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Breaking Free Workbook: Practical help for survivors of child sexual abuse
As a survivor of sexual abuse in childhood, you may find that its effects continue to haunt you - bringing guilt and shame, perhaps depression and anxiety, eating disorders, troubled relationships and sexual difficulties. But although you can't alter the past, you can change the present and the future.
Breaking Free, by Kay Toon and Carolyn Ainscough, draws on their nationally recognized and pioneering work as clinical psychologists giving a voice to the Survivors of child sexual abuse. It uses their courage and experiences to help other survivors face their past and take steps towards a better future.
This new edition of the accompanying workbook now refers to types of abuse that have come to light more recently, such as street exploitation, and abuse by celebrities, politicians and football coaches, as well as the use of digital technology to groom children and young people. Practical exercises work step-by-step on the problems that result from being sexually abused as a child. They are designed to present survivors with different ways to think about the past, and to arm you with new strategies to move on from the problems that disrupt the present, and look forward to the future.
Exercises like these can be very beneficial, but they can also be painful. They can bring up strong feelings, so at every stage your safety and well-being are the first concern, and the book includes essential coping strategies for getting the level of support you need.
This practical book will be enormously useful for survivors of sexual abuse, and may also help those who have been abused emotionally or physically. Therapists will also find it a useful resource to use with clients, and both this book and Breaking Free are regularly recommended by professionals in the NHS and also in the media.
Breaking Free, by Kay Toon and Carolyn Ainscough, draws on their nationally recognized and pioneering work as clinical psychologists giving a voice to the Survivors of child sexual abuse. It uses their courage and experiences to help other survivors face their past and take steps towards a better future.
This new edition of the accompanying workbook now refers to types of abuse that have come to light more recently, such as street exploitation, and abuse by celebrities, politicians and football coaches, as well as the use of digital technology to groom children and young people. Practical exercises work step-by-step on the problems that result from being sexually abused as a child. They are designed to present survivors with different ways to think about the past, and to arm you with new strategies to move on from the problems that disrupt the present, and look forward to the future.
Exercises like these can be very beneficial, but they can also be painful. They can bring up strong feelings, so at every stage your safety and well-being are the first concern, and the book includes essential coping strategies for getting the level of support you need.
This practical book will be enormously useful for survivors of sexual abuse, and may also help those who have been abused emotionally or physically. Therapists will also find it a useful resource to use with clients, and both this book and Breaking Free are regularly recommended by professionals in the NHS and also in the media.
320 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 23, 2022
The Breaking Free Workbook is meant to help male and female survivors of childhood sexual abuse. It is about understanding present problems a survivor might have, keeping safe, coping strategies, dealing with guilt and self-blame, and assessing the feelings you might have about yourself and others. The book also has a chapter called ‘The past, present and future’. In it, the reader can evaluate how their situation has changed as a result of working with the book, and what could be done next. You can also find excellent sources of help and a short bibliography.
In contrast to other workbooks of this kind, the Breaking Free Workbook uses a rather clinical approach in its different exercises. Several of the exercises are a lot like checklists to see if a condition of trauma applies to you, and this is where it starts being really challenging. Lists that you can use to see if maybe you show symptoms of anxiety, ptsd, shame, and so many more possible problems are only one part. Some of the exercises will necessarily lead you back into memories, for example to write down what a perpetrator has said in certain moments, so that you can identify such phrases as triggers. Doing so can be extremely helpful, but it can also be very straining. The authors are aware of possible problems and have dedicated a good part of this workbook to the topic of physical and emotional safety. They also recommend that support could be necessary in some moments, whether it is friends, family, local services or organizations. Before working on the more challenging exercises, readers are led through several preparations to create a safe environment for them. Part of that is also not to rush, keep some distance, and taking care of yourself after the exercise.
What is great about this workbook are the additional explanations, e.g. what is a trigger, what is a flashback, what is ptsd, or what is a panic attack. The explanations are concise, to the point, and the following exercises help a lot in understanding to what degree a problem might be applicable to the reader.
All exercises include example answers from other survivors. This is not only helpful because you get an idea about the intention of the exercise, but it also shows you that you are not alone with your problems. In conclusion, the Breaking Free Workbook is an extremely useful book that can help survivors find a way into a future that is less of a burden than their past might have been. Although the book focuses on childhood sexual abuse, it is definitely just as useful for other survivors.
6 out of 5 stars.
In contrast to other workbooks of this kind, the Breaking Free Workbook uses a rather clinical approach in its different exercises. Several of the exercises are a lot like checklists to see if a condition of trauma applies to you, and this is where it starts being really challenging. Lists that you can use to see if maybe you show symptoms of anxiety, ptsd, shame, and so many more possible problems are only one part. Some of the exercises will necessarily lead you back into memories, for example to write down what a perpetrator has said in certain moments, so that you can identify such phrases as triggers. Doing so can be extremely helpful, but it can also be very straining. The authors are aware of possible problems and have dedicated a good part of this workbook to the topic of physical and emotional safety. They also recommend that support could be necessary in some moments, whether it is friends, family, local services or organizations. Before working on the more challenging exercises, readers are led through several preparations to create a safe environment for them. Part of that is also not to rush, keep some distance, and taking care of yourself after the exercise.
What is great about this workbook are the additional explanations, e.g. what is a trigger, what is a flashback, what is ptsd, or what is a panic attack. The explanations are concise, to the point, and the following exercises help a lot in understanding to what degree a problem might be applicable to the reader.
All exercises include example answers from other survivors. This is not only helpful because you get an idea about the intention of the exercise, but it also shows you that you are not alone with your problems. In conclusion, the Breaking Free Workbook is an extremely useful book that can help survivors find a way into a future that is less of a burden than their past might have been. Although the book focuses on childhood sexual abuse, it is definitely just as useful for other survivors.
6 out of 5 stars.
August 5, 2024
This workbook is a nice mix of information, exercises, and examples of how to do them. I like the way this is put together. However, some of the exercises are a bit cramped, which is a matter of layout. I used a paperback copy and don’t know whether there is a kindle version with a different layout. Nevertheless, the book is good, easy to use, and filled with many helpful exercises. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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