Common Shock: Witnessing Violence Every Day--How We Are Harmed, How We Can Heal

Rating:
Summary: A powerful resource for healing connections
Review: Having heard a moving interview with Diane Rehn of NPR, I bought Dr.Weingartens book. The book lived up to and beyond my expectations. Ditto to the 2 reviews above. I'm a pastoral psychotherapist, and bought it to help me in my work. It's also helped me personally and I've recommended it to clients, patients, relatives and friends. Besides addressing everyday violence, it addresses the "shock" of chronic illness, and dying... and the potential harmful effect of not communicating in these crises, as well as insight and practical examples modeling ways to do so. There is so much sensitivity and insight in its pages, that I look forward to reading it again.

Rating:
Summary: A Book for All of Us
Review: I read this book to help me in my work as a psychotherapist and a nurse, but I found that it helped me most in the work of living-- of befriending, parenting, loving. I have now shared the book with those I work with and live with and they are sharing it with others because they agree that, as the author says, we are all affected by this- witnessing of violence- and we can all do something about it in a way that will help not only ourselves but others. Weingarten shows us how to recognize and resist the insidious effects of the culture of violence, but more importantly, she shows us how to turn it around. We can change our ways of witnessing, acting, and joining with others. Too long and too often I have felt torn between being a guilty bystander and an ineffective protester. The gift of this book is that a new way is now opened; reasonable, respectful, and healing.

Rating:
Summary: We Can Make a Difference
Review: This is a superb book that makes it extremely clear that witnessing violence and violation is a huge problem, not just for individuals and families, but also for communities and nations. The book covers much upsetting territory, but it gives you ways to manage it all along the way, so that you can handle what's really painful. The book combines academic rigor with touching stories, so that it is a page-turner. I was moved by the author's personal sharing, which is somewhat unusual for a scholar. I definitely felt hopeful after reading it. The book allows me, and I think it will other readers, to be much clearer about how to take care of myself and also what I could do to feel less helpless in the face of all the violence in the world. I am left with a feeling that I can make a difference.

Rating:
Summary: We Can Make a Difference
Review: This is a superb book that makes it extremely clear that witnessing violence and violation is a huge problem, not just for individuals and families, but also for communities and nations. The book covers much upsetting territory, but it gives you ways to manage it all along the way, so that you can handle what's really painful. The book combines academic rigor with touching stories, so that it is a page-turner. I was moved by the author's personal sharing, which is somewhat unusual for a scholar. I definitely felt hopeful after reading it. The book allows me, and I think it will other readers, to be much clearer about how to take care of myself and also what I could do to feel less helpless in the face of all the violence in the world. I am left with a feeling that I can make a difference.