I just read an excellent book on healing from abuse. It’s called Mending the Soul - Understanding and Healing Abuse by Steven R. Tracy. Mr. Tracy is a professor at the Phoenix Seminary. He and his wife founded Mending the Soul Ministries and have counseled many abuse survivors over the years.

What I like about this book is the author's brutal honesty. Tracy makes no qualms about discussing how rampant abuse is across the globe, in all cultures - including Christian ones. He addresses the problem of abuse in the church and how it is covered up. He admonishes pastors and laypeople who blame abuse survivors or minimize the abuse they‘ve suffered. In his book, he counsels church leaders on how to properly handle survivors and abusers.

He also offers advice to survivors for recovery. His advice is Biblical, although it contradicts many conventional Christian ideas, which are the ones that caused the problem in the first place. Many Christians are misinterpreting or even ignoring scripture and allowing abuse to continue in their communities. I believe Tracy holds a correct view of the scriptures and knows how to apply them to the issue of abuse. He validates the survivors’ feelings, while placing full responsibility on the abusers for their behavior. He demands that abusers repent of their wickedness and discusses the punishment they’ll receive if they do not.

He tells us how to pray for the abusers of our past. I have found this method to give me peace of mind when I am angry with my past abusers. He briefly touches on boundary setting with abusers. This book is geared toward an audience that is dealing with past abuse, not present abuse.

In his final chapter, the author discusses the different types of forgiveness, and advises victims to only utilize one particular type, which does not involve reconciliation with the abuser, or failing to hold the abuser responsible for his actions. He understands that forgiveness is a process that takes time, and warns against the perils of premature forgiveness.

In order to employ the methods discussed in this book for your abuse recovery, I’d advise working with a therapist, as you’ll have to dig up past abuse experiences. I also recommend taking caution while reading this book, as it has a lot of triggering material. Tracy discusses child sexual abuse in great length, and tells stories that are disturbing. I think he does this to make everyone see how horrible abuse is so that people will stop minimizing it. Overall, I am quite pleased with the book and I’d recommend it to anyone who has endured any type of abuse.