Customer Reviews

Setting Yourself Free :Breaking the Cycle of Emtional Abuse in Family, Friendships, Work and Love

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This not your usual "do-it-yourself" book with a glib formula to solve serious problems in human relationships.It is rather a guide and handbook which reflects the personal and professional experiences of a wise and compassionate therapist.It presents a philosophy of treatment and an innovative but practical program for those of us who have suffered emotional abuse in family life,career or community (i.e.all of us).Written in a clear and thought-provoking style,it is free of excessive psychological verbiage.I urge you to buy it,read it,study it,and use it!

Reading this book helped me make sense from my childhood -- and why I make some decisions I do. It's almost like Ms. Smullens was living inside my head! Now I feel like I have the tools to pull myself together and begin to treat my children more like they deserve to be treated. This book has helped me begin to develop a sense of dignity. Thank you Ms. Smullens for your insight! And thank you for sharing these tools.

Sarah Kay's book, Setting Yourself Free literally changed my life for the best. The minute I began the prologue, I couldn't believe what a strong grasp of knowledge that the author had on the subject. She hits the nail on the head! After reading her book I knew that I had the ability to make changes in my life. It has been over eight months since I read her book and though some days are rough, they get better and better. Though I have also read many other books on the subject, this one I have highlighted and I always have it close by for personal support. Anyone who feels that their past life experiencees is ruining their life or preventing them from having a life should read this book. Also, AFTER reading Setting Yourself Free, a great follow-up for when the time is right for you maybe, Toxic Parents.

This is a very insightful and brave book. The author uses her extensive clinical experience to simplify and characterize a poorly understood and under appreciated invisible form of abuse. She uses examples from her practice of family and marital therapy to illustrate the five perpetualting cycles of emotional abuse. She also is willing to reveal her own story which is a brave and courageous approach. She does this in order to involve readers more completely in understanding how emotional abuse effects all aspects of relationships.

SETTING YOURSELF FREE is a valuable book for parents and for individuals who may recognize emotional abuse in their own lives or in those around them. The subliminal message of the book is a philosophy of child raising based on self and mutual respect. It will be useful to parents, educators and pediatricians who wish to raise children who will not fall victim to abuse, and will know how to recognize and assess potentially damaging situations and free themselves if necessary. The book is also useful for clergy and mental health professionals, helping them understand the cycles and the symptoms of emotional abuse, and ways they can help families break these harmful patterns.

With a compassion borne of her own experience dealing with emotional abuse while growing up, Smullens offers examples from her own life and from those of her clients. She also offers prescriptive exercises that can help a reader to face the truth and heal. There are valuable self-assessment checklists, suggestions for self-realization, ideas for dealing with past abuse, and techniques for confronting current emotionally abusive relationships.

For many, the signs of the cycles of emotional abuse will be startlingly familiar. A very important new book.

Setting Yourself Free by marriage and family therapist SaraKay Smullens is a thoroughly "user friendly" self-help book designed help the reader escape from the endless cycle of emotional abuse. Anecdotes, wisdom, encouragement, and guidelines are all present in this sober and informative account of classic negative relationships, such as ones characterized by rage, dictatorial behavior, excessive whining, overprotection, or worse. Negative relationships can make one's life miserable at home, in school, or in the workplace; Setting Yourself Free accessibly offers a wealth of sound and highly recommended advice for coping and dealing with such behavior no matter where it is encountered.