The subtitle is "Going Beyond Self-Hate: A compassionate process for learning to accept yourself exactly as you are."
This book was recommended to me by one of my mentors, Dr. Scott Walker, and I'm so glad I read it. It was a quick, easy read that has become another experiment for me.
We all struggle with self-doubt, and as a practitioner who's blessed to be entrusted with my patients' deepest secrets, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that all of us have asked the question at some point in our lives, "What's wrong with me?" We judge ourselves, abuse ourselves, sell ourselves short... EVEN ME... and this book is an excellent education in how to stop these sabotaging behaviors. We are all taught as children to be "good." But in our attempts to be "good," we abandon our own needs and emotions, perceiving them as "bad." We punish ourselves. We hate ourselves. And that hatred extends outwards from us to those around us.
In this book, you'll learn how helping others can even be a form of self-abuse, and when we are abusing ourselves, the last thing we should be doing is helping others... Instead of coming from a position of abundance and love, we come from a place of lack and fear which breeds anger and resentment. What good is it to help others if it just leaves you feeling angry and resentful at the end of the day? How can you positively influence the world in that state? Is that really being a "good person?"
This book showed me how to love myself in a deeper way than had ever occurred to me before. What's really incredible to me is what I have noticed as I have conducted this experiment... I'm doing things better than ever! My thoughts are clearer, my body more coordinated... and I can't help but think of a child who has been knocked down with insults day after day, who starts to embody those insults... When we show that child love and acceptance, they begin to shine. Based on my experience, I believe the inner child is the same way.
