by LucyBlue

Created on: June 30, 2007

Abuse is a broad topic. Self help books can be invaluable in learning new coping strategies, or even in understanding yourself and how you have been shaped by abuse in your life. Minor abuses can often be understood by reading about them, and the effects of them released simply by changing how we think and feel about particular people or circumstances. However, if you have suffered greatly, it is much wiser to have someone walk with you on that healing journey.

Humans need other humans. We all have something to learn and something to teach. Many times, talking with another who has come through a similar difficult experience gives us both courage and inspiration. Other times, just having someone listen not only empowers us, but helps us understand ourselves or a situation differently as we verbally express the emotional or mental turmoil we've held inside for so long.

Humans are created in such a way that the brain itself protects us from shock. So if there has been a particularly traumatic experience, in all likelihood you do not remember it accurately. Your memory is colored by how emotionally distraught you were at the time, and whether you were sufficiently shocked that the brain actually blocked the memory.

Regardless of what you remember, certain neurological and physiological responses were triggered within you. Most of the time, these responses are unconscious and to be free of them requires assistance to even see them clearly, much less be free of their effects. Once there is a greater understanding of these unconscious processes, or a release of them through various methods, then self-help books can be very helpful in learning how to live in a new way.

If one has been unhappy for a long time, however, it is doubtful that a book alone can change that. Too much is happening within you that is below the level of conscious awareness, so the new information never touches the core issue. Find someone to talk with who really listens, and who can help you face and release the pain that is keeping you unhappy. Joy is our birthright, so do whatever it takes to reclaim it!

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