Healing from Childhood Abuse

Written directly to individuals who have experienced childhood trauma, this book provides essential information that allows victims to begin recovering from their immense pain and suffering, and empowers them to examine their specific issues in order to become a true survivor.
The American Medical Association currently estimates at least one in every five adults suffered abuse as a child. While childhood abuse or trauma is certainly not a new issue, it has reached epidemic proportion. Yet most clinicians have not been sufficiently trained to appreciate or understand the devastating long-term impact of abuse on the total person.
John J. Lemoncelli, EdD, authored this book to enable those who suffer in silence to understand what happened, take control, and begin and maintain a program of recovery. It helps those abused in childhood to grasp how their experience impacted their development and the extent to which it negatively affects their present lives; encourages them to let go of the belief that they are damaged, dirty, or at fault; and provides an effective strategy for externalizing the source of their anguish, rather than blaming themselves. The author outlines several stages and common issues that may need to be addressed, but as no "one size fits all" treatment is possible, he provides strategies that empower victims to identify the specific sources of their pain.

John J. Lemoncelli, EdD, is professor and assistant chair of the Psychology and Counseling Department of Marywood University, Scranton, PA.

Foreword by Robert S. Shaw, PsyD, ABPP
Acknowledgments
Introduction
ONE: A New Approach to Healing
TWO: The Parasite
THREE: The Workings of the Parasite
FOUR: The Impact of Abuse on Development
Spiritual Development
FIVE: Some Issues to Assist You in Therapy
Being in Therapy
Semantics or Genuine Thought Patterns
You Have a Choice-There Is Real Power in That Choice
Altering Perceptions
Are Your Feelings Objective Reality?
Did I Have a Right to a Happy Childhood?
Did I Lose My Innocence? Did I Lose Myself?
How Does One Explain Dysfunctional Parents?
Grieving the Loss of Your Childhood
The Hunt for the Evil
Visiting the Ovens
SIX: Victim versus Survivor: Becoming a Survivor
Sadie
Josephine
Jim
Liz
SEVEN: Forgiveness of the Self
EIGHT: Perfectionism and People-Pleasing
NINE: Boundaries
TEN: Fragmented, Not Damaged
ELEVEN: The Story of the Journey of Your Healing
A Concluding Note
An Invitation to Clinicians...
Bibliography
Index