Secret Survivors

Rating:
Summary: Not Totally Accurate
Review: Although this book is helpful and accurate on many levels, there are a few areas where the book is inaccurate. It states that alters form and die and new alters form. This is not accurate. Each alter is part of the personality and they do not die. They may go further back into the recesses of the mind but each alter is vital for healing and living. Each alter has part of a life - there is only one body but the psyche is broken in pieces. When healing takes place, each alters talents and abilities is vital to co-consciousness or integration. The other inaccuracy is the use of the term MPD. At the time of this book's publication the DSM IV was out and MPD was renamed Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). This "disorder" is a coping mechanism and not a personality disorder.

Rating:
Summary: Not Totally Accurate
Review: Although this book is helpful and accurate on many levels, there are a few areas where the book is inaccurate. It states that alters form and die and new alters form. This is not accurate. Each alter is part of the personality and they do not die. They may go further back into the recesses of the mind but each alter is vital for healing and living. Each alter has part of a life - there is only one body but the psyche is broken in pieces. When healing takes place, each alters talents and abilities is vital to co-consciousness or integration. The other inaccuracy is the use of the term MPD. At the time of this book's publication the DSM IV was out and MPD was renamed Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). This "disorder" is a coping mechanism and not a personality disorder.

Rating:
Summary: One of the most helpful books I have read on the subjecr
Review: As a sexual abuse survivor, I have quite a library of similar books. This book is the most comprehensive and compassionate I have read. It includes a checklist of common aftereffects of abuse, and discusses all of them in depth. It also includes a section for partners.

Rating:
Summary: Should rate 10+ stars
Review: As a survivor of incest I was interested in seeing other views on the topic. This is how I came to read Secret Survivors. I read the book with a highlighting marker in hand so I could mark any passage that might relate to me and my situation or anything I could understand. Not halfway through I had gone through 3 highlighting markers and had to switch to pen. Her accounts and research is so acurate it is eerie and painful at times to read. When people ask me about my own feelings on my past I tell them to understand what I went through they should read this book. IF ANYONE WANTS TO REALLY UNDERSTAND THE VICTIM OF INCEST, THIS IS TRULY THE BEST BOOK ON THE TOPIC. NOT ONLY DOES THIS BOOK HELP YOU UNDERSTAND BUT IT IS A VERY HEALING AND INSIGHTFUL BOOK! Ms. Blume really deserves an award for the effort and the trueness of her book. --C.J. Wilkes-- Author of "Daddy, I Forgive You"

Rating:
Summary: Why didn't someone give me this book years ago?
Review: I am a no nonsense person, as I believe most survivors turn out to be. Secret Survivors is a no nonsense book - to the point. This is not for the squeamish. Also, I don't believe this is the first book a survivor should read. I think it's better to walk in gently, even if you are in therapy. Books like "The Courage To Heal" are good for anyone no matter what the depth of the abuse may have been. Secret Survivors gets to the heart of every issue. You will see yourself, feel yourself, watch yourself, cry for yourself and finally relax knowing you're not crazy, this did happen, and you can have a life after your insanity. The journey through this book is magnificent. I have just recommended it to a therapist who is starting a practice to work with abuse victims. It would have been worth many more dollars to me just based on the questions and answers it provided. YOU ARE WORTH THE TIME IT TAKES TO READ THIS BOOK, but don't be surprised if you are a bit withdrawn as you make your way through it. It takes your breath away!!!!

Rating:
Summary: A great first book to read
Review: I have been looking for this exact type of book for many, many years. Other books (which I bet I have read most of them)just did not really help me like this one. Secret Survivors explains every tiny aspect of how YOU were effected by this type of abuse. I could not believe that after so many years that I found this one. I can not stress enough to those of you who have been abused as a child by a close family member, how much this book has helped ME to understand ME. This is a perfect first book to read to help in the healing process of recovering from this type of abuse. One important fact while reading this book, I realized just how awful the abuse was (reality) - This was my breaking point of recovery. Thanks Sue Blume

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: I have read two books that has helped me to begin healing in a way I never thought was possible. Under the shame of child incest, I hid it in many ways even from myself. However I found "SECRET SURVIVOR" and "NIGHTMARES ECHO". Between these two wonderful books I have found the courage to stand up and out against child sexual abuse. I hope that you will find the help you need as well.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent, comprehensive description of the survivor
Review: I recommend this book very highly. It has really helped me to accept and personally verify my own past and painful experiences. A definite MUST on one's path of self-healing and discovery!!

Rating:
Summary: Read it once. Then read it again.
Review: Read this book. If you are a survivor, or the partner or non-offending parent of a survivor, a sibling or a friend, this book provides powerful insight that can only enhance the healing process. I have now read it twice, and only got more out of it the second time. I did so much reading when I was first in recovery, 12 years ago, that I forgot where I learned what. I now know that the roots of my healing and the basis for the healthy, fulfilling relationships I have today can be attributed, primarily, to the truly valuable, readable and useful information in Secret Survivors. Read it once. Then read it again. You will not be sorry.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent presentation of a difficult topic.
Review: Secret Survivors is an extraordinarily compassionate and insightful book covering everything from impact on survivors and family dynamics to what is required for healing from incest. Not only is it an excellent resource, it's a pleasure to read in spite of the subject matter because of Blume's eloquent writing. I think Secret Survivors is a must read for anyone healing from or treating survivors of incest.