Books for Healing

Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma
By Peter A Levine Goes to the bare roots of PTSD. Our body's natural desire to heal is sabotaged by our higher brains. There is no chance to follow-through healing after trauma. This book shows why, and how to come back down to earth, using the natural healing powers of your body. My holy grail! (After much psychotherapy, I believe this is the final piece of the puzzle for me.)

An excerpt: http://www.traumahealing.com/art_Chapter1.html
A review: http://www.theinstitute.org/trauma/tiger_review.shtml
More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_A._Levine


Bringing Heaven Down to Earth
By Tzvi Freeman. From the wisdom of the Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
365 meditations. Universal appeal whatever your spiritual path may be. Empowering.

Emotional Vampires: Dealing With People Who Drain You Dry
By Albert J. Bernstein, Ph.D. "They make us squawk like chickens"! Those are the words of my rabbi after reading the book this week, and he seems to have to deal with these people all around him. Until now, he says, he did not grasp what was going on. Now he realises that they hypnotise us to such an extent that we respond to them in uncharacteristic ways- in ways that appall and distress us and are so unlike our true natures-thus"they make us squawk like chickens". Yup, he got it- hypnosis. He has now taken control back from one said pathological histrionic (among other types) without being false to his compassionate nature. Now he wants to bring Bernstein in as speaker to the Rabbinical Assembly. I read the book a while ago and it helped immensely in how to deal with said histrionic and xnGF.. Thus, it is highly recommended.

Stalking the Soul: Emotional Abuse and the Erosion of Identity
By Marie-France Hirigoyen. How psychopaths/Ns do it, by a victimologist. Elegantly written book on the subtle, insidious, poisonous and progressive machinations of psychopaths/Ns on those they claim to care for- how they undermine their targets/victims over time until they look crazy. How our healthy sense of self erodes over time from tiny, covert, ambiguously poisoned darts and withholding, and how no decent person is immune to this kind of vicious demoralisation if you are "chosen". Tremendous validation for those of us who cannot explain to others the invisible, seeping assault on/rape of our psyches by psychopaths/Ns. In a succinct way, Hirigoyen clarifies and articulates the unspeakable.

Excerpts can be found here: http://www.webheights.net/GrowingbeyondEmotionalAbuse/hirigoyen/sts.htm
And commentary here: http://www.creativeresistance.ca/toolkit/moral-abuse-and-erosion-of-identity-marie-france-hirigoyen.htm

Upholds dignity of targets/victims. Refuses to "blame the victim". Highly recommended!

Serenity
by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin Formulas, stories and insights. This book "fills one of the critical needs of our time. Words like stress, road rage, and tension have come to symbolize the strains and pressures of modern life. ...Easy to follow chapters show how it can be done. One of several in a series, 1-2 page chapters, short and readable. Worked for me, keeping me focused on what's important.

Kindness
By Rabbi Zelig Pliskin. Changing people's lives for the better"...."A kind person is a happier person- because the light and joy you bring to others radiates back to you". Another in the fabulous series. I learned there were more ways than I imagined to be kind, and it kept my focus off my misery, even when things really hurt. I also felt empowered. And yes, I was transformed!