cover image Strong at the Broken Places: Overcoming the Trauma of Childhood Abuse

Strong at the Broken Places: Overcoming the Trauma of Childhood Abuse

Linda Tschirhart Sanford. Random House (NY), $18.95 (191pp) ISBN 978-0-394-56563-7

Sanford, a Massachusetts psychotherapist who since 1973 has counseled adults who were victims of childhood violence, here counters the conventional wisdom that such people are forever ``doomed to be damaged goods.'' She convincingly argues that her clients differ little from others in therapy who were not traumatized as children and presents case histories of 20 adults, all of whom experienced some form of childhood trauma--abuse or neglect--yet were able through various paths to turn their hurts into assets. Sanford stresses that her findings belie the myth that survivors of childhood abuse invariably become abusive parents themselves, repeating patterns of self-destruction. Readers will find this a hopeful, helpful guide to overcoming post-traumatic disorders. Author tour. (June)