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Acknowledgments | |
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Dedications | |
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Special Pages | |
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Introduction | |
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About Language | |
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Where Am I Right Now? | |
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What It Will Feel Like to Use This Book | |
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About the Exercises in this Book | |
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Writing as a Healing Tool | |
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About Freewriting | |
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Art as a Healing Tool | |
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About Making Collages | |
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Survival Skills for Healing | |
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Creating Safety | |
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The Five Building Blocks of Safety | |
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Create Ground Rules | |
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Build a Container | |
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Find a Safe Spot | |
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Establish Your Privacy | |
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Establish a Protective Ritual | |
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Building Your Support System | |
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Creating a Support System | |
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Helps and Hindrances to Healing | |
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Therapists and Therapy | |
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Dealing With Crisis | |
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When I'm Lost and Scared | |
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Phone List for Hard Times | |
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When I Start to Panic | |
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Things I Can Do When I'm Overwhelmed | |
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Dealing with Suicidal Feelings | |
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My Suicide Prevention Plan | |
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The Emergency Stage | |
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Simplify Your Life | |
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Ask for Help | |
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Create a Light at the End of the Tunnel | |
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Nurturing Yourself | |
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Learning to Nurture Yourself | |
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Marking the Way | |
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Marking the Way: A Writing Exercise | |
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What Have I Already Accomplished? | |
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Celebrating Your Accomplishments | |
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Taking Stock | |
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Where did I Come From? | |
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When I Was Growing Up | |
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Name the Abuser | |
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The Effects: How did it Change My Life? | |
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Assessing the Damage | |
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Identifying My Strengths | |
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Activity: Picturing the Effects | |
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Putting the Abuse in Perspective | |
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Coping: How did I Survive? | |
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Identifying Coping Mechanisms | |
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Forgiving Yourself | |
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The Pros and Cons of Coping Behaviors | |
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Developing Healthier Ways of Coping | |
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Aspects of Healing | |
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The Decision to Heal | |
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Preparing for Change | |
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Facing an Uncertain Future | |
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Willingness | |
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About Courage | |
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Activity: Designing a Warrior Mask | |
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Expanding Your Capacity for Hope | |
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Putting Hope Aside: A Writing Exercise | |
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My Hopes Today | |
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Making Hopes Come True | |
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Remembering | |
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What Is a Memory? | |
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Piecing Together the Puzzle | |
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If You Don't Remember | |
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What Am I Afraid Of? | |
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Activity: Picturing | |
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Believing it Happened | |
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I Don't Want to Believe It | |
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Research Your Childhood | |
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Breaking Silence | |
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Why Tell? | |
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Simple Telling or Confrontation? | |
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Childhood Lessons: Silence | |
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If You Told | |
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A Few Choice Words on Telling the Truth | |
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Guidelines for Telling | |
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Understanding that it Wasn't Your Fault | |
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Letting Go of Shame | |
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Identifying Hidden Shame | |
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Replacing Shame with Reality | |
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Observing Children | |
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Evidence of Childhood | |
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The Child Within | |
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Activity: Picturing the Child Within | |
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Letter to an Abused Child: A Writing Exercise | |
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Learning to Trust Yourself | |
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Being Present | |
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Internalized Messages | |
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The Inner Voice | |
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Learning to Say No | |
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Saying No: A Writing Exercise | |
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Grieving and Mourning | |
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Naming Your Losses: A Writing Exercise | |
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Activity: Creating a Grieving Ritual | |
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Anger | |
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Anger Inventory | |
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Fear of Anger | |
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Letters to an Abuser: A Pair of Writing Exercises | |
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Anger into Action | |
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Activity: The Banner Project | |
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Forgiveness? | |
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Confrontations | |
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What Have I Done Already? | |
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Should I Confront? | |
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Vanquishing Secret Hopes | |
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Making a Confrontation Plan | |
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After the Confrontation | |
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The Other Eulogy: A Writing Exercise | |
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Dealing with Your Family Now | |
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What Is a Family? | |
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Evaluating My Family of Origin | |
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Redefining Family | |
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Looking at Individual Relationships | |
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Setting the Ground Rules | |
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Planning for Family Contact | |
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Developing Realistic Expectations | |
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Giving Up the Fantasy: A Writing Exercise | |
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Letting Go: An Activity | |
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Enjoying Your New Family: A Writing Exercise | |
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Resolution and Moving on | |
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How Far Have I Come? A Writing Exercise | |
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Why Has It Been Worth It? | |
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Tooting Your Own Horn | |
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Things I Like About Myself | |
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Things I've Dreamed of Doing and Becoming | |
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Activity: Creating a Celebration Ritual | |
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Guidelines for Healing Sexually | |
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For Whom Am I Doing This? | |
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What Is Sex? | |
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What Is Sex? (Part II) | |
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Sexual Ground Rules | |
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Safe Sex Guidelines | |
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Activity: Massaging Hands | |
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Sexual Hopes: A Writing Exercise | |
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Resources | |
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Organizations | |
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Healing Books | |