Archive for the ‘Book Review’ Category

Harriet Jacobs lived a brutal and extraordinary life. Her story is appalling, sad, fascinating and inspiring all at once. Harriett’s life is all about the hardships of being a female piece of property. She writes intentionally in a women’s voice, highlighting gender issues. She hoped to appeal to free white women, to help them understand the abject cruelty of slavery and urgency of the abolitionist movement. Amy Post, an early feminist who attended the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, encouraged to tell her story. Amy Post was a Quaker and an active abolitionist.

This book is a true gem of early feminism and historical significance. I found it for $3.50 at the bookstore at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. First published in 1861 under the pseudonym of Linda Brent, it’s one of the few personal accounts written by a woman born into slavery in the southern United States. There are hardly any first-person accounts from American slaves, as most didn’t read or write.

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I love this book. The co-authors seamlessly intertwine a full spectrum of education and complex issues associated with living with and the treatment of bipolar 1 disorder within the story of their true emotional and personal lived experiences.

It’s an important work. It contributes to the conversation about the reality of the existence of mental illness, the deplorable lack of  available adequate professional treatment, and the skewed social policies and civil rights laws surrounding the care of those with mental illness in the United States.

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Many people in my psychotherapy practice struggle with coming to terms with childhood sexual abuse. Flashes of their silent past and the effects of the splitting of the self in order to survive, intrude on their present day life, so they come for support. I’m humbled to witness their heroic, creative work through their inner labyrinth of pain and love gradually towards integration and wholeness.

Istock/SergeyIT

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Post-Traumatic Growth, Spiritual Development and Development of the Self

When I saw this book advertised by Hay House, I was instantly attracted. After a quick look at Lillie Leonardi, the author’s, website, I immediately Kindled her book and read it straight through.

For me, the transcendent themes of post-traumatic growth, the process of soul retrieval, the restoration of a sense of wholeness, and personal spiritual growth emerged. Many people in my psychotherapy practice struggle with post-traumatic growth, the integration of differing aspects of the self, to restore a sense of wholeness.

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