Allies in Healing: When the Person You Love Is a Survivor of Child Sexual Abuse

"But what about me?"
"Is it possible to go one day without dealing with the survivor's issues?"
"Will we ever make love again?"
"Will the survivor love me in the end?"
"How do I know if I should throw in the towel?"

Based on in-depth interviews and her workshops for partners across the country, Laura Davis offers practical advice and encouragement to all partners--girlfriends, boyfriends, spouses, and lovers--trying to support the survivors in their lives while tending to their own needs along the way. She shows couples how to deepen compassion, improve communication, and develop an understanding of healing as a shared activity. Addressing partners' most important questions, Allies in Healing covers:

• The Basics--answers common questions about sexual abuse.
• Allies in Healing--introduces key concepts of working and growing together.
• My Needs and Feelings--teaches partners to recognize, value, and express their own needs.
• Dealing with Crisis--includes strategies for handling suicidal feelings, regression, and hopelessness.
• Intimacy and Communication--offers practical advice on dealing with distancing, control, trust, and fighting.
• Sex--provides guidelines for coping with flashbacks, lack of desire, differences in sexual needs, and frustration.
• Family lssues--suggests a range of ideas for interacting with the survivor's family.
• Partners' Stories--explores the struggles, triumphs, and courage of eight partners.

Laura Davis is the author of The Courage to Heal Workbook, Allies in Healing, Becoming the Parent You Want to Be, and I Thought We'd Never Speak Again. She teaches writing and lives with her family in Santa Cruz, California.