6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Unhelpful Booklet That Oversimplifies How We Heal, December 30, 2007
This review is from: Self-Injury: When Pain Feels Good (Resources for Changing Lives) (Resources for Changing Lives) (Resources for Changing Lives) (Paperback)
As the very first Christian resource on self-injury, this booklet accomplished a lot: it brought the issue to light for Christians. As the first resource that could've set the standard and as a potential tool for healing, this booklet falls drastically short. The author writes from a biblical-counseling perspective (the perspective that thinks all the answers to all life's problems can be directly found within the pages of the Bible) and ignores decades, if not centuries, of psychological research.
While the booklet accurately assesses the reasons WHY people give for wanting to self-injure, it reduces their reasons to one: it's all about God. On some level, that may be true, but many things point directly to things in our past. Once we recognize what causes us to act in certain ways, only then can we begin utilizing God's help to overcome our faulty behaviors. And this help can come in many forms: Bible reading, medication, prayer, counseling, talking with family and friends, etc. Prayer and Bible reading are not, as the author suggests, the ONLY answer; they are a PART of the answer.
For a better introductory booklet, read "Cutting: Self-Injury and Emotional Pain" (InterVarsity Press). For full-length Christian treatments of the issue, read Jerusha Clark's "Inside a Cutter's Mind," Jan Kern's "Scars That Wound, Scars That Heal," or Marv Penner's upcoming "Hope and Healing for Kids Who Cut."
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quick Understanding of SI for Christians, December 13, 2007
This review is from: Self-Injury: When Pain Feels Good (Resources for Changing Lives) (Resources for Changing Lives) (Resources for Changing Lives) (Paperback)
This is a very brief book on Self Injury, the title a little misleading regarding pain feeling good. That part misses the point. The book does say there are many reasons why someone would choose SI as a coping mechanism. The book promotes compassion and alternative messages for Self-Injury (SI)such as : encouraging self-love, Christ-like love and utilyzing scripture for direct communication between self and God, rather than self-inflicted violence. This book is a good intro book for persons of faith who struggle with this issue; and this book can be a good book for other persons of faith who may be in a supportive role, helping friends or loved ones who struggle with SI. More needs to be written from a Christian, compassionate perspective that is more in depth. Robin Connors books and Walsh's new book on Treating Self Injury are much more thorough and better, tho without the religious perspective.
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7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not helpful - Non-evidenced based Christian speculation, September 6, 2007
This review is from: Self-Injury: When Pain Feels Good (Resources for Changing Lives) (Resources for Changing Lives) (Resources for Changing Lives) (Paperback)
While I have no idea of the intentions of the author, I can imagine that in the wrong context, this book could be very unhelpful for both parents and/or teens dealing with self injury issues. This a very brief (28 p) and superficial overview of this issue from a decidedly Christian perspective which ultimately associates sinful behavior of self-injury as being associated with the devil. I find such insuations to be unhelpful.
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