Resources for
Shelters

Through an intensive clinical study of forty incest victims and numerous interviews with professionals in mental health, child protection, and law enforcement, Judith Herman develops a composite picture of the incestuous family. In a new afterword, Herman offers a lucid and thorough overview of the knowledge that has developed about incest and other forms of sexual abuse since this book was first published.

Reviewing the extensive research literature that demonstrates the validity of incest survivors’ sometimes repressed and recovered memories, she convincingly challenges the rhetoric and methods of the backlash movement against incest survivors, and the concerted attempt to deny the events they find the courage to describe.

Power has a God-given role in human relationships and institutions, but it can lead to abuse when used in unhealthy ways. Speaking into current #MeToo and #ChurchToo conversations, this book shows that the body of Christ desperately needs to understand the forms power takes, how it is abused, and how to respond to abuses of power.

Although many Christians want to prevent abuse in their churches and organizations, they lack a deep and clear-eyed understanding of how power actually works. Internationally recognized psychologist Diane Langberg offers a clinical and theological framework for understanding how power operates, the effects of the abuse of power, and how power can be redeemed and restored to its proper God-given place in relationships and institutions. This book not only helps Christian leaders identify and resist abusive systems but also shows how they can use power to protect the vulnerable in their midst.

Every person you know has either been through situations in their lives that have resulted in trauma or someone close to them who has. The church has lost the art of wisely walking with someone as they experience the effects of trauma in their life. We are at a loss when a friend loses a child, a coworker finds out they have cancer, or we hear about someone being the victim of human trafficking. If you’re a fireman, nurse, police officer, pastor, counselor, schoolteacher, or any other profession that touches the lives of people, you have encountered people in trauma… you have probably experienced the effects of secondary or vicarious trauma yourself. You have felt the hopelessness and inadequacies of trying to help someone understand the explainable.

As I searched for resources to help me do that from a biblical perspective, I found that there is very little help for the Christian involved in the work of trauma-informed care. Most biblical counseling doesn’t adequately address how to engage with someone suffering from trauma, and no secular methodologies can provide the ultimate healing and hope these victims long for. The Heart of a Healer is an attempt from a layman’s perspective to combine the wise compassion of a trauma-informed care approach with the authoritative and life-giving truths revealed in the scriptures. This book is neither clinical nor theological in the traditional understanding of those terms. The Heart of a Healer outlines a practical and biblical approach to dealing with trauma. You will learn how to deal with it in your own life and how to effectively help others who are suffering through trauma.

This book was born out of much prayer and the searching of scriptures. It is my humble prayer that God uses this imperfect attempt at this important subject as a tool to help those who he calls into this work, and that as a result, many will see your good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven.

Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives.