the therapist
For a book that was published on a mainstream young adult list, Strong at the Heart is having a very interesting trajectory.
A friend just sent me a copy of a long review that was published in the current issue of The Therapist, the bi-monthly journal of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.
Since the book came out I’ve been hearing from therapists who have given it to clients–both young and old. So I am especially pleased about this review. One therapist told me that the photographs have a huge impact because they counter the fear and shame that keep so many people from being able to talk about their own experiences of sexual abuse. Another told me that she suggested a young client read Tammy’s story, but the girl chose to read Sheena’s instead because she thought Sheena was cool. The result was still what the therapist had hoped for, her client was able to talk first about Sheena’s experiences, then about her own.
When I first conceived the book, I saw it as a way for survivors to speak directly to other survivors–and I imagined this encounter happening anonymously in school and public libraries. That Strong is becoming a tool in therapists’ toolbox is a great bonus. It means that the stories reach even more readers.
Here’s the last paragraph of the review in The Therapist, by Carly Perlman, M.A., MFT:
“Strong at the Heart is a wonderful and empowering collection of survival experiences of sexual abuse. It should be included in the resources for young adults and adolescents who have struggled in recovery from sexual abuse. Any reader will likely see a part of their own experience reflected in one of the stories. It demonstrates the reality for survivors of sexual abuse: It isn’t an easy path of healing, but it is attainable.”
in person
One of many sweet encounters on my trip back east was breakfast with a reader who has been corresponding with me since shortly after the book came out. He and his wife took me out to breakfast the morning after I arrived in Burlington. Yes, his wife. He’s a grown man and a grandfather! We ended up in a rich three-hour-long conversation that spanned our many experiences and expanded my understanding of how profoundly the stories of Akaya, Jonathan, Tino, and the others affect the lives of people I never imagined when the project began.
