"I began life, it would seem, as some kind of Grimm's fairy tale creature, large and oafish, undesirable, grossly imperfect. Neatly penned in my baby book were the words, 'Debbie was a fat, unattractive baby.' Fat and ugly aside, my life was fairly normal for a couple of years. It would be a while before the abuse began. Before the smoking and pills, the rage and rebellion, the alcoholism and cancer, the broken marriages. In those first uncomplicated years I could have set out on any of a dozen different paths toward an orderly life . . . it was not to be. . . . But this is not a story of defeat."This is a book about surviving. It's about hope. It's about how each of us-ordinary, imperfect, damaged-can dream and heal. This book weaves the humorous, often outrageous, always courageous tapestry of Debrah Constance's life. Voted Woman of the Year by the State of California Legislature for founding A Place Called Home, (APCH) an organization providing services to at-risk inner-city kids in South Los Angeles, she proves that anyone can rise above life's obstacles and make a better life for themselves-and others.

    Young men of this age have watched as Barack Obama was elected president but have also witnessed the deaths of Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Akai Gurley, and so many other young black men killed by police or vigilante violence. Chronicling his personal and political education during these tumultuous years, Smith narrates his own coming-of-age story and his struggles to come into his own at a time when too many black men do not survive into adulthood.From Barack Obama’s landmark speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 to the recent and widely reported cases of violence against women, from powerful moments of black self-determination like LeBron James’ “decision” to the mobilization of thousands of young black men in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s death, Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching documents of how these public milestones have challenged cultural notions of black manhood. Part memoir, part political tract, this book is an unprecedented and intimate glimpse into what it means to be young, black, and male in America today—and what it means to be treated as a human in a society dependent on your subjugation.

    The behavior of individuals with Narcissistic Personality Disorder generally defies logic but sadly, their tactics in the Family Court System often fool Judges, Commissioners, Attorneys, Minor’s Counsel, Social Workers, Therapists and even trained Evaluators. Narcissists are the masters of manipulation and projection and are known to launch stealth assaults that will leave their victims in an utter state of confusion and desperation. Victims are often left shattered and without a voice because they feel that no one could possibly believe or understand what they are silently enduring. Author, Tina Swithin, understands what it’s like to divorce a narcissist. Tina spent over four years on the battlefield of the Family Court System while acting as her own attorney in a desperate attempt to protect her two young daughters. While Tina’s first book, Divorcing a Narcissist: One Mom’s Battle details Tina’s personal journey and court battle, her new book offers solid advice and sanity-saving wisdom for transforming from victim to survivor. Education is power and Divorcing a Narcissist: Advice from the Battlefield is your personal guide and resource for navigating through high-conflict divorce. Receive advice for every stage of the battle:• Leaving the Narcissist: Strategies and advice • Divorcing: Advice on attorneys, tactical moves, courtroom preparation, anxiety/PTSD, evaluations and more.• Narc Decoder: Learn to decode emails and communication.• Children: Sharing custody, sheltering children and breaking the cycle.• Life Beyond the Narcissist: Loving again, personal growth and healing.• Stories of Hope• Resources

    This passionate and riveting memoir is a mixtape of dreams and nightmares, of immigration court lineups and queer South Asian dance nights; it reveals how a disabled queer woman of color and abuse survivor navigates the dirty river of the past and, as the subtitle suggests, "dreams her way home."Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha's poetry book Love Cake won a Lambda Literary Award.

    Rest in the Mourning is a steady and profound stream of conscious thoughts and emotion. Documenting unhealthy relationships and why the heart ends up in the hands of those deemed unworthy. It speaks to the heart's ability to hold on to relationships that no longer deserve our energy as well as what happens when we are ready to let go. Rest in the Mourning is about self-care and self-love.

    The words shut up are the most terrible words I know. . . . The man who raped me spat these words out over and over during the hours of my attack--when I screamed, when I tried to talk him out of what he was doing, when I protested. It seemed to me that for seven years--until at last I spoke--these words had sunk into my soul and become prophecy. And it seems to me now that these words, the brutish message of tyrants, preserve the darkness that still covers this pervasive crime. The real shame, as I have learned, is to consent to them."After Silence is Nancy Venable Raine's eloquent,  profoundly moving response to her rapist's command to "shut up," a command that is so often echoed by society and internalized by rape victims. Beginning with her assault by a stranger in her home in 1985, Raine's riveting narrative of the ten-year aftermath of her rape brings to light the truth that survivors of traumatic experiences know--a trauma does not end when you find yourself alive.        Just as devastating as the rape itself was the silence that shrouded it, a silence born of her own feelings of shame as well as the incomprehension of others. Raine gives shape, form, and voice to the "unspeakable" and exposes the misconceptions and cruelties that surround this prevalent though hidden crime. With formidable power and in intimate detail, she probes the long-term psychological and physiological aftereffects of rape, its tangled sexual confusions, the treatment of rape by the media and the legal and medical professions, and contemporary cultural views of victimhood.        For anyone, female or male, who has suffered from or witnessed the shattering effects of rape, After Silence inspires and points the way to healing. This landmark book is a stunning literary achievement that is a testimony to the power of language to transform the worst sort of violation and suffering into meaning and into art.

    However, survivors know that leaving is not the end of the nightmare -- it is the beginning of an often difficult and challenging journey toward healing and happiness. It s My Life Now offers readers the practical guidance, emotional reassurance, and psychological awareness that survivors of relationship abuse and domestic violence need to heal and reclaim their lives after leaving their abusers.Since its publication in 2000, It's My Life Now has been highly successful as a working manual for survivors who are starting their lives over after an abusive relationship. This valuable book combines direction on practical and emotional issues with worksheets and self-exploration exercises. Now, in the second edition, Dugan and Hock include updated information and resources while encompassing a wider range of individuals and the relationships in which abuse and violence occur. The new edition also provides a new emphasis on safety assessment, which has increasingly been shown to be a critical factor in recovery. In addition, this new edition includes current resources and information about organizations for victims along with revised and enhanced strategies to help survivors move forward on the path of recovery."

    Too many secrets. Four people who want to matter. In Nevada, Sloan family matriarch, Janice, is tired of her white trash life--dealing with debt, kids, her son's motorcycle gang, and Harry, her drunk of a husband. She can't shake her lifelong dream of singing at the Grand Ole Opry.As Janice's teen daughter, Carrie, plans her escape to college, Janice confronts the fact that she's forty-eight and running out of time. She decides to leave her two young sons with Harry and move to Nashville for one year to pursue her dream. But before Janice can leave, Harry's worst betrayal yet destroys everyone's plans, and detectives start digging up the family dirt.Times are desperate for the Sloan Family. They might survive if they can become each other's unlikely heroes. Do they have what it takes to confront the truth about their lives and each other and break free from their way of life on Tiger Drive?Debut novelist, Teri Case puts us inside the minds of mother, father, daughter, and son to portray how addiction, poverty, and secrets can derail the best of intentions. But with a little hope and a dose of trust, the human spirit can prevail."Tiger Drive is an outstanding [novel], with . . . layered characters, relationships that make me ache for the characters and yearn for a positive resolution, and character journeys that intertwine in heartbreaking, soul-soaring ways." --Deborah Halverson, DearEditor.com"I LOVED Tiger Drive so much . . . I know I'll be thinking about these characters for a long time." --Lizette Clarke, Author Accelerator

    Pollack challenges conventional expectations about manhood and masculinity that encourage parents to treat boys as little men, raising them through a toughening process that drives their true emotions underground. Only when we understand what boys are really like, says Pollack, can we help them develop more self-confidence and the emotional savvy they need to deal with issues such as depression, love and sexuality, drugs and alcohol, divorce, and violence.

    A vibrant and transcendent journey about growth and healing. Ancestry and honoring one’s roots. Expatriation and rising up to find a home within yourself.Divided into five chapters and illustrated by Kaur, the sun and her flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. A celebration of love in all its forms. this is the recipe of lifesaid my motheras she held me in her arms as i wept think of those flowers you plantin the garden each year they will teach youthat people toomust wiltfallrootrisein order to bloom

    Feminist therapy has become a practice that encompasses work with women, men, children, families, and larger systems. In this book, Dr. Brown presents and explores this approach, its theory, history, the therapy process, primary change mechanisms, empirical basis, and future developments.

    Reexamining the narrative of the death and resurrection of Jesus from the middle day--liturgically named as Holy Saturday--she seeks a theology that addresses the experience of living in the aftermath of trauma. Through a reinterpretation of "remaining" in the Johannine Gospel, she proposes a new theology of the Spirit that challenges traditional conceptions of redemption. Offered, in its place, is a vision of the Spirit's witness from within the depths of human suffering to the persistence of divine love.

    This isn't theory. Mary has lived it. She's traveled this path and offers a uniquely qualified, insider's view of the healing process.Then, Mary goes deeper because often you're not the only one who has suffered. Her husband, Patrick, comes alongside her and offers insights into how spouses can love a sexual abuse victim toward wholeness, and how this will bring your relationship a whole new level of strength.Not Marked will help you:· Find the courage to share your story maybe for the first time.· Stop comparing your brokenness to others' wholeness.· Understand the specific way God designed you to heal.· Identify safe people to entrust your healing journey to.· Embrace utter honestly about your abuse, even if that means anger toward God. · Discover how prayer helps you move from angst to alleluia.· Find the powerful antidote to bitterness.· Let go of accusatory thought patterns and grasp God's affection for you. · Uncover an ancient pathway to healing.· Live the effervescent life you've longed for but could never quite grasp. You do not have to be forever marked by sexual abuse.You are resilient even if you believe all your strength is gone. You are worthy of being made whole even if you can't believe it's possible. And you are a stunning work of amazingness even though your heart can't even start to grasp that. Yet.This is your time. The moment to start the journey of the unmarked life!For more information on this book, please visit the website: http://www.marydemuth.com/not-marked-...

    This lack of knowledge was used my Master to maintain a continuous element of fear and control over me. Anytime I was taken out of the box, I never knew what to expect. Fear of the unknown was always with me as I was kept in the dark both physically and mentally. This lack of knowledge may have been a good thing in one sense. If I had known the length of my entombment after returning from Riverside, I'm not sure I would have survived. Of course, I'm not sure even Master knew how long he was going to keep me in the box.A few days passed then a few more. Then weeks passed followed by months. Months slowly turned into years. I would spend the next three years of my life (1981-1984) in the box sleeping, dreaming, and praying.I have to assume my lengthy confinement in the box came about because Master was concerned he had given me too much freedom. Maybe he felt he was losing control of his slave. Too many neighbors had seen me, and questions about my status in the Hooker household were surely to arise. A fast thinking family member in Riverside may have copied down his vehicle tag number. What if the police knocked on his door on day looking for Colleen Stan? What if they searched the mobile home? Would anyone think to look under a waterbed for the girl in the box? Master wanted to keep me out of sight until the heat had passed.The other reason for putting me into storage was Ma'am. I'm sure she wanted me out of her life, out of her children's lives, and out of her husband's life. Master was not ready to let his slave go. Cloistering was the only answer.My daily routine soon became predictive as I was allowed out late in the evening after the girls had gone to bed. I emptied my bedpan, drank a large glass of water, and ate cold leftovers in the front bathroom. Sometimes the leftovers were true leftovers that had been out all day and the family didn't want.

    Their abusers a father, stepfather, priest, coach, babysitter, aunt, neighbor often were people who inhabited their daily lives. Love is why they come to therapy. Love is what they want, and love is what they say is not going well for them. Kahn, too, had to learn to navigate a wilderness in order to find the good kind of love after a rocky childhood. In Baffled by Love, she includes strands from her own story, along with those of her clients, creating a narrative full of resonance, meaning, and shared humanity."