|
Gifts
From
The Child Within
This book was a labor
of love. It contains much of my life's work while practicing psychospiritual counseling for those whose journey brought them to my
office. Gifts From the Child Within will always be a book
close to my heart for in it are unique stories of lives in recovery. All
the experiences related in this book are true, the names have been altered
to protect the anonymity of those who shared their stories. As I shared
my own childhood story of abuse, my life became intertwined with those
who entrusted their stories with me. It is a book of healing and of reclaiming
self-empowerment. As author and spiritual teacher Dr. Joan Borysenko wrote
so graciously for the cover:
Gifts From the Child Within is more than a
well-written, well-researched guide to recovery from our childhood wounds.
It is an exciting adventure in psychospiritual growth based on inner
wisdom exercises that are a powerful addition to the archives of healing.
Allow yourself the gift of reading
this warm guiding book and touch the magic of your own child within. The
format of this workbook includes Affirmations, Exercises, Autohypnosis
or Visualizations, and several blank pages at the end of each Chapter
for Journaling. Again, the brilliant cover art was provided by my sister,
Paula Slater. (www.paulaslater.com)
The young girl who posed for the artwork is my daughter when she was ten
years old. I actually have this large colorful oil painting hanging in my
home.
Gifts
From the Child Within contains eleven Chapters and a heartfelt
Foreword by a dear friend Dr. Lavona Stillman. My book was fully blessed
when she touched it with her caring and sensitive words, "….Barbara
has shown us how to get in touch with and love our child within; release
negative emotions; re-create childhood beliefs and experiences; and to
look further, in recognition of all the gifts the child within has for
those of us who have the courage and wisdom to look within."
Click to listen to a "teaser" of me reading
an excerpt
from
Gifts From the Child Within
Click on the link to read my
recent Interview - March 2009
The latest Reviews!
"Gifts from The Child Within is a very refreshing and thorough book
written for survivors of abuse, counselors, and those just trying to
understand family and friends who are victims or survivors. Sinor, with
her own personal experience and excellent skill in writing, makes you feel
as if you are taking a journey through yourself with self-discovery as
well as healing. She has written this book in a workbook form as well to
aide the reader through this journey of discovery and healing smoothly and
responsibly. She makes the reader work through their own abusive memories
of childhood by reading and noting steps for healing in one very easy
unique transition. In Gifts from The Child Within, you are not only
re-living the traumatic aspect of your childhood, it is done in a way that
you are able to understand many feelings and issues that you may not have
been aware of in your life today on a daily basis.
For my own experience or journey through this workbook, it was like an
awakening into the very soul of my being. I not only learned of things or
actions in my daily life today, I was able to understand where “they” came
from and why, as well as understood these in a new light. As well, I
myself have learned the techniques that Sinor suggests, explains, and
walks you through. This book is a very handy tool for anyone who has
suffered any kind of childhood abuse, be it physically or emotionally as
they both set very deep scars within ourselves that at times cause us to
act or re-act in childish ways with or without a conscious awareness. This
workbook will awaken you to your own child within and teaches you how to
become aware of when he or she is acting out, or up, in a situation. You
learn to reel-in that child and teach him, or her, a more responsible way
to act or re-act by learning to change the outcome of those abusive
memories into positive memories either by a self-hypnotic state and/or the
process of Re-Creation Therapy.
I recommend Gifts from The Child Within to anyone who has been abused
in their childhood, friends and family of those abused, counselors,
therapists and the like who desire to learn, understand and aide one
through their journey and enlightenment. It is surely one you will not
forget; in truth, though the tools you learn you would not wish to forget
as they walk you through victim to “The Present and Beyond” safely and
with forgiveness and a self-knowledge. It will enable you to watch and
control how one acts and re-acts in many situations throughout life with
relationships, work, school and just daily emotions that come up. Thank
you Barbara Sinor for this wonderful workbook and the smooth
understandable read, as it is not filled with technical terms but with
understanding, sincerity and a desire to help all of us that share this
walk."
Reviewed
by Elizabeth E.Gibson-Evans for RebeccasReads (2/08) (At the bottom of
this page is a podcast audio of parts of this
healing book. Just click on the start button and enjoy.)
" Gifts From the Child Within took me some time to review
because at first the therapy put forth not only takes time to work
through, but I also wanted to see how I felt after completing the book.
As a survivor of severe childhood abuse, both sexual and physical;
combined with neglect, poverty, and abandonment; I have sought out help
for the last twenty years. How does one heal a wound so deep? Medication
and drugs are not the answer, you must be healed with the mind. I've
tried hypnosis, counseling, books, biofeedback, meditation, group
counseling, and more. Although I function in society, getting past abuse
has been a lifelong struggle for me.
I really felt like Dr. Sinor has an exceptional insight into the mind of
abuse survivors, and her book, Gifts From the Child Within can be
especially helpful to abuse survivors. She focuses heavily on
Re-Creation Therapy, her own form of therapy where you get to know the
inner child that you once were by creating a dialogue and
recalling/recreating memories of your childhood. You learn how the inner
child has been guiding your life. Emotional trauma endured in childhood
so often controls our lifestyles, thoughts, and actions as adults.
Rather than letting your childhood trauma continue to disrupt the rest
of your life, Dr. Sinor teaches that you can live a conscious, creative,
and productive life, and get to know your true self. She utilizes
journaling, meditation, biofeedback, and of course education to help
ground her readers into a brighter frame of mind. This book has been a
true gift.
This is one of the best recovery books I have ever read. She gradually
introduced new concepts, while keeping the reader engaged, learning, and
healing. If you are dealing with childhood abuse issues as an adult, get
this book now and start the healing process."
Reviewed
on
LibraryThing.com by a professional reviewer ( Feb. 2008)
Interview with Dr.
Sinor by Tyler
Tichelaar of Reader Views click here:
For a newer audio Interview
with Dr. Sinor,
click here:
**The above Audio Interview
can also be heard on these web sites: InsideScoopLive.com; ITunes!com;
BlogTalkRadio.com;
ReadersView.com; and, thirty other podcast directories.
"This is a wonderful book, Dr. Sinor has put years and
years of research and her
own work into this."
---Juanita Watson, Host of Inside Scoop Live
What Experts Say About
Gifts From The Child Within
“This is indeed a valuable self-help book and a tool for the Counselor,
Hypnotherapist, Minister, Psychotherapist, or Clinician. I assure you, the
world will look much brighter after you read this book.” ~Lavona Stillman,
PhD, CC, HT
“Barbara Sinor has written a book that will help the violated and
traumatized child within to heal. Gifts From The Child Within helps
guide survivors with repressed memories of trauma, as well as those with
current memories of incest, through the healing process.” ~Marilyn Van Derbur, Miss America 1958, Founder: Survivor’s United Network
“Barbara Sinor has bridged the gap for clients and therapists alike
between the mere discovery of the inner child and the building of a true
relationship with this most important being within. Gifts From The Child
Within is an important and highly readable work.” ~Rick Boyes, M. Coun,
CHT, Author A Body To Die For
“Gifts From The Child Within is a wonderful book that takes the
reader on a journey into the soul. Flowing and readable, this book is
filled with stories, myths, information, and revelation.” ~Marilyn
Gordon, CHT, Author Healing is Remembering Who You Are
"Part of what makes recovery books useful for so many people is the
array of diverse approaches offered in the self-help genre. In Gifts
From the Child Within Dr. Sinor shares her own story and unique
vantage point in exercises and affirmations that seek to rework, rewrite,
and re-create past, hurtful experiences that may interfere with
present-day living." ~Nancy J. Napier, M.A., MFCC, Author,
Recreating Yourself and Getting Through the Day
Excerpts
from Chapter 5 --"Mirror, Mirror on the Wall"
Spiritual Reflections
As stated earlier, self-awareness
is the giant first step in healing and recovery. Looking into that mirror
on the wall may be scary for it risks the possibility of discovering negative
traits in yourself. Whatever you discover, see it clearly then instruct
yourself to become aware of all the positive qualities you possess and
acknowledge and appreciate them. True self-acceptance can come only after
you have looked yourself straight in the mirror. Self-acceptance and appreciation
is the important second step to establishing self-esteem and a positive
self-image.
The steps then to a healthy self-concept and self-esteem are:
1. Self-awareness
2. Self-acceptance and self-appreciation
3. Taking responsibility for your actions, and
4. Acting responsible toward others
These guidelines, and a desire to grow in this
spiritual manner, invite a healthy self-image, as well as, a sense of
spiritual growth perhaps not yet experienced. Author, doctor, spiritual
seeker and teacher M. Scott Peck once stated that spiritual growth is
the evolution of consciousness. He spoke of how over ninety percent of
our actions are driven by our unconscious or subconscious mind and to
be fully conscious of who we are we must bring our conscious and unconscious
minds into synchronism. Peck goes on to say that he feels so much of our
beingness is unconscious because this is where we are connected to our
God. "We no longer need to search outside ourselves for God. We need
not strive to become "one with God" because we already are.
We no longer need to assume our evolutionary goal is to ultimately "unite"
with God. Our true-Self is God. What then is our spiritual goal? The goal
is to be more like God while we are conscious." In other words, after
inner deliberation we can make conscious choices and decisions. This is
as close to God/Goddess/All That Is as we can get.
Excerpts
from Chapter 6 --"From Victim To Victory"
Victims No More
If you are a victim of childhood
abuse as I and my sisters were, you are a "survivor." Much has
been written about child abuse and the survivors of it. This is only the
beginning of the battle to enlighten those who are unaware while supporting
those who are choosing to inspire changes. Statistics show us that our
nation ranks high in the incidence of child abuse. This sad fact coupled
with our nation's heavy addiction to alcohol, medication, and drug use
clearly points to the imperative need for an in-depth look at our societal
profile.
We have all been victims in childhood. The important point to remember
and take action upon is how, as adults, we have the tools and the personal
power to choose to stop being victimized by others, or society. Let us
stand tall and proclaim we will be "victims no more" nor allow
our children to be. Let us heal ourselves and let go of our own victimhood,
thereby instructing society that we will not tolerate the abuse and mistreatment
of our children any longer.
 Gift From Within
- Book Review
An International
Nonprofit Organization for Survivors of Trauma and Victimization
Anything that has real and lasting value is always a gift from
within
Franz Kafka~
Gifts From The Child Within: Self-Discovery and Self-Recovery
Through Re-Creation Therapy
by Barbara Sinor, Ph.D.
2nd Edition published by Loving Healing Press (2008)
ISBN 978-1-932690-46-0
_______________________________________
Join me on a marvelous journey...
The writer, herself a therapist, uses “Re-Creation Therapy” which,
simply put, helps the reader to re-create, or transform, traumas into
experiences that would have happened the way the reader wanted them
to. The reader will find herself going back into the past and changing
traumatic experiences. This is done with the help of exercises,
affirmations, journaling and the use of autohypnosis, all offered in
each chapter to guide the reader through the transformation of her own
life experiences that she wants to change.
I spent more time with this book than I have any other so far. I
can attest this is a valuable tool for all our members and visitors.
If you are unable to locate a therapist nearby, this book will help
you and guide you in an uplifting and compassionate manner. The author
will lead you as you follow “exercises, suggestions, and guidance”
that will offer astounding insights about why you are who you are and
how to become more like you want to be.
Why is it so important to re-create our experiences of the past
that hurt us? The author shows us that we learned “illusional reality”
in our childhoods and based our life experiences on those false
realities. Many of us, as we well know, have lived our whole lives
enslaved by the pain of our past. In order to live fuller lives we
need to deprogram our inner reality. This goes contrary to what many
of our therapists have told us. Many of us are instructed that it is
not important to remember what happened to us in the past, just to
change our present behavior and experiences. If you are like me, you
have harbored an inner conviction that you cannot overcome what
happened without visiting that occurrence and dealing with it. The
author takes us a step further. Not only do we go into the past and
seemingly relive some experiences, we take control and change those
very traumatic memories into something better. One might think this
would be frightening and leave us feeling drained, however I found
myself, after the auto-hypnotic exercises, feeling empowered and free.
That feeling stayed with me, assuring me that change was really taking
place.
I believe this book is especially helpful for those who have
complex PTSD as a result of childhood traumas, and who have been
unsuccessful responding to traditional therapies and treatments for
PTSD. Another plus is that you are able to do these exercises yourself
in a safe and comfortable environment. Rather than dreading these
private therapy sessions, or feeling anxious about them, I found
myself looking forward to my time each evening, as if I was preparing
to leave on the greatest adventure of all.
And so I would like to invite you on a marvelous journey in which
you will get to know a very important person...yourself. Grab a copy
of this book, sit down in a comfortable chair, make sure your journal
is nearby and a good-writing pen. Prepare to get to know yourself
better than you do now, and expect healing to come as you learn to
find the “gifts from the child within.”
Click on the cover to listen to a "teaser" of Dr. Sinor
reading an excerpt of the book. Scroll down the Review to the bottom of
the page to find audio. Also, below is an Interview taken in 2009 by
Writers and Authors Web Site:
What made you start writing?
I have been writing my entire life! When I was a child I would write
poems and short stories all the time. I enjoyed writing during my
education years and even liked writing papers, etc., for college
courses. After several years of counseling, there was such a need
for literature regarding letting go of childhood trauma and abuse I
just decided to begin researching the subject. Using my own
experience and those events of my patients, I found I had a book in
progress! Since that time in the early 1990s, I have continued
writing what I felt needed to be investigated and shared for others
to heal and begin recovery from both childhood abuse and substance
addiction.
You have been a Psychospiritual
Therapist for over twenty-five years. How has this experience
effected your writing?
While working with my patients, I have learned a lifetime of
information about people and their relationships, their pain, and
their dreams. I cherish all my patients and thank them for allowing
me to share in their healing journeys. Without their bravery to
delve into issues of pain, abuse, and addiction, none of my books
would have been written.
Your work focuses mainly on Recovery
and Self-Empowerment. What makes you qualified to write about such
topics?
As I share in my book, Gifts From the Child Within, I experienced
sexual molestation while a child. This experience shaped my life in
many ways, some negative and some positive. One of the positive
effects of my childhood abuse is my determination to help others who
went through similar types of events. I believe self-awareness and
self-empowerment can lead to self-recovery. Of course, along with my
personal experience and my counseling experience, I have attained a
higher education surrounding these fields, including a Doctorate
Degree in Psychology.
Gifts From the Child Within was
released January 2008. Tell us a little about it.
This book was originally released in 1994 and is the culmination of
many years of working with my patients through their journey of
recovery. I found most of the people I was seeing had issues from
childhood which were at the root of their current presenting issues.
Along with my love of writing, it was easy to bring the concepts of
this important work into a book form. This recovery book is geared
toward both professional and layperson. Its pages are filled with
offerings from psychological, physiological, and spiritual
perspectives which takes the reader on a journey into the soul. It
is written with sensitivity and clarity inviting the reader to
search within for healing.
Your new book ADDICTION: What's
Really Going On? Inside a Heroin Treatment Program is due out in
early summer 2009.
Yes, I am very excited about this book's release. It will be
available sometime this summer. This book is a
brief look at ten years in the real life of a substance abuse
counselor. My coauthor, Deborah McCloskey, took the time to write
extensive notes pertaining to her personal struggles of working with
drug addicted clients while employed in a methadone clinic (OTP) located
in southern California from the late 1990s to her untimely death in
2006. We worked on this manuscript together over several years
sharing our passion for client advocacy and discovering alternative
ways to deal with those addicted to drugs and alcohol. The
manuscript progressed to a long narration of countless stories
related through Deborah from her clients. I have woven these
powerful stories, as well as, the immediate highs and lows of her
own life crises to form a tapestry filled with pain, joy, defeat,
and success. The entire book is molded by Deborah’s heartfelt
desire for her clients to be free of drugs. Her deep compassion for
those she counseled guided them toward self-education,
self-discovery, and self-recovery. These counseling methods both
endeared her as “the counselor to get” and locked her into a decade
of searching for better ways to help those she felt were stuck on
the merry-go-round of a methadone system.
It is evident throughout the book that Deborah’s passion for
aiding those in addiction became her focus, as well as, to help
redirect the way we as a society handle our drug addicted
population. This passion led her to write the fascinating stories
which pose the compelling question: What’s really going on? The
book addresses this question and others surrounding the need
for changes in how those with drug addictions are treated in our
society. One of Deborah’s goals was to manifest this vision and to
bring the reality of addiction out-of-the-closet.
How did you decide which publishing
company to use for your books?
Well, being an unknown author my first two books were published by
small independent houses which actually went out of business soon
after the books were released! I then approached a non-profit
spiritual group named Astara which I had been following for several
years and they gladly published the second edition of Beyond Words
and took on the first edition publication of An Inspirational Guide
for the Recovering Soul in 2004. In 2007, as I was talking online to
a fellow counselor, I asked him who had published his last book and
he told me about Loving Healing Press. Subsequently, I contacted the
publisher and asked if he was interested in printing a second
edition of Gifts From the Child Within since it had gone
out-of-print. He happily reported, "Yes!" and now I will have two
books published by Loving Healing Press, and hopefully my next one
also!
How important do you feel networking
is for the sales of your books?
As a fairly unknown author, I feel it is very important to do all
the networking possible to get my books into the public's eye. In
today's market with the Kindle Reader, Amazon, and many other online
booksellers it is imperative for an author to take the reins and
book booksigning events, keep up a web site, and join as many online
writers' sites as possible.
Where can people purchase your
books?
All my books are available in bookstores and online through Amazon,
Barnes & Noble, Copperfields, etc., as well as, directly through
each of the publishers. Just ask your local bookseller to order it
if you cannot find it on the shelves.
Anything else you'd like to add?
Please visit my web site for more information including Interviews,
Articles, and other healing avenues:
www.DrSinor.com
Ordering the Second Edition
Gifts From the Child Within
Barbara Sinor, Ph.D.
ISBN#s: 978-1932690-46-0 and 1-932690-46-8
242 pages, paperback $20.95 US
NOTE: This new Second Edition is now
available. The new publisher is Loving Healing Press. The book
is available in most bookstores, through the publisher's website
and through Amazon.com and other online book stores. Ask your favorite
bookstore to carry it for you!
Click to order through my Amazon Astore
Publisher's Web Site
Check out the new
Recovery Journal
Recovering the
Self
This new quarterly journal
explores the themes of recovery and healing through
poetry, memoir, essay,
fiction, humor, media reviews and psycho-education.
I have an article published in
this first issue and hope to continue writing for this
one-of-a-kind magazine!
Back to Top
|
