Courage To Heal Workbook: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

I read the Courage to Heal about 25 years ago and it remains as useful and relevant as then. A friend is finding it useful, and uses not just the space provided but writes and draws in any space on the page. Struggling to find a counselor this book is holding her and she takes it everywhere. Not alone springs to mind

The nuts and bolts of how to recover from CSA. it takes a long time but this will help you rebuild who you really are despite your past. The case stories help you know you are not alone, and it will demystify the shame and self hatred CSA seems to engender in everyone. This book is very gentle, not preachy , and gives you a lifeline, a perspective and a real hope of being healed from traumatic events. I had to read it in bits, because I often felt overwhelmed and had to grieve new realisations, but the support in this book really will help you come into an understanding of being someone who bad stuff happened to, and not you being the bad stuff.

Well written. Layout is easy to use with questions to prompt reflection and more depth of thought. Recommend that this is used with the support of a qualified and experienced therapist. Not really designed for lone working.

A really thorough workbook that helps you through facing serious issues and finding true healing. I am still working on parts of it, though I've read the whole thing, and I love the way that it's put together, and the gentle way that some difficult things are written about.I thoroughly recommend this for anybody who has old issues that haven't been fully exorcised.

It is no surprise that this book came about after years and hours worth of speaking to and working with survivors of sexual abuse and research. It is very detailed and covers almost all of the stages and feelings that you might endure on your healing journey.I haven't read the original courage to heal book, I went straight to the work book as at the time I was finding it hard to concentrate on reading and writing and drawing things out helped me to focus.It encourages the reader to be pro active in their own healing, but it wisely encourages reaching out for the help of other survivors and trusted friends and family throughout the process for support and their input.I haven't completely finished it yet ( I know could be a bit premature to be doing a review when I haven't finished it fully but I thought it best to encourage others who are not yet sure whether to try it or not and as it has helped me immensely so far so I thought it would help others too) I started it about 8 months ago and am 2/3 of the way through. Sometimes I wanted to go faster, as though I could rush the memories, feelings and processing but you can't force it overnight. It has really helped me to regularly asses where I am at in terms of my recovery. Where is my anger, what do I still feel guilty about etc.At the end of each section it asks you the same series of questions to help to acknowledge how you felt working through each section, what you found easy and hard about each part and what you felt you might need to come back to etc. This is really useful just for keeping in touch with your progress so it doesn't feel over whelming, It also means that you feel a sense of achievement for finishing each section.I am not sure what the authors state about reading it in the order that it is printed but I reckon you could dip in and out of each section as you wanted to and the great thing about it is that you can go at your own pace completely. There is no recommended time frame or suggestion as to how often you should consider using it. You won't lose your place or the flow of the book if you don't pick it up for a while, you can pick it up from wherever you left off.That puts you in charge of your own recovery which is good I think, it helps you to feel in control.There is quite a lot of space in the book for you to write in but you will most likely need a bit of extra paper at some points or you could even write all your answers out in a notebook so you can store your work more discretely.Although it gives you some notes and suggestions for possible answers it really asks you to be honest and come up with your own descriptions and understanding of your thoughts, feelings and memories. It doesn't judge and it doesn't try to tell you how to think or feel. But because of that you do have to be ready to ask yourself those questions and be honest with yourself as well as challenge some of the old ideas about yourself (the ones that have helped you to survive) that you've probably clung onto for a long time.That can be a long and difficult process but ultimately it is a vital one.This would also be a great book to use with your therapist or with some basic understanding of the affects of CSA or your own psychology. But this could work for people who are just approaching their recovery too.Ultimately you get back what you put into this one.In my opinion nothing beats talking therapies but this has allowed me to be honest with myself prior to discussing some of the points with my therapist, plus it has given me something to focus on in between sessions so I feel like I am focussed and doing as much as I can.It is also not too American, which can be annoying in many American self help books I find.I will of course update this should I find it lets me down or loses momentum in its final few chapters.

Bought this workbook for someone else who tells me it is excellent - designed to be used instead of a counsellor for any adult and this person is using it in addition to seeing a counsellor, who recommended it. Hard but good. There is also a book.

A really practical tool to help sort through the mess of abuse. I'd definitely recommend. Non-judgemental and helpful in getting in touch with your feeling and gently exploring your thinking around the abuse.

I bought this after I read The courage to heal book. I just started it, but I can tell crom the first pages that it will be of great help.

Great product I purchased for a friend

In this book the author describes the step by step process of healing like breaking the silence,emergency stage,confrontation with the perpetrator and lot ....this book shows the most difficult journey an abuse survivor faces in the process of healing

This workbook is not easy to work through, it takes time patience and more importantly compassion with yourself. I really struggled to work through this one but it has really been foundational in confronting and addressing how many of the issues in my current life were connected to circumstances that happened early on in my life. Of course it is always a process but I really have found a lot of healing through this workbook, especially if you have not told anyone about these events and are working on it on your own. Thank you to Laura Davis for this book!

wirklich tolles Arbeitsbuch, nicht wie manche, wo man am Ende nur Theorie liest.

一部分が日本語訳されたものが出版されているが、やはり原本は非常に良い。ほかの方も書かれているが、自己カウンセリングに最適である。特に、未だ日本で性被害を専門とするカウンセラーの存在が希少であり、また高額な費用がかかることを考えると、この本の存在は貴重である。”Courage to heal”の姉妹書であるが、この本だけでも十分取り組める。バックグランドを知りたければ、"Courage to heal”を読まれるといいと思う。英語のレベルとしては、やはり実力としては英検準一級程度が挫折せずに進めるためにはほしいところだろうか。ただ、ゆっくりと取り組むのであれば、高校程度の英語レベルでも取り組めると思う。これをやる間に、「こんなことは書けない」と思うことも出てくるかもしれない（自分は出てきた）。しかし、また時間を置いて、繰り返し読み、取り組んでみるとよいと思う。元気になれるときもあるし、読んでも救われないと思うこともあるだろう。けれども、本のなかに書き込まれた自分の言葉は真実であり、人に見せるものではないので安心して書き込める。この本の最初に書かれていた言葉として、「癒しとは、一時痛みを和らげることではない。癒しは、私の残りの人生を掛けて続くのである」がある。しかし、それがあまり苦しくないように、この本を用いることによって貴方自身がことを成し遂げていくことは可能になると思う。