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Straying Towards Truth: A Therapist's Personal Story and Professional Guide to Healing After Sexual Abuse Paperback – June 2, 2009

by Karen E. Fennell, MSW, LISW-CP (Author)

38 ratings

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Clinical psychotherapist Karen Fennell’s Straying Towards Truth is a powerful tool for individuals, families, and therapists faced with the challenge of healing after a childhood sexual abuse history is revealed. Reading as much like a novel as a therapeutic guide, the author, whose son was a victim of sexual abuse, offers the alternating viewpoints of Sam, a young man who reveals his abuse; his mother, who must deal with her own shock and anguish; and a therapist. The therapist, whose insight is woven throughout, cites a multitude of cases to explain the “why’s and how’s” of sexual abuse recovery, adding a valuable educational perspective and healing guide for the reader. We witness a victim emerge from darkness, a family find strength to cope with grief and anger, and a therapist guide all through a morass of emotions. For anyone impacted by sexual abuse, the varied perspectives are a source of insight, awareness, and understanding. This is the book that begins the healing.

Print length

300 pages
Language

English
Publication date

June 2, 2009
Dimensions

6 x 0.68 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1439229309
ISBN-13

978-1439229309
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Karen E. Fennell is a clinical psychotherapist with a Master's degree in Psychiatric Social Work from the University of Illinois. She has worked as program director for adolescent outpatient services at a major psychiatric hospital in the Chicago area, as well as maintaining a private psychotherapy practice. Throughout her career, Fennell has dedicated herself to treating those victimized by sexual abuse. Fennell, the mother of five, has worked with countless victims, their families and friends, and has incorporated this wealth of experience and knowledge into her writing in order to promote healing to those outside her reach. Now relocated to Charleston, South Carolina, Fennell continues to see patients in her private practice, with a majority of her caseload being survivors of sexual abuse. For additional information, or to contact Karen Fennell, please visit her at strayingtowardstruth.com.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ BookSurge Publishing (June 2, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 300 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1439229309
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1439229309
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.68 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,045,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,012 in Child Abuse (Books)

Customer Reviews:
38 ratings

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Honest

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 7, 2022

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This story is amazing. The strength they all had to have to endure so much and come out on top. The son was just so open and honest. I have a story very similar but also very different. Our family has come out on top as well. Started the book could not put it down.

Yoli

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CHERISE A

All points of view seen

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 24, 2022

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This book was just what I needed! I have recently found myself in the same position as the mother in this book and have been left with so many questions and regrets. This book gave me so much clarity when I could read the same moment through the view of the victim, the parent & then the therapist.
This book came just at the right moment for myself and I am better equipped now to move forward with healing my family!

Helpful

Mary Novaria

Dirty Not-So-Little Secrets Need to be told

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 26, 2010

Verified Purchase

1 out of every 3 people knows someone who has been impacted by childhood sexual abuse; we just don't know it because no one talks about it.
Karen E. Fennel's story is courageous, sad and, ultimately, redemptive as a young adult and his family face down debilitating fallout from a revelation of ongoing sexual abuse. This is a crime that is too often not punished and routinely hushed up--especially in idyllic, affluent suburban enclaves. I know, because I grew up in the town where this happened.
Straying Toward Truth is a journey of heartbreak and healing told in three voices--victim, mother and therapist. It is a poignant memoir as well as a guide for navigating the process of recovery for individuals and families. Fennell's honesty is staggering as she admits to her darkest moments as the parent of a child who has been repeatedly molested by his pedophile uncle. It may have been easier to just "drop it" or "get past it," as most of Fennell's extended family urged her to do, but it also would have been wrong. Whether or not the perpetrator is held legally or personally accountable, the victim must confront the truth of what happened in order to heal.
The book, like any worthwhile therapeutic process, is not designed as a quick fix. It details a thoughtful, honest process that ultimately leads to healing. It is realistic about the time such a journey can take, the grief involved and the up and down nature of the process. As a survivor, Sam is brutally honest about the toll sexual abuse has taken--its impact on his relationship with his girlfriend, his trust of others, his belief in himself. It is uplifting to see Sam's evolution as he slowly crafts a new and healthy life. At the same time, it is clear that the entire family is affected when one its own is wounded. The idea of "family" is tested and both the author and victim ultimately redefine what constitutes "family" as they move forward.
Personal accounts are threaded with the therapist's point of view on numerous issues that come up during the recovery process. That voice is extremely helpful in sorting out various strategies for healing--not every step is appropriate for every victim. For example, some need to tell a lot of people their story, while others are simply not served by that much self-disclosure. The individual therapist helps victims navigate the strategies that work best for their situation.
Our society needs to stop looking the other way when it comes to dealing with the ugly truth of sexual abuse. Too many children are wounded and exploited, even blamed, while their pedophiles walk nonchalantly down Main Street. It is a bizarre world where victims are made to feel like they are the dirty ones, the ones who've done something wrong. I applaud Karen Fennell and her son for breaking the obscene societal rules that encourage us to keep sexual abuse a secret. It's a dirty secret and it needs more telling.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sadie_2

Straying Towards Truth

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 23, 2011

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This book, not only addresses the difficult subject, of childhood sexual abuse, but chronicles the author's, family struggles to survive, after her son discloses, the abuse he suffered, at the hands of his uncle.

I knew I had to read this book... I wanted to see inside the thoughts, and emotions of a mother who supported her son.

Straying Towards Truth, was everything I thought it would be, and more. The format, is inspired. The book switches narration between, Karen, the mother, her shock, anger, and pain... Sam, the son, his confusion, fear, and shame... and Karen, the therapist, her insight from a practitioners point of view, and helpful commentary, explaining, in a plain, clear manner, what was happening. I found this helpful, because, as a survivor myself, reading about sexual abuse, is still very hard for me. Sam's account is straightforward, clear, and heartbreaking. Karen's narrative, as the mother of an abused child, is frank and discloses what every abused child wishes their parent to be... the anchor of strength, and support.

The abandonment, of most of Karen's family, is tragic. The betrayal, of Karen's sisters is shocking, unthinkable, and beyond understanding. I found myself thinking, that this family, followed, an easier path, for them... denial, and support of the perpetrators. I will never understand why this happens as often as it does. Why is it easier to believe, an adult, with everything to gain, by lying, over a child, who has everything to lose, by telling the truth?

This experience, for them, is one of victory though. The immediate family, Karen, her husband, and the rest of her children, and one of her sisters, offer unconditional support. This book is not so much about the abuse itself, but an amazing example of what can happen, when parents act with pure love, for their abused child. I found myself cheering them on.

I would recommend this book to anyone, affected by sexual abuse. The victims, and supportive family members will benefit by a clearer understanding, of how to get through the nearly impossible time following disclosure. My wish is that the non-supportive family members, and perpetrators alike, would read it. Maybe they would see, just a tiny bit, of what they truly did.

The book ends, with the knowledge, that, Sam is healing, and living a mostly normal, happy life. It is a triumph, in the battle against the cover of darkness, that so often prevails in the lives of those affected by this type of nightmare. By sharing her story, and that of Sam, and the rest of her family, Karen, brings light.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

ME

heartbreakingly accurate in what it describes, but there are many other experiences out there too

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 3, 2019

Verified Purchase

This book is great for all the reasons listed in the other reviews. I could relate to many things the author described from the mother's perspective. However, there are so many different ways that sexual abuse can happen and that parents can find out about it. It would be beyond the scope of the book to describe them all, but it would have been nice to at least acknowledge that reality in the preface or somewhere in the therapist's narrative. For example, not every family has the option of deciding when or if to notify authorities. CPS might be involved; if the perpetrator is a parent and is not convicted, the courts could order visitation or even custody by that parent; sometimes it's not even an adult who abuses, it might be another child; etc, etc, etc. A lot of what she relates applies to all situations, and it's way better than just reading a textbook. But I wanted to balance the other reviews with the disclaimer that the book describes abuse by an adult pedophile, in the extended family, that is revealed when the survivor is an adult, in a family with upper middle class resources, that does not go to trial.

One person found this helpful

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