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"Am I Bad? Recovering from Abuse" focuses on recovery from five different types of abuse: physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and neglect. The book was written to function as both a therapy resource for professionals and as a self-help book for abuse victims, to be used in conjunction with therapy. "Am I Bad? Recovering from Abuse" is based on Father Heyward Ewart's theory that everyone grows into adulthood with a distorted sense of self, based on second-hand opinions and experimentation. Ewart argues that adult survivors have a grossly distorted self-image because of the life-long impact of abuse. This lifelong impact includes blaming oneself for the abuse suffered and continually, unconsciously attracting more abusers throughout one's life.
Am I Bad?: Recovering from Abuse
Heyward Bruce Ewart III
Loving Healing Press (2007)
ISBN 9781932690354
Reviewed by Lori Plach for Reader Views (6/07)
"It's all your fault! You brought this on yourself! If you would have done something different, this wouldn't have happened to you!" Ah yes, these are things an abuse victim may hear. Or they may simply believe. Do you know someone who has been abused? Perhaps it was a close friend or family member. Or maybe it was you yourself who was abused a year or many years ago and you are still dealing with the effects of it all. Your natural reaction, when something like this happens to you, is to blame yourself. Traumatized people often find themselves abusing alcohol, drugs or others but there is something much less destructive.
Heyward Bruce Ewart has created the book "Am I Bad?" to help victims, parents and therapists. There are various tests included in this book which can help determine whether the victim is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There is a test for concealed child abuse and a domestic violence inventory questionnaire throughout its pages, descriptions of what effects the abuse has taken and how you can break free. This book is not meant to take over the work of a qualified therapist, but to help therapists and those dealing with abused people.
No two cases are exactly alike. What happened in one case didn't happen quite the same in another. Just like each victim may react differently in dealing with what happened to them. “Am I Bad?” is an excellent resource!
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