Effective Psychotherapy

This is a picture book about a little girl that was sexually abused. The book describes  the inner dynamics and emotions of the little girl, from shame to self blame. This book  can be helpful not only for children, but also for adults dealing with the aftermath of sexual abuse.

The book is currently out of print, but a few copies can still be found on the web. I hope the publishers will re-issue this book.

I Can’t Talk About It: A Child’s Book About Sexual Abuse (Hurts of Childhood Series)

Excellent workbook that gives basic information on and the theoretical foundation of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The workbook also contains an outline of exposure therapy for post traumatic stress disorder.

Exposure therapy is considered the most effective evidenced based therapy for PTSD. It helps people deal with trauma  in the past, and  enables them to move forward. It consists of confronting the painful memories and the triggers that arouse them. Repetition, which lies at the heart of exposure therapy, eventually causes the painful memories to lose their intrusive intensity.

EMDR, which is in vogue today, is a form of exposure therapy.

Reclaiming Your Life from a Traumatic Experience: A Prolonged Exposure Treatment Program Workbook (Treatments That Work)

The Funny Thing

I love children’s books, fairy tales, and picture books. This books occupies a special place in my library and in my heart. It  teaches emotional intelligence to children and to adults  that take the time to read this book.

The story is about an old man (In fairy tales, the wise  are usually portrayed as old) . The old man tricks a monster, by taking advantage of the monster’s narcissistic traits. The monster used to eat little children’ s dolls; especially those dolls that belong to good children. The wise old man convinces the monster that she will grow more beautiful if she eats his very special food.  The special food is really just his normal everyday food that he has given a fancy new name .  The monster agrees to eat this special fancy food instead of little dolls. She does become more beautiful (the power of placebo?) but also becomes very self centered, disconnected from everyone, and nearly loses her power of speech. In the end the monster resides in a self created prison on a mountain.

This simple plot, beautifully illustrated,  teaches the reader the  basics of emotional intelligence, without excessive moralizing overtones.    The story shows how  narcissism  makes you vulnerable to manipulation; paralyzes you and makes your life devoid of meaning,  real love and  connection.

Or – What Would You Say to the Person on the Roof?/ Avshalom C. Elitzur, PhD

Hello, Ron. I am here to talk to you. I hope I will be able to speak in favor of the side within you that still wants to live.

In any court of justice, even in a totalitarian state, every person is entitled to a defense, whereas you have appointed yourself as prosecutor, judge and executioner, all in one. I, therefore, demand the right to speak in your defense.

First of all, let me say that I understand that you are now at the very limit of the human capacity for endurance. The pain you are feeling is huge. I truly believe that your suffering is extreme and that the situation feels absolutely unbearable. It is a suffering that cannot be overcome, laid aside or forgotten. This unbearable suffering, this inhuman pain, must be stopped. Perhaps you also feel tired and weakened from the fight against forces that are too strong for you, against the ill-luck and the cruelty of your life.

I acknowledge your deep pain. I accept your feeling of no solution. I accept that you feel at the end of the road. Every human being may arrive to a point when one says: That’s it! I can suffer no more! I accept that you have reached this point.

Even so, I will try to speak for another way of viewing things. I believe that this different voice also deserves a say.

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Recommended book:
The Body Image Workbook: An Eight-Step Program for Learning to Like Your Looks
body image is a major concern and source of depression for women, and sometimes men. Women always seem to think that their body is not “right”. It is either too fat, too thin, not fit enough, or not according to barby model. Many women do not let themselves live until they get to their “ideal” weight, which means they let their life pass by. Well, life tend not to wait for them.

This workbook is designed to help people accept and love their own body, just as it is now.

Strangely enough, once people accept their own body, they tend to lose weight more easily often reaching their  optimal weight, according to their body type, which may be far from their original idealized image.

Bilbo’s Last Song
This is a small book, really more of a poem stretched into a book. It is the epilogue of  “Lord of the Rings”. Bilbo, the adventurous and resourceful Hobbit , prepares himself for his last Journey. He hears the call; he knows his time has come. There is melancholic flavor to this poem. The sorrow of departure from the universe he knew. Farewell to “middle earth” – to people he loved, to places he visited. The illustrator added another dimension to the poem. The illustrations depicts Bilbo’s adventures and accomplishments. As if Bilbo was revising his life, before sailing to the unknown. I liked the fact that there is no easy consolation in this poem. No promise for after life. The mystery of death remains, but the sorrow is mitigated by acceptance of the inevitable,  and a  sense of adventure.

For me, this small book provided consolation after a close family member had passed away.