The Sexual Healing Journey: A Guide for Survivors of Sexual Abuse, 3rd Edition

The book arrived packaged well and on time. I give the seller 5 stars. My rating for the book is 2 stars. I couldn’t get through it. There’s stories of abuse on (no exaggeration) every page. I would have preferred if the stories were set as their own paragraph so I could skip through it to get to the learning lesson, but they’re interwoven into the text. There are a few valuable aspects, but realistically, it was too difficult for me to read constant stories of abuse and rape to even absorb any of the ideas regarding healing and/or helping others to heal.

This is an excellent book, and 95% of it is very useful and helpful, an excellent resource. There are a few tiny sections that still need to be updated to reflect contemporary understanding of sex positivity - "Healthy sex" has to be qualified and not just assumed to be a certain type of sex (monogamous, vanilla, etc.). It's okay for people to be 'promiscuous' (the phrase is now sexually robust), watch porn, make porn, partake in BDSM, and do all kinds of fun things. None of those things is inherently harmful or 'unhealthy.' We need to explore sexual practices without judgment, and then learn about ourselves when they are hurtful because of non-connection or fun and light because of non-connection, reenacting trauma in a retraumatizing way or trauma reenacting in a reparative way, when sex is coming from a place of disgust or shame, and when it is a manifestation of lust and/or love. There's no quantifying that, no right or wrong, it's different for everyone, and when we don't make space for robustness, we're passively slut-shaming.Other than those parts - and really it's just a handful of paragraphs that that happens - this is a fantastic book.

Warning: THIS IS VERY TRIGGERINGThis book is to ONLY be read when you are in the right frame of mind and head space- as someone who has training, and education in therapy, and who has dealt with trauma personally, it was even tough for me to get through. However it is well worth it.

I wanted to wait a while and make a thorough review. For starters this was a big step in the right direction buying this book. I love how the book doesn't dwell on the acts in a forthright way, but gently talks about sensitive matters. This is important for me as I have gone to counseling and felt that I was regurgitating the past to my therapist with the same apathetic expression. It just made me feel like I was their two o clock till the next which is how no one wants to feel. In no way am I advocating for no therapy but this book made me feel like I wasn't alone and I needed that. The problems in this book were spot on and I cried because I felt that the healing could finally begin. I will say that nothing beats having a good support system, so if you have family and friends this will help a lot. It was time to be honest and conquer the hurt that I was running away from. So if you decide to purchase this book, know that you will find something worth looking forward to.

Interesting insight to the mental strain on people. It expanded my definition of sexual abuse and the damage that can and does occur. I would recommend it to everyone who thinks they are old enough for a sexual relationship. There is a lot of brutal true of how sex is used so wrongly by so many. There are elements of this damage in "healthy" marital relationships. The book makes me more considerate of my spouse. I also have three daughters and it provides for more information so I can better education them about the negative, and if protected very positive side of sex.

I wish I had known of this book years ago. Maltz has a perfect understanding of sexual abuse issues and provides guidance and techniques that will really help you heal. I suffered all sorts of sexual abuse~longterm child sexual abuse by a parent, sexual harassment at school and work, acquaintance sexual assault by lesbians, sexual abuse within a relationship. I've had to re-define sex, change how I think about everything, learn to handle triggers, and re-learn boundaries and assertiveness. I learned the hard way that you cannot force yourself to heal and that you must listen to yourself. I also learned that you can't do it all alone~some of it must be done with a loving, kind, respectful partner who is willing to work with you. After my first abusive relationship, I considered being alone for the rest of my life, but I held onto hope and courage. Being in a healthy relationship seemed impossible. This book helped me make it real.

Great read and very informative!

Lots of triggering material in this book, every page has personal patient accounts of different types of abuse with the intention, I think, to be relatable but it really just made me uncomfortable most of the time and ashamed that my kind of trauma experience was not talked about at all (do not have full clear memories of the abuse or who did it...maybe because I was so young or my brain has blocked it out, repression and confusion about accepting that it had happened) . I bought this book to try and start to understand my trauma and find ways to heal and cope but this book really did very little to help me find actual tools to help cope. It’s kind of the mindset, “try to forget the past, choose happiness”. I’m glad that books like this exists and help some people, but it did not help me.

This book means well but it should come with a trigger warning. It describes different ways people have been abused pretty much every other sentence. It's very hard to get to practical advice without becoming overwhelmed with very difficult emotions. I can see it might be helpful to councillors who can pass on filtered advice... There is no Councillor or therapist I know who would ever share insight in this way with abuse survivors. I have learnt that part of healing is sticking with triggers and processing emotions.. But this book was very quickly overwhelmingly difficult to access and not one I would recommend.

This book should absolutely not be for sale.Is it kind of joke?I mean it can mess up someone’s mind forever.Why does the author thinks that there is a need for sordid/horrendous details of someones sexual abuse is beyond me.For God sake, I mean i really do not want to know how somebody was sexually abused, I purchased this book in order to heal my past and move forward, but i just got rid of the book. It’s evil.The lady who wrote it is sick and twisted human being.

I chose to buy this book after reading all the reviews. Coming across this book has been extremely helpful. It helped me understand that my feelings are pretty normal after the sexual abuse and to help try to over come them. Reading through the book I made notes and re-read them several times. A very in-depth book with graphic details I can relate to. I have been a victim of adult grooming and sexual abuse. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has experienced sexual abuse.

This is by far one if not the only best book that is written on sexual healing and how negative sexual experiences and those of abuse and rape cause injuries to sexuality. Well written, sensitive, supportive and truly insightful. It has an amazing table to compare healthy sexuality to the abusive mindset which is reinforced in society and adds to the detrimental conditioning and confusion. It is none judgemental, full of empathy and touches upon numerous aspects that affects survivors but also acknowledges that negative sexual experiences need healing. It reinforces that healthy sex is full of respect and boundaries and heart-core not hardcore. It presents case studies of actual survivors and includes all genders. An exercise can be found on trying to realise triggers. It helps to identify the impact things cause and provides an ample list of the different ways. It helps to recognise the hurt, reclaim sexuality, gaining control over automatic reactions, creating new meaning to sex, finding the real sexual self, moving towards healthy behaviours, healing with an intimate partner and techniques to reclaim touch both on own or with other. It is the best guide for survivors of sexual abuse. It is worth every penny and a book that will transform your life and offer you all the understanding, support and knowledge needed. I can't praise it enough. A heaven sent gift. Would purchase it again and again. Wendy Maltz, is also a sex therapist and as wrote many other groundbreaking books. She also has a website: HealthySex.com

I have used this as a counsellor to encourage clients to explore the impact of their childhood sexual abuse and to promote their recovery. Wendy Maltz does a thorough job of helping people understand what constitutes sexual abuse, it's impact on the sexual self and explains clearly how to heal from the damage done to create a new whole sexual self. It also helps partners to make sense of things in a way that encourages them to support healing and work together with the survivor. My clients have found this a really useful book.