Created by psychotherapist Erika Shershun, "Healing Sexual Trauma Workbook: Somatic Skills to Help You Feel Safe in Your Body, Create Boundaries, and Live with Resilience" is a step-by-step guide to overcoming the psychological effects of sexual trauma.

As you can probably guess from the book's title, Shershun draws on the mind-body techniques of somatic therapy in developing this workbook. As she makes apparent early in the workbook, Shershun also draws upon her own healing experiences and the work that she did to overcoming the psychological effects of her own sexual trauma.

While "Healing Sexual Trauma Workbook" is noted as being a "step-by-step" guide, I couldn't help but feel throughout the workbook that it's best utilized by someone a little more advanced in the healing journey and truly ready to address mind-body techniques. While some survivors do, in fact, do this early in the journey others find it to be a later stage of healing. While I, like Shershun, have my own experiences with sexual assault and also spent time working in the mental health field (in my case crisis intervention), I at times felt like the language utilized in the workbook may not be easily understood by those early in a healing journey or those unfamiliar with therapeutic language. I also found that this language issue, on occasion, altered the tone of the workbook as Shershun altered between light self-revelation to warm encourager to what could likely be considered a more sterile clinical approach. There are, of course, places for all of these in the therapeutic relationship but it comes off differently with the written word.

There's no denying that Shershun has crafted a valuable workbook of practical, safe to explore exercises within one's personal network of friends and home. While these types of workbooks are ideally suited to those with healthy supportive and/or therapeutic relationships, the simple truth is that not all survivors of sexual trauma choose to or have access to these types of relationships and this workbook provides "at your pace" guidance for healing skills one can explore at home.

For the most part, Shershun chooses her self-revelation well and offers glimpses into her own journey without making the "Healing Sexual Trauma Workbook" ultimately about her. While much of this type of work I've done, it's valuable work that can be revisited whenever new challenges along the healing journey arise. Generally speaking, Shershun makes it clear that while this is a step-by-step guide, sometimes our healing journey calls us to move a few steps ahead or behind. Only once did I find her contradicting her own guidance in that she encouraged people to not move forward as "we're not ready for that yet" despite earlier having stated we could work ahead if we felt ready or a need for a particular step or area of work.

"Healing Sexual Trauma Workbook" is a valuable tool for the healing toolbox that will be an important aid for survivors of sexual trauma. While all survivors can benefit from work around mind-body, especially in the area of sexual trauma, those who embrace the mind-body journey will likely most resonate with Shershun's work here.

This is a resource I will undoubtedly refer to again. In fact, I plan to read through it again at a survivor's pace rather than for the contemplation of review. This is a book I want to see if I can lean into more fully as I incorporate Shershun's knowledge and wisdom into my continued healing journey of healthy integration of my mind and body and my life experiences including sexual trauma.

Brand	N/A
Rating	4.7 (275 ratings)
Price	$21.61
Category	Abuse