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

by Helene Brenner (Author)
Key Phrases: voice attunement, inner voice experience, outside voices, Larger Self, There Somewhere, The Inner Voice Experience (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Brenner, a psychologist who runs workshops for women, focuses on the significant problem: women often are taught to behave as "people pleasers" and keep their emotions hidden rather than express their true feelings. Instead of advocating that women change themselves, Brenner wants women to be aware of their concerns. "I call this a `self-acceptance' book, rather than a `self-improvement' book, because I truly believe that you don't have to change or fix or improve yourself in order to be happy," she writes in her introduction, continuing, "I believe that living a fulfilled life comes from learning how to listen to your inner voice, to the truth of your inner being in all of the ways that it speaks to you, and to live from it." The book offers practical strategies focused on finding the "Inner Voice" in five stages: Knowing, Sensing, Feeling, Wanting and Voice of the Larger Self. Using many real-life examples, Brenner offers advice on such common issues as loneliness within marriages, unresolved issues with aged parents, job difficulties, etc. Included are sidebar exercises such as spending 15 minutes writing down wants, reading these wishes aloud and talking to a friend without censoring any feelings. Women who are comfortable expressing their feelings will find this book reassuring, but some of Brenner's suggestions are simplistic and not particularly original.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
This is the…book women have been waiting for—a book that understands women and their emotions, inside and out…a must for real women living in the real world, looking for ways to hold on to their authentic selves in the midst of imperfect lives and relationships. (Laura Davis, author of The Courage to Heal) Helene Brenner’s book... touches all the truths I am aware of. This book can help you become fearless, start living an authentic life, and save you from a host of afflictions. (Bernie Siegel, M.D., author of Love, Medicine & Miracles and Prescriptions for Living) We humans have been accumulating inner wisdom and increasing goodness for several million years. How is it that we so easily lose touch with this side of who we are? Dr. Helene Brenner has done something very important. She shows us how to identify our inner powers and strengths and live from them. Listen up, men: This one's for you too. (Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Healing Beyond the Body, Reinventing Medicine, and Healing Words) If there's only one book you read this year, let it be this one. Put yourself in the hands of a wise and gentle master therapist who can help you awaken the power and clarity you've always known you could feel... but didn't know how. Many books say they can change your life--this one really will. (Ann Weiser Cornell, author of The Power of Focusing: A Practical Guide to Emotional Self-Healing) Brenner offers women realistic ways to pursue dreams, encouraging them to accept and interpret their feelings and then guiding them into action…it is empowering. (Eleanor Stables, The Washingtonian)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Gotham (May 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592400604
• ISBN-13: 978-1592400607
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #173,073 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting, Empowering, Engaging!, June 3, 2003

By	Joseph McBride "Joseph McBride" (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Know I'm In There Somewhere (Hardcover)

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.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like therapy in a book, June 23, 2003

By	Marla from Wisconsin (Racine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Know I'm In There Somewhere (Hardcover)

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.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Holistic Scaffolding for Your Own Unfolding, May 9, 2004

By	Kirsten Keppel (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.