Customer Reviews

I Know I'm in There Somewhere: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner Voice and Living a Life of Authenticity

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I've been in the human potential field for over 30 years and I've rarely seen a book that excited me as much as this one. There is a quiet revolution here, a revolution in the way we approach our own development as human beings.

In a refreshing change from the usual "here's what's wrong with you and here's how you fix it" approach, Brenner answers this question: What would growing and changing be like if they were done from the perspective that there is nothing wrong with us to start with? With inspiring real-life stories and practical, inviting exercises, she guides us through a path of inner acceptance that includes honoring what we know, sensing the wisdom of our bodies, and honoring our true desires.

Most of the time when I read self-help books I ignore the exercises. But Brenner's exercises (she calls them "Innercises") are so tempting, I found I was doing them effortlessly. They are deeply validating, including one on how to start from what you DO know (you know more than you think you do!). I was in a workshop last weekend, read one of the exercises out loud, and everyone in the group found it so inviting that we spent the next half hour doing it together. The glowing faces when we finished were a testament to the ease and empowerment found all through this book.

This profound, beautiful, and nurturing book is so packed with inspiration, I find myself going back to every section again and again. There is so much here, I feel I can only scratch the surface in a review. Spirituality, relationships, career, manifesting our dreams... Yes it is for women AND it is for all of us. We all need to reclaim what we really know and who we really are.

I saw this book at a local bookstore, was really attracted by the cover, and opened it up and read the inside sleeve. I really liked the fact that Helene Brenner was a psychologist who ran a clinic and worked with a lot of women. I figured she might know what she was talking about. I was really looking for something. My life's pretty good, but you know how it is -- two kids in school, a job, a marriage that's as good as any I've seen but not exactly exciting anymore, and I've been thinking a lot lately, is this all there is? What am I going to DO with the rest of my life?
I REALLY like this book, and I've already recommended it to about four friends. The best thing I like about it is that it DOESN'T promise sixty days to a totally new you or anything like that. It never says that you think too negatively, or you're being a victim, or you're co-dependent, or you're not "spiritual" enough or loving enough or you have the wrong belief systems. The book is very -- the only word I can describe it is GENTLE. It says, hey, you're human, you're a woman, isn't that great, be compassionate to yourself. I've never seen that in a book before.
But what's so neat is that now I have the book in my head. It's funny, I've never heard the author, Helene Brenner speak, but during the day I hear her "talking" to me. I get into a situation, and I find myself asking myself, "Now what do I know to be true here?" Or "What am I FEELING right now? Listen. Pay attention to it." Of course, I went straight for the chapter on relationships. I tried the "innercize" called "the power of positive wanting" on my husband, which is you say what you're not happy about, then you say what you want, then you tell him the GOOD things that will result if he listens to you this time (you'll feel good about him, you'll feel closer, etc..), and darned if it didn't work! (I haven't told him I got it from a book.)
I feel a lot, lot better since buying this book. Who knows, maybe I'll still have to get therapy to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life, but this book is a whole lot cheaper. And if I DO get therapy, the therapist is going to have to talk like Dr. Brenner.

How can you "improve" yourself until you've first fully accepted yourself? That's this author's premise - and the message of her book. This book is about surfacing, aligning, adjusting and attuning everything that's RIGHT with us so we can use it to the fullest in contributing our gifts to the world. You won't have to shed pounds or tone muscles to benefit from this book - it's about shedding excess inner weight and toning one's inner voice muscles. Dr. Helene Brenner's book is distinct because it's specific, solid, and "sentient" - you feel you are one on one with her surfacing your inner mysteries. The "innercizes" guide you on an inner dive to surface answers as unique as you. The book provides a scaffolding for your own unfolding - sans gimmicks, catchy buzzwords, prescription diets or trite phrases. Dr. Brenner offers a step-by-step process of looking within to emerge without by engaging your full senses, intuition, logic and knowledge. Along the way, the author explains why our resistance to living our truths grows so loud the closer we get to living them, why our bodies are instruments of smart, intuitive knowledge, and what we can do to burst through our own cocoons. If you read this book and really "work" it, you'll come out closer to becoming the butterfly you are.

I have been in the process of "self-discovery" for the past 20 years and have read many, many books. This book by Helene Brenner takes a fresh, new approach. She helps women to let go of the idea that we are somehow flawed and need to be "fixed." From her use of words (she calls this a self-acceptance book...not a self-help book) to her ideas of why so many women are walking around striving to be perfect, Brenner has put a new face on our quest for living that life of our dreams. She makes it seem attainable because there is nothing really more to "do." There is only to "be."

I highly recommend this book and especially encourage women just beginning the process of self-discovery to read it. You will save yourself a lot of time and self-doubt.

Sub-titled A Woman's Guide to Finding her Inner Voice and Living a Life of Authenticity, this book is a well thought out and intriguing guide for women who strive to accept themselves and live accordingly. Written by Helene G. Brenner, Ph.D, a psychologist and director of Women's Counselling and Psychological Services in Frederick and Bethseda, Maryland, the book offers an alternative stance for women who wish to become grounded, harness their self-esteem and unleash their integrity.

Instead of following the approach of numerous other self-help books and pop psychology titles, Dr. Brenner believes it's actually a very simple process and something any woman can achieve. Rather than having to change or fix your life, all you need to do in order to be happy and fulfilled is to listen to your inner voice and live in accordance with it.

In a down-to-earth style as if she's personally chatting to you, Helene guides readers through the processes needed to firstly find your inner voice, learn to listen to it and finally live from it. One of the aspects that makes the book both enjoyable and encouraging is the numerous real-life examples of women who've been out-of-touch with their inner voices, but managed to reacquaint themselves through using Helene's approach. These are interspersed throughout the text with feeling and compassion, adding a new perspective that really brings the theory to life.

Additionally, there are lots of aptly termed "innercizes" - practical exercises to complete that aim to help readers access and live from their Inner Voice - and these, too, help put things into perspective.

In essence, this book is a real antidote to the typical "you need to change" self-help book that many people have had more than enough of. It's inspirational, positive, helpful and, above all, its messages and suggestions are fully achievable.

Ground breaking, YES. Simple, in many ways. Simplistic, not in the least. I hesitate to tell readers that Dr. Brenner has been my lifeline for many years (after trying my share of 'traditional' Doctors). Yet, I also think it is important that you know why I endorse this book with all my heart. I have worked these innersizes, I have walked the talk, and it works. Easy? Not always, however, well worth the time and effort. We (women) are not broken, we do not need to be fixed. We do need to be authentic. For our sakes and for the sake of the people in our lives. Dr. Brenner has a deep understanding of who women are, and how we can gain our voices back. This understanding has been presented in a manner that is clear, practical and humorous. I have tried to share her concepts, never giving them justice, now I can share the book. This is `must' reading for any woman, of any age, who have wondered what to do with all those voices. How to understand them and learn to work with them. Dr. Brenner is not telling you how to be fixed, as there is no need for that, she is opening your mind and body to how to connect and understand.

If you were hesitating at the idea of buying 'one more self help book'...it is not a self help book, and give it a read.

Thank you.

Dr. Brenner's book is excellent and her ideas are actually quite original! I have read other self improvement books in the past and then just gave up, because I found most of them to be full of rather useless simplistic "just feel good about yourself" drivel. (If it were that easy...) Dr. Brenner's book is more realistic, and without even realizing it, I have incorporated her ideas into some of my everyday life. The real life stories were interesting and compelling, and I think most women can see themselves in the women Brenner describes meeting in her practice. (This is a strong point of the book by the way; Dr. Brenner is clearly a caring practitioner and not a pop psychologist trying only to sell books.) I am a college professor and may even use portions of this book when I teach interpersonal communication next semester.

Dr. Brenner's new book is a must read for all women and anyone who works with women particularly therapists and coaches. Unlike many self-help books which recommend you do ten different things to change who you are, this book's message is about learning self-acceptance. Self-acceptance is not something that comes from the outside, like when you repeat affirmations to your self about how good you are but it is about listening to oneself from the inside, being with what is already there like you would be with a friend and getting to know that friend better. Through the innercizes, which are clearly described one can learn how to listen to one's own voice instead of someone else's. The book is very well written, full of stories from the lives of real women, many from Dr. Brenner's clinical practice. For practioners, it is particularly helpful to read the descriptions of Dr. Brenner as she gently and skillfully guides her clients in their journeys of self-acceptance and discovery and I have found myself applying parts of her approach with executive coaching clients in my business.

I especially enjoyed the chapter on the voice of the larger self which is about accessing one's spiritual wisdom, something all of us badly need to learn how to do to cope with and even thrive in the difficult and uncertain times in which we now live. Her innercizes in this chapter teach you how to find and listen to what she calls your "Inner Knowing Place," something we all have inside but don't know how to access.

If there is anything that could be added to make this book even better, it would be to include or sell audiotapes with Dr. Brenner's clear and gentle voice guiding us through some of the wonderful innercizes. I hope that this book reaches a wide audience and that when women see it on display they will have the good sense to listen to their inner voice to purchase a copy.

Executive Coach, Boston, MA

Helene Brenner's book "I Know I'm in There Somewhere" is outstanding and please note, it is not just a book for women. Dr. Brenner, in clean, clear, crisp english presents a holistic way for men and women to examine their lives from a feeling, knowing, sensing, and wanting perspective. By acknowledging these important parts of ourselves, and listening to our Larger Selves, we can begin to claim a graceful lifestyle that we all, by the mere fact of being here, deserve, and we deserve it now.

I read this while traveling on business - it's the kind of book that kept me connected to myself when I could easily have lost myself in the job at hand. I felt like I had a friend along with me. I couldn't read it when I was tired, because I felt I needed to pay attention. The stories are so vivid, easy to identify with, and full of great nuggets of insight. And the concept that many of us have buried our own creative, empowering insight really rings true. It is inspiring to hear that this essential voice can't be destroyed, only buried. It is nice to hear of a way to stop and listen, and get it back.

And I have to disagree with the review that calls the "innercizes" simplistic. I liked being able to skim past them or skip them altogether, to come back to them when and if I choose -- there's no sense that you must do any of them. At any rate, I don't think any "exer-" or "inner-" size can be called simplistic, since I for one can rarely get myself to do even the simplest of stretches.

Bravo and thanks!