Surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse Workbook (Practical Companion to Surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse)

This book contains workbook exercises that can assist survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Chapter after chapter lays out the misconceptions and mindset of little children and young people who were traumatized. Adults who are struggling to free themselves from the effects and the mindset created through childhood sexual abuse trauma may find these exercises very helpful. Also, this could assist therapists working to help survivors who are in recovery from this type of trauma.

I have read many, many books on this subject--too many, I sometimes think.Most of these books do an admirable job of describing the feelings a survivor may be left with. Did I feel angry? Yes. Did I feel sad? Yes. Did I have conflicted feelings about my abuser and the people who failed to put a stop to it or to protect me in the first place? Yes and yes.But I could never let go of these feelings or move past them into acceptance and healing like the the people who told their stories so eloquently and articulately in the books I read. I was only three years old when the abuse took place and at that age I had no words for what was happening.I'd look back as an adult and ask myself WHY. Why had I been singled out for the abuse in the first place? Why didn't I fight or scream? Why didn't I tell anyone? I was caught in an endless loop of "whys" and I never seemed to make any progress.I simply could not take the memories and feelings of my traumatized three year-old self and translate them into a story with a straight, simple narrative the way other survivors who had been older when they were abused could and did. My thoughts and feelings on the matter were hopelessly muddled and they had me in a chokehold.This book has some very simple exercises that have helped me to at least begin to make sense of it. It includes a checklist of possible ways a person may be affected by sexual abuse and some of the coping strategies that children develop and may bring into adulthood. They run the gamut from positive to negative to neutral.This checklist is great because survivors are not a homogeneous group who share a single profile or a single clear-cut path to recovery. We may respond to and cope with the abuse in very different ways and have different issues to work out. The authors of this book acknowledge and understand this.The bulk of the book consists of writing exercises in which people are asked to describe how they feel about the abuse, themselves, and life in general.I was surprised to realize just how many aspects of my life have been colored and shaped by the abuse--far more than I had previously acknowledged or admitted, even to myself. I was even more surprised to find that some of the people interviewed for this book were also abused as toddlers and very small children. They hadn't known what to do either and some of them grew up feeling just as confused and as lost as I had.While I was sad to realize that what I had believed to be a very rare occurrence is not, reading these people's stories made me feel less alone in the world. I owe them a huge debt of gratitude and I admire their courage and their desire to help people they will never even meet.One simple exercise was worth the whole price of the book as far as I'm concerened. I had to draw a picture of myself at the age when the abuse took place next to a picture of my abuser. Then I looked at the difference in size and I finally had the answer to all of my "whys."Realizing that I never stood a chance against my abuser brings its own kind of heartbreak. But the relief I feel now that I can finally stop interrogating and blaming myself for what happened is beyond description.I still have a lot of work to do and a long way to go before I can say that I've "recovered." But for the first time in my life I truly feel like I am on my way.If you were sexually abused as a child and feel hopelessly damaged or ruined by it, please read this book (along with its companion, "Survivng Childhood Sexual Abuse" by Carolyn Ainscough and Kay Toon) and do the exercises. It won't be easy, but you'll come to find that hope is not lost after all.

easy to read

This book was purchased with the approval of my supervisor to use in the position of counselor of women who have been sexually abused as children or raped as young women or adult women. After spending my own money for this and many other books to help the women in the group I left the position because they did not want to help those in need of help. The program prefered to have the women stay at a standstill in their recovery process. Because I wanted to help and do no harm I could not stay in that position.The book could have been a great help for the women it was ment for. I plan of keeping this book and the others on hand because I know they will come in handy in the future. This book along with the others will prove to be helpful.

I've been taking this book one day at a time, only doing the exercises when I feel okay with them, and never pushing myself. I am also going to therapy. The hardest part of this book is it forces you to think about the past abuse you have suffered and if you are at a low point in your life, it can be a bad thing. So I recommend that you only do these exercises when you are in a good spot in your life and have good support. Without my husband and my therapist, I don't think this book would help as much.

Great

Since I've only just begun I could only give it four stars. I like the way it is starting out and helping you set out your network of people you can feel to call upon and how to create a safe place that you can relax in.

Being an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse myself, I have found this workbook to be extremely helpful with my PTSD. It guides you thru how to deal with the pain, memories and helplessness of your childhood memories. It also makes you realize it was not your fault and someone should have been there for you not left you all alone to deal with it yourself. I can't recommend it enough, excellent addition to your recovery plan.

this is a well thought-out workbook which is simple to read and easy to dip in and out of. the actual exercises aren't easy but i felt safe at every stage of the exercises i have completed so far. as with every book of this type, it won't work if you aren't in the right head-space but if you are then it is invaluable.

I bought this book to give to a colleague who had suffered abuse as a child, reading this and carrying out the exercises encourage them to go to a counsellor for help

Does exactly what it should when it should.

It was really helpful and i just finished the book last night and it was awesome. Thank you so much