It Happened to Me: A Teen's Guide to Overcoming Sexual Abuse

Rating:
Summary: "It Happened" helped me
Review: I am a teenager and read this book because a friend recommended it to me. She had read about it in Seventeen magazine and knew that it related to some things I've been through. The exercises made me think about the past in a good way - a way that helped me see that I can be a good person no matter what I've been through. The psychologist who wrote this book knows teenagers. I felt like he knew me and knew just what I needed to work through my issues. Also, I loved the quotes from teenagers that were scattered through the book. If you need help working through sexual abuse, It Happened To Me can help you too.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: This workbook is a MUST. It is a workbook related to abuse and can help anyone who has been through trauma and going through the healing process. I have done some of the exercises by myself and some in a small group. I strongly recommend this workbook. I have a hard time putting the book down between exercises, because I truely feel that this book is helping me cope.

Rating:
Summary: All teen and young adult survivors need this workbook
Review: This workbook is just excellent! I have trouble putting it down! It manages to be relevant to a wide variety of teens, without being too technical, too cutesy, or too preachy. Each exercise is short (2-3 pages) but challenging. There are also quotes from teen survivors and sidebars that point out problem behaviors common in abuse survivors without being judgmental. As a college student, I'm a little too old to be the intended audience of this book (all the teens mentioned in here are between the ages of 13-18), but as someone who still has to deal with her parents on a regular basis, I appreciated that lots of the exercises here dealt with family matters under the assumption that you're still living and dealing with your family, something that's not in many of the adult books. Guys might not like that pretty much all the pronouns are "she" and "her", but otherwise it's still a very relevant book for every teen survivor. It can be completed by yourself, in a group, or as part of therapy. Topics covered include emotions and emotional manipulation, keeping secrets, impulsive behaviors, how to get along with other people, sex, suicide, and commitment to recovery. The emphasis is not on "name your disorder" but on returning to emotional health. Even if you have to make a secret trip to the bookstore and hide this book in the back of your closet, it's worth it.