Finding meaning in trauma work, as a traumatized healer yourself. The act of caregiving is physically exhausting and emotionally draining, yet caregivers describe it as rewarding and gratifying. Prolonged exposure to human suffering, however, is not without risks?caregivers report high rates of burnout and poor quality of life. Many care providers believe that their feelings do not matter; that they should ignore their pain, brush off their trauma, wipe away their tears, and just “suck it up.” Here, Omar Reda a Libyan-born American psychiatrist who, as an emergency physician and trauma counselor provided care for medical staff caring for victims of trauma, calls upon other healers to break free from cycles of secrecy, toxic stress, and silent suffering so they can continue to empower and inspire those in their care. Filled with poignant first-person stories and clinical case studies, this book is an impassioned plea for psychosocial trauma care that prioritizes the health of both client and healer.
A radically fresh interpretation of how we can best serve others from the bestselling author of The Return of the Prodigal Son, hailed as “one of the world’s greatest spiritual writers” by Christianity Today “In our own woundedness, we can become a source of life for others.” In this hope-filled and profoundly simple book, Henri Nouwen inspires devoted men and women who want to be of service in their church or community but who have found traditional outreach alienating and ineffective. Weaving keen cultural analysis with his psychological and religious insights, Nouwen presents a balanced and creative theology of service that begins with the realization of fundamental woundedness in human nature. According to Nouwen, ministers are called to identify the suffering in their own hearts and make that recognition the starting point of their service. Ministers must be willing to go beyond their professional, somewhat aloof roles and leave themselves open as fellow human beings with the same wounds and suffering as those they serve. In other words, we heal from our wounds. The Wounded Healer is a thoughtful and insightful guide that will be welcomed by anyone engaged in the service of others.
You’re not alone in your ministry. And you don’t have to suffer in silence. Ministry is a stressful vocation, with unspoken expectations, projected anxieties, and conflicting demands. After the pandemic caused a sudden shift to online worship and factions fighting over when and how to return to in-person worship, pastors have been leaving congregational ministry at even higher rates than usual. The emotional fallout of burnout and abuse at the hands of parishioners is something pastors carry for years, whether they stay or leave the congregation. Seasoned pastor Carol Howard Merritt and psychotherapist and former pastor James Fenimore join their expertise to offer validation, support, and guidance for pastors who have been hurt by the church. With wisdom that can come only from experience, they describe and define aspects of struggle and pain readers may have difficulty articulating or claiming for themselves, and they offer compassionate, informed guidance on how to find healing. A systems approach to conflict sheds light on the dynamics of church conflict and how clergy can tend their own well-being amid leadership challenges. The final chapter helps readers consider their overall vocational path based on what they’ve experienced and decide whether they can remain in congregational ministry or need to pursue a different line of work.
Restart prepares readers to do the hard work of reentering an in-person post-pandemic world by examining the relationships we have formed with ourselves, our devices, and others in quarantine. Social anxiety and a tendency to avoid any awkwardness in embodied spaces were on the rise before the pandemic. Matters are far worse now that we have spent more than a year overly reliant upon our technology, incapable of safely spending time socially and relationally with others. All the while, research indicates that the kind of resilience and grit that in-person interactions involve are crucial for life satisfaction and success. This means that the social isolation from which we are emerging will have profound and lasting effects on us unless we actively work to re-integrate communal living healthily. In Restart: Designing a Healthy Post-Pandemic Life, Doreen Dodgen-Magee discusses how to harness the energy of the global re-opening of day-to-day in-person life and how to use that energy to create healthier relationships with technology, our social connections, and ourselves. Special emphasis on social anxiety, the re-opening of businesses, and how to help children through this transition is offered. Readers will learn how to break habits that hurt us/them, keep us/them isolated, and damage our/their mental health. Also offered are tips, tools, and recommendations for how to set norms that will help readers manage their anxiety, hesitance, and over-excitement about reentering an interactive world.
Tales of a Wounded Healer begins by revealing the 27-year odyssey of renowned psychotherapist Mariah Fenton Gladis through her diagnosis and subsequent life with Lou Gehrig's Disease, and how that diagnosis catapulted her to envision and develop a new method of psychotherapy that dramatically facilitates healing and change. Mariah turns her former approach inside out by moving from encouraging people to cope with their lot in life, to empowering them to understand and provide for the compelling force and potential of their own personal needs. The book shows that when met with respect, love and compassion, human needs can arm people with the capacity to transform their lives and contribute to the healing of others. In this book, Mariah Fenton Gladis presents strong practical and theoretical instruction for the concept of creating exact moments of healing; moments grounded in awareness that precisely respond to and provide for the emergent need of an individual, family or community. These are the moments that produce substantial shifts in a person's worldview, character, and capacity to create meaningful contact with themselves, others and their environment. Tales of a Wounded Healer presents true stories of people who have changed their lives through this profound work and describes the seminal moments that shaped their transformation. These stories focus on specific moments of healing in detail and illustrate such themes as the importance of receptivity in healthy human functioning, recovery from post traumatic stress syndrome, the need for supportive community, mending fractured families, creating self-esteem and empowerment, development of a compassionate relationship with self and others, and recovery from sexual abuse and trauma. Throughout the book, the Mariah Fenton Gladis addresses the reader in an attempt to inspire and educate and make the chapters applicable to the readers' lives. About the Author Mariah Fenton Gladis, MSS, QCSW, is the Founder and Clinical Director of the Pennsylvania Gestalt Center for Psychotherapy and Training in Malvern, Pennsylvania. An internationally renowned workshop leader and trainer, Mariah conducts weekend and weeklong workshops locally at her Center and at Esalen Institute in California. She also conducts seminars in New Jersey, Maine, Arizona, Hawaii, Germany, Ireland, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Recently, Mariah was named Social Worker Of The Year in Pennsylvania, and conducted a workshop on the power of dreams in Machu Picchu, Peru where 30 people from the United States attended. In 2005, she was given the "Hope and Courage" award from the ALS Association, and in 2006 received a "Stevie" lifetime achievement award for women in business. As a 27-year survivor of Lou Gehrig's Disease, Mariah is also an inspirational speaker, sharing her personal approach to healing and living with a life-threatening illness. Testimonials "Mariah Fenton Gladis has translated her own personal and professional history into a highly accessible manual for healing and change." Paula S. Rosen, MSS, Ph.D. Counseling and Psychological Services Swarthmore College "Every page of this book testifies to a compassion that is sharp because the author's mental vigor is keen, penetrating and discerning. But beyond that, the reader will feel embraced by the only healing force there is: Love." Brother David Steindl-Rast, author of Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer "This book is a extraordinary window into a singularly remarkable therapist." Ken Duckworth, MD, Medical Director National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) "To the fortunate reader, this book is an inspiring deconstruction of some of your own ideas and a personal treat. Enjoy!" Gordon Wheeler, PhD, President, Esalen Institute
How do you perceive your cultural identity? All of us are shaped by the cultures we interact with and the cultural backgrounds and ethnicities that are part of our heritage. Take a dynamic approach to the study of culture and health care relationships. Dr. Marilyn A. Ray shows us how cultures influence one another through inter-cultural relationships, technology, globalization, and mass communication, and how these influences directly shape our cultural identities in today’s world. She integrates theory, practice, and evidence of transcultural caring to show you how to apply transcultural awareness to your clinical decision making. Go beyond common stereotypes using a framework that can positively impact the nurse-patient relationship and the decision-making process. You’ll learn how to deliver culturally competent care through the selection and application of transcultural assessment, planning and negotiation tools for interventions.
Hope--real hope--for recovery is within reach. This book goes beyond cliché answers and offers meaningful, spiritual, and practical steps to healing and freedom from sexual addiction--or any addiction. With today's rampant availability of Internet pornography, sexual addiction has become a national epidemic that affects an increasing number of Christians, even pastors and priests. As devastating as any drug habit, it brings heartbreak and despair to those it entangles. But there is help for men and women caught in sexual addiction's downward spiral. This book offers a path that leads beyond compulsive thoughts and behaviors to healing and transformation. Speaking from his own experience with sexual addiction and recovery, Dr. Mark Laaser is sensitive to the shame of sexual addiction without minimizing its sinfulness. He traces the roots of the problem, discusses its patterns and impact, and maps out a biblical approach to self-control and sexual integrity. Whether you know someone with a sexual addiction or struggle yourself, Healing the Wounds of Sexual Addiction points the way to understanding, wholeness, and holiness. Spanish edition also available; previously titled Faithful and True.
Why would someone decide to become a psychotherapist? It is well-known within the field that psychoanalysts and psychotherapists are often drawn to their future professions as a result of early traumatic experiences and being helped by their own psychoanalytic treatment. While dedicating their lives to relieving emotional suffering without being judgmental, they fear compromising their reputations if they publicly acknowledge such suffering in themselves. This phenomenon is nearly universal among those in the helping professions, yet there are few books dedicated to the issue. In this innovative book, Farber and a distinguished range of contributors examine how the role of the ‘wounded healer’ was instrumental in the formulation of psychoanalysis, and how using their own woundedness can help clinicians work more effectively with their patients, and advance theory in a more informed manner. Celebrating the Wounded Healer Psychotherapist will be of interest to psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists, graduate students in clinical disciplines including psychology, social work, ministry/chaplaincy and nursing, as well as the general public.
The Healer's Calling addresses the longings of many people in the health care professions for a renewed sense of the transcendent meaning of their work, and for a return to the spiritual elements of healing.
2022 Revised Edition Who are the caregivers? We all are, for at the heart of being human is the capacity to care, to reach out to others and explore the relationships we build. The Soul of Caregiving is about us, and how we, as caregivers, serve, even sacrifice, for those in need. I invite you to explore with me how we can partake in a kind of sacred journey exploring our experiences as caregivers. Who will be your guide on this journey? Unlike other pilgrims who have a guide assigned to them, you will soon discover it is your own Soul guiding you. We may be professionally skilled to meet the needs of others, but we must also learn to stop and rest. It is not a waste of time, but rather, a necessity. We need time to ponder, reflect, and grow from our experiences. Not an easy endeavor amid a whirlwind of activity. We, as caregivers, experience vulnerability, helplessness, fears, and pain over the traumatic events we experience because we care. We care about those whom we are called to serve. Compassion fatigue arises because we care. Overview of the Chapters Chapter 1 begins by outlying the tension most caregivers experience: the tension their own needs and the needs of those they care for. I call this tension the Dance of Caregiving. Chapter 2 discusses the importance of discovering interior strengths and values where one discovers Soul. Chapter 3 emphasizes caregivers do not care in a vacuum, as there are broad cultural boundaries and expectations which affect them and shape their behaviors. Chapter 4 describes The Archetype of Caregiving, both its strengths and shadow sides. This archetype also relates to several other leadership archetypes, which are also discussed. Chapter 5 discusses hospitality. This chapter positions the caregiver as the host who experiences three different dimensions of hospitality: to host the stranger, to listen to the stories of the guest, and to reflect on their reactions and experiences. Chapter 6 address the frailty of humankind and the notion that we are wounded healers. Chapter 7 addresses the art of reflection as a fundamental skill for caregivers. Chapter 8 argues that the essential actions of a caregiver are spiritual. Chapter 9 explores how the ordinary becomes spiritual as inner strengths and values give birth to meaning, insight, and transformation. Chapter 10 explores compassion fatigue and its two sisters, secondary traumatic stress disorder and burnout. In this chapter, we learn how to recover from compassion fatigue and burnout by building compassion resilience. At the end of each chapter, the reader is invited to ponder and reflect. Your insights are the gold hidden beneath the sands of confusion. Mining these insights will lead to a greater understanding of your strengths and values. The questions at the end of each chapter help facilitate this process.
