Instead of listing every book, I’m going to send you to this page on the website Overcoming Sexual Abuse. I can personally recommend some of these books:

• The Courage to Heal by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis
• Healing the Shame that Binds You by Alan Bradshaw
• The Verbally Abusive Relationship by Patricia Evans

I also recommend Allies in Healing, which is also written by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis. I read the two Bass and Davis books when someone very near and dear to me shared her abuse story with me about 15 years ago. The books helped me understand the dynamics surrounding abuse and the effect it has as a child grows into an adult. It also helped me understand how I needed to approach my own life as a person close to someone who was a victim of abuse.

The Bradshaw book is recommended reading regardless of whether you know someone who has been abused sexually. It’s just a good handbook for learning how to deal with people in the world with a level of honesty and respect – including how to treat yourself. If having this information available helps one person that’s worth the effort.

99 Tiny Stories to Make You Think – Just a reminder that there is kindness, compassion, and strength all around us.