The Abandoned Child Within: On Losing and Regaining Self-Worth [Hardcover]

Kathrin Asper (Author), Sharon E. Rooks (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Product Details

• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: Fromm Intl (September 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880642033
• ISBN-13: 978-0880642033
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,994,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb contribution to psychological studies, March 19, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Abandoned Child Within: On Losing and Regaining Self-Worth (Hardcover)

In The Abandoned Child Within: On Losing And Regaining Self-worth, psychotherapist and analyst Kathrin Asper presents an impressive and cogent examination of the "wounded inner child" present in every adult who has experienced physical or emotional abandonment. Asper also presents an effective therapeutic approach for overcoming the devastating consequences of such early wounds to the psyche with their consequent symptoms of impaired self-esteem, depression, disproportionate rage, and inarticulate needs. The Abandoned Child Within is a superb contribution to psychological studies.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Spectrum of Abuse, January 19, 2001

By 

Sam Vaknin (Skopje, Macedonia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Abandoned Child Within: On Losing and Regaining Self-Worth (Hardcover)

This book is a vivid delight: patients' case histories, patient drawings and the paraphrenalia of a therapist's existence. Underneath this colourful maelstrom lies an hypothesis: pathological narcissism is the direct outcome of early childhood abuse and trauma, mainly in the form of abandonment or neglect. Narcissism, in other words, is a defence against hurt and emotional injury. To eradicate it, one must revert to one's roots and deal with unrsolved pain and conflict with caregivers and significant others (in other words, one's mother). This is the orthodoxy and it is supported by a large body of therapeutical experience. Yet, the author neglects to review the entire spectrum of abuse - from physical to verbal, from smothering to ignoring, from doting to absence. A child treated as a parent's precious extension, the parent's only shot at wish fulfillment and a parent's favourite toy is no less abused than a child abandoned and beaten. this book, in other words, deals with a niche - with ONE of the possible dynamics that lead to narcissism. Otherwise, this is recommended reading....

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reunion, April 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Abandoned Child Within: On Losing and Regaining Self-Worth (Hardcover)

I found this book on a remainders bookshelf, by "chance". It came to me at a time when I was beginning a long descent into the darkness of childhood memories, and I knew at the bottom I would find myself, the abandoned child. This book became one of my most important guides and comforters on that journey, describing what psychological abandonment feels like, how it happens to a child, the devastation it wreaks, hope for reunion with that lost child within, hope for healing. I cannot recommend it highly enough. If you're a Four in the typology of the Ennegram, you will love this book!