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Reading Resources

This section includes a variety of readings, books, and workbooks that Survivors may find useful as they navigate the healing journey.  

Site: CSA CARE
Course: Survivor Resources
Book: Reading Resources
Printed by: Guest user
Date: Tuesday, 18 February 2025, 11:06 PM

1. A New Beginning / Daily Devotions

A New Beginning/Daily Devotions for Women Survivors of Sexual Abuse (The Serenity Meditation Series)
Author:  Al Ells
Written by women who have been sexually abused, their counselors, and by a recognized expert on sexual dysfunction, these 365 daily devotions give hope and healing for sexually abused and wounded women in recovery. Part of the Serenity Meditation series.

2. Beauty for Ashes

Beauty for Ashes: Biblical Help for the Sexually Abused   -     By: John Coblentz

Beauty for Ashes: Biblical Help for the Sexually Abused
Author:  John Coblentz

When Tamar was raped by her half brother, the Bible says she was left weeping and desolate. Though 3,000 years old, this story strikes a deep chord with many people, because Tamar's story is their story. Sexual abuse and its effects are widespread, and often silent, scourge.

Victims often feel robbed, contaminated, and ashamed. They may lash out against God and have trouble getting along with others. They may not be able to forget or forgive, much less build meaningful relationships. Many suffer deeply, often alone. Is there a way out? Yes! After explaining why sexual abuse can be so devastating, Beauty for Ashes leads readers through God's Word to healing and hope. Clear, honest, and practical, this book will be appreciated by pastors, by counselors, and most especially, by those who have known the anguish of Tamar.


3. Beginning to Heal


Beginning to Heal (Revised Edition): A First Book for Men and Women Who Were Sexually Abused As Children
Authors:  Ellen Bass and Laura Davis
 
Beginning to Heal offers hope and guidance for all survivors starting the healing journey. No matter how great your pain today, you can not only heal but thrive. Based on the authors' bestseller The Courage to Heal, this Revised Edition of Beginning to Heal takes you through the key stages of the healing process, from crisis times to breaking the silence, grief, and anger, to resolution and moving on. It includes inspirational highlights, clear explanations, practical suggestions, and compelling accounts of survivors' pain, their strength, and their triumphs.


4. Daily Devotionals for Survivors of Sexual Abuse

Daily Devotionals for Survivors of Sexual Abuse
Author: Tabitha M. Bellamy McKinley. Ph.D.

This is a book of 31 daily devotions to specifically address the feelings, concerns, emotions, and attitudes of individuals (male and female) who have experienced sexual abuse.



5. Healing the Scars of Childhood Abuse

Healing the Scars of Childhood Abuse: Moving beyond the Past into a Healthy Future by [Jantz, Gregory L. Ph.D., McMurray, Ann]Healing the Scars of Childhood Abuse: Moving Beyond the Past into a Healthy Future
Authors: Gregory L. Jantz, Ph.D. and Ann McMurray

The deep pain of childhood abuse--whether physical or emotional, whether a child was neglected or wished nothing more than to be left alone--doesn't just go away. There's simply no just getting over it. Even if no physical scars remain as evidence of the victim's suffering, the deep wounds on their minds, hearts, and souls are still there. But it is possible to become whole and happy.

Author of the successful Healing the Scars of Emotional Abuse, Dr. Gregory Jantz now helps readers understand the effects of childhood abuse on their emotional, intellectual, physical, relational, and spiritual health. He then outlines the steps to lasting healing, including grieving what was lost, learning to balance emotions with intentionality, regaining a positive relationship with one's own body and mind, and coming to an understanding of God not as a frightening authority figure like the abuser or an accusing judge, but as a loving creator, redeemer, and friend.


6. Hush: Moving from Silence to Healing

Hush: Moving from Silence to Healing After Childhood Sexual Abuse  -     By: Nicole Braddock Bromley

Hush: Moving from Silence to Healing After Childhood Sexual Abuse
Author:  Nicole Braddock Bromley
Written by someone who has felt the shame and believed the lies about sexual abuse, Hush encourages readers who have experienced this abuse to break the silence that only serves to enslave them and empower their abusers. And while learning to forgive, they must also realize it is not their fault. By speaking out, they not only free themselves, but help bring freedom to others.

7. It Wasn't Your Fault

It Wasn't Your Fault: Freeing Yourself from the Shame of Childhood Abuse with the Power of Self-Compassion by [Engel, Beverly]

It Wasn't Your Fault: Freeing Yourself from the Shame of Childhood Abuse with the Power of Self-Compassion
Author: Beverly Engel

Shame is one of the most destructive of human emotions. If you suffered childhood physical or sexual abuse, you may experience such intense feelings of shame that it almost seems to define you as a person. In order to begin healing, it’s important for you to know that it wasn’t your fault. In this gentle guidetherapist and childhood abuse expert Beverly Engel presents a mindfulness and compassion-based therapeutic approach to help you overcome the debilitating shame that keeps you tied to the past. By following the step-by-step exercises in this book, you’ll gain a greater understanding of the root cause of your shame. And by cultivating compassion toward yourself, you will begin to heal and move past your painful experiences. Recent studies show that trauma survivors, particularly those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from abuse, can greatly benefit from incorporating elements of self-compassion into their treatment. Furthermore, the practice of self-compassion has been shown to decrease PTSD symptoms, including, self-criticism, thought suppression, and rumination. This book is based on the author’s powerful and effective Compassion Cure program. With this book, you will develop the skills needed to finally put a stop the crippling self-blame that keeps you from moving on and being happy. You’ll learn to focus on your strengths, your courage, and your extraordinary ability to survive. Most of all, you’ll learn to replace shame with its counter emotion—pride.

8. I Will Survive: The African-American Guide to Healing from Sexual Assault and Abus

I Will Survive: The African-American Guide to Healing from Sexual Assault and Abuse
Author: Lori S. Robinson

In this comprehensive self-help guide, Lori Robinson has created a valuable resource for African-American survivors of sexual assault (as well as their families, friends, and communities). Robinson walks readers through the ways survivors can achieve emotional, physical, sexual, and spiritual healing, reflecting her firsthand insight into the particular difficulties African-Americans face on their journey toward recovery. Examining the issue of sexual assault in African-American communities, she discusses why African-American women are more likely than white women to experience sexual crimes-an insightful discussion framed in the context of the American slave system and modern institutionalized racism.

Through interviews with prominent African-American lawyers and judges, Robinson offers accessible explanations of police and legal systems, advising readers on ways to navigate them effectively. Doctors and counselors weigh in on the importance of getting good physical care, using self-care techniques to heal, and finding the best therapist. I Will Survive also includes chapters on educating children and adults in Black communities to help prevent sexual assault; prayers and affirmations from Black spiritual leaders in a variety of religious traditions; an extensive resources section; and encouraging first-person accounts from Black women (and men) who have healed from sexual assault and abuse.

9. No Secrets, No Lies: How Black Families Can Heal...

No Secrets No LiesNo Secrets No Lies: How Black Families Can Heal from Sexual Abuse
Author: Robin Stone
With a foreword by Joycelyn Elders, M.D., No Secrets, No Lies is a powerful and daringly honest resource guide for families seeking to understand, prevent, and overcome childhood sexual abuse and its devastating impact on adult survivors.

Through compelling personal accounts from everyday people, Robin D. Stone, a sexual abuse survivor herself, illuminates the emotional, psychological and hidden consequences of remaining silent, and provides holistic, practical steps to move toward healing.  No Secrets, No Lies candidly speaks to survivors, telling them they are not at fault, not alone and how they can seek help; parents, guardians, and caretakers, explaining how they can keep children safe and help survivors recover; and family, friends and other loved ones, showing ways to lend support.


No Secrets, No Lies demystifies the cultural taboos and social dynamics that keep Black families silent and enable abuse to continue for generations. Among them:

  •  Fear of betraying family by turning offenders in to "the system"
  • Distrust of institutions and authority figures, such as police officers
  • Reluctance to seek counseling or therapy
  • A legacy of enslavement and stereotypes about black sexuality


10. POEM: The Chosen Vessel


11. Set Free: God's Healing Power...

Set Free Book Cover

Set Free: God's Healing Power for Abuse Survivors and Those Who Love Them
Author: Jan Coates

A large percentage of abused adult women are convinced they are damaged goods. Set Free tells of women who have hit bottom and then discovered God has the power to heal their lives. It offers hope and encouragement to damaged and discouraged individuals who feel unworthy to call on God because of their past or present. This is a self-help book, not a book of stories, and includes resources for women to take "next steps" in the healing process.

12. Soaring Above the Ashes


Soaring Above the Ashes:  Thriving Beyond Sexual Abuse
Author: Emily Samuelson, PhD

A diverse group of extraordinary survivors of sexual abuse tell their stories in their own voices. In Soaring Above the Ashes they give their names, share their stories, and show their faces in arresting black and white portraits, defying the perpetrators who can no longer shame or threaten them into silence.

These men and women are proud of who they have become. They describe the journey from helplessness to empowerment, from isolation to connection, from grief to joy. Together they create a virtual support group that you are invited to join. Moreover, they want you to know that it is possible to thrive beyond childhood sexual abuse.



13. The Courage to Heal

The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse by [Bass, Ellen, Davis, Laura]

The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse
Author:  Ellen Bass and Laura Davis

Considered "a classic" and "the bible of healing from child sexual abuse," this inspiring, comprehensive and compassionate guide provides a map of support of the healing journey and a lifeline for millions. Weaving together personal experience with professional knowledge, the authors provide clear explanations, practical suggestions, strategies, and support throughout the survival healing process -- as well as help, hope, and reassurance for families, friends, and caregivers. Readers will feel recognized and encouraged by hundreds of moving first-person accounts drawn from interviews and the author's extensive work with survivors, both nationally and internationally. Available in translations, as well as in an enhanced audio format, its life-saving messages resonate across cultural, linguistic, racial, religious, and geographical boundaries.

Readers have called The Courage to Heal "invaluable," a "beacon of hope," "wise and gentle," and a "lifesaver." Cherished by survivors, and recommended by therapists and institutions everywhere, The Courage to Heal has long been considered an empowering recovery tool, as well as an essential resource for victims of child sexual abuse, incest, and trauma, as well as for their loved ones.


14. The Wounded Heart (Book & Workbook)

The Wounded Heart
The Wounded Heart: Hope for Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse
Book and Companion Workbook

Author:  Dan B. Alexander and Karen Lee-Thorp

Suitable for personal or groups

For those who have experienced childhood sexual abuse and those who love and care for them, The Wounded Heart offers a tender, compassionate window into the psychological effects of abuse and the theological foundations for healing.  With a Christian foundation, the book and workbook help survivors of sexual abuse as they search for answers to the trauma and calamity of their experience.