brings up a lot of different emotions.
The Mother I Carry- A Memoir of Healing From Emotional Abuse - by Louise M. Wisechild - This book deals with recovery from emotional abuse at the hands of your mother. This is a very hard book because it deals with life's deepest bond - the one with your mother. I avoided this book for years because I always have thought of my mother as "the witch". She was too scary to deal with but I knew I had to deal with her to heal. This is another book that you have to have a support system in place before you start reading it. Like The Courage To Heal this book can cause you to have flashbacks. Unlike the author I did not split off into different selves but I could relate very well to some of the different selves. Their feelings and how they helped her to survive. Emotionally this was the hardest work I have had to do. One of the quotes I liked best from this book was "Today when I think of my mother, I think that living well truly is the best revenge. And for this living, and the many ways it is different from my upbringing, I give thanks."
Healing The Child Within introduces you to the concept of the inner child and how to heal that child.
A Gift To Myself is the workbook that goes with Healing The Child Within. It is full of all kinds of information you will not find in the book. This workbook allows you to go back and find the inner child that became buried because of the abuse. It is a book that is meant to be worked through slowly and thoughtfully. It was suggested to me after I had dealt with the major chucks of the child abuse issues from my past.
Codependent No More - How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself by Melody Beattie - This book offers an insight into codependents and has an activity at the end of each chapter to get you to think more about what the chapter talked about.
"The Scarred Soul: Understanding and Ending Self-Inflicted Violence" by Tracy Alderman. I think a lot of survivors tend to perpetuate the harm done to them as kids, by harming themselves as adults (in various ways). This book is one of the best that I have read that deals with the subject, because it is meant to be interactive. There are exercises in the book for the reader to do as they go through, to identify some of the emotions and reasons involved in self harm and ways to overcome the desires for self harm.
Journal To The Self -Twenty-Two Paths To Personal Growth by Kathleen Adams, M.A. This book is a excellent tool to have in your toolbox as you make your way through recovery. I often find that my deepest insights come out in my journal writing. This book presents you with 22 different ways of journaling. With so many ways to journal you are sure to find a journaling style that fits for you. There are three special chapters in this book: The Five Stages of Grief As Experienced in My Journal by Jean Jameson, Healing Childhood Wounds Through Journaling by Edelle Kinsinger and Journal Writings for Adult Children of Alcoholics.
Writing Your Authentic Self by Lois
Guarino
- This book was put out by the Omega Institute which is the the
nation's
largest holistic education and retreat center. It teaches all
kinds
of different ways of journaling. This is from the front of the
book
"* How to use a journal to communicate with your deepest self * Step-by
step advice on keeping every type of journal-from a personal diary to a
dream chronicle* Simple exercise that bring out the
poet/journalist/profiler/narrator
in everyone." I got this book because I was fascinated by the
idea
of creating a visual journal.
The Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook
- A Guide To Healing, Recovery, And Growth by Glenn R.
Schiraldi, Ph.D - The back cover states: "Trauma can take many forms,
from the disturbing circumstance such as witnessing a murder or other
violent crime to the subtle trauma of living with abuse or
alcoholism. Deep emotional wounds often seem as if they will
never heal. However, with The Post-Trautic Stress Disorder
Sourcebook, Glenn Schiraldi offers a remarkable range of treatment
alneratives and self management techniques which shows survivors the
the other side of pain is recovery and growth." After I
have read it I will do a report on it however I think I will find
it very helpful. On the front it reads: " The most valuable,
user-friendly manual on PTSD I have ever seen. Must reading for
victims, their families, and their therapists." George S. Everly,
Jr., Ph.D, execcutive director, International Journal of Emergency
Mental Health
Other Titles
Healing The Trauma of Abuse by Mary Copeland
Emotional Abuse by Marti T. Loring
Secret of Overcoming Verbal Abuse - Getting Off The Emotional Roller Coaster and Regaining Control Of Your Life by Albert Ellis
Systematic Treatment of Families Who Abuse by Eliana Gil - This book is for professionals in the field.
Learning to Swim by Ann Warren Turner - This is about sexual abuse.
Abused, A Guide to Recovery For Adult Survivors of Emotional - Physical Abuse by Dee Parrish
Substance Abuse, Information For School Counselors, Social Workers, Therapisys and Counselors by Gary L. Fisher
Book sites... my favorite is "Amazon.com" You can find almost any book you want through this site and most are discounted. I have ordered books through them several times (using a charge card through their secure site), and I have never been disappointed. Other Web sites to order books through are Powell's and Barnes and Noble .