Without Shame

Liberate yourself from the limitations and judgments imposed by your inner critic, and develop “soul qualities” to experience freedom and vitality Whether we call it the inner critic or the superego, most of us have a judge within who nags us and is constantly on our case. Byron Brown provides a comprehensive guide to understanding how the inner critic works as well as practical, positive suggestions for breaking free of it. Using straightforward language and everyday examples, you’ll explore: • Where the inner judge came from • How it operates • Why it trips us up • Why we believe we need it • How to develop awareness of it • How to disengage from it • The "soul qualities" we can develop to weaken its influence Each chapter begins with an episode of the story of Frank and Sue to illustrate the insidious nature of the inner critic inside all of us. A simple exercise is also included at the end of each chapter, designed to help readers move along the path of self-discovery.

Barbara Theodosiou and her family reveal the pain, loss, and connection that emerge from addiction, trauma, codependency, and recovery in this unique view into the heart of a national crisis. The ringing phone startles Barbara during another sleepless night. She knows it must be Daniel, her big-hearted, intelligent son who has spent years cycling through hospitals, jails, and treatment centers. Although Daniel’s childhood struggles started much earlier, he was sixteen when Barbara discovered he was horribly addicted to DXM, the drug found in many over-the-counter cough medicines. After picking up the pieces from one more of her son’s relapses, Barbara seeks support in the online refuge she created when she had nowhere else to turn: The Addict’s Mom. There, she can “Share Without Shame” with others who understand. These other mothers know that it can become normal to hope your son will be locked up so he isn’t sleeping on the street. These other moms understand how it feels to realize you have not just one addicted child but two--Barbara discovered her oldest son Peter’s addiction just six months after Daniel’s. And when that happens, sometimes all a mother can do is try to save herself. But this isn’t just a mother’s story. Without Shame encompasses Daniel’s own poetry and prose, Peter’s story of healing against all odds, their sister Nicole’s story of balancing compassion and independence, and other often unheard voices. This multifaceted story reveals what it truly means to describe addiction as a family disease.

Too often, people with alternative sexualities -- the gay or lesbian or bisexual, the non-monogamous or kinky -- have trouble finding competent, understanding care for their mental and physical health.Now, Dr. Charles Moser -- one of the nation's leading authorities on sexuality-related medicine -- has created a comprehensive guidebook for anyone who's ever struggled with the sentence, Doctor, there's something I have to tell you...Dr. Moser explains how and when to come out to your health care provider, how to protect your confidentially, how to handle it if a health care provider isn't understanding about your alternative sexuality, how to deal with sex-related emergencies, and more. He also includes detailed information on dealing with other professionals such as therapists, attorneys, and accountants.Vital information for anyone whose sexuality, is non-traditional -- and for any health care provider who wants to provide the best possible care for patients of all descriptions.

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: TIME and GOODREADS • A brave new collection of poems from Sandra Cisneros, the best-selling author of The House on Mango Street. It has been twenty-eight years since Sandra Cisneros published a book of poetry. With dozens of never-before-seen poems, Woman Without Shame is a moving collection of songs, elegies, and declarations that chronicle her pilgrimage toward rebirth and the recognition of her prerogative as a woman artist. These bluntly honest and often humorous meditations on memory, desire, and the essential nature of love blaze a path toward self-awareness. For Cisneros, Woman Without Shame is the culmination of her search for home—in the Mexico of her ancestors and in her own heart.

This book is the story I have wanted to tell for a very long time. For most of my life I lived in the shadow of shame. I was afraid there would be terrible consequences if anyone discovered my gender confusion. Who would want to be my friend? How would I have a career? Who would love me? The past two decades have been a process of coming out of hiding, letting myself be known and leaving shame behind. That process has led me to write this book. I've been blessed with many odd experiences, some stunning misadventures and the acquaintance of many quirky people. And whatever I have to say about it, or whatever you may think of it, I'm grateful I can finally tell my story without shame.

A modern classic on the gentle art of discipline for toddlers, by the internationally renowned childcare expert, podcaster, and author of Elevating Child Care “No Bad Kids provides practical ways to respond to the challenges of toddlerhood while nurturing a respectful relationship with your child.”—Tina Payne Bryson, PhD, co-author of The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline Janet Lansbury is unique among parenting experts. As a RIE teacher and student of pioneering child specialist Magda Gerber, her advice is not based solely on formal studies and the research of others, but also on her more than twenty years of hands-on experience guiding hundreds of parents and their toddlers. A collection of her most popular articles about toddler behavior, No Bad Kids presents her signature approach to discipline, which she sees as a parent’s act of compassion and love for a child. Full of wisdom and encouragement, it covers common toddler concerns such as: • Why toddlers need clear boundaries—and how to set them without yelling • What's going on when they bite, hit, kick, tantrum, whine, and talk back • Advice for parenting a strong-willed child • How to be a gentle leader, and Lansbury’s secret for staying calm For parents who are anticipating or experiencing those critical years when toddlers are developmentally obliged to test the limits of our patience and love, No Bad Kids is a practical, indispensable resource for putting respectful discipline into action.

Living Without Shame is the follow-up support book to Barbara Theodosiou’s family account of addiction, Without Shame. She knows all too well the depths of addiction, losing her precious son Daniel to its destruction. Recipient of a White House Champion of Change award, Barbara continues to help other mothers of addicted children with this interactive mindfulness journal for moms. Founder of The Addict’s Mom and sister to tens of thousands of fellow mothers of children with addictions, Barbara Theodosiou renews her pledge to help her peers. Living Without Shame is anchored in her main spiritual principle of healing: to process, grieve, and move forward from addiction, mothers of addicted children must look inward and live outward, without shame. Nestled inside an affirming and comforting aesthetic, this guided journal’s fifty-two weekly activities help any mother to focus on herself. It may feel unnatural at first, because a mother’s primary concern is always her child. But it’s vital that a mother look after herself too, and this healing journal is designed for just that. This journal isn’t for a child: not for finding him help or for saving him. It’s entirely for moms to find their way home to their own happiness.

Fascinating patient stories and dynamic exercises help you connect to healing emotions, ease anxiety and depression, and discover your authentic self. Sara suffered a debilitating fear of asserting herself. Spencer experienced crippling social anxiety. Bonnie was shut down, disconnected from her feelings. These patients all came to psychotherapist Hilary Jacobs Hendel seeking treatment for depression, but in fact none of them were chemically depressed. Rather, Jacobs Hendel found that they’d all experienced traumas in their youth that caused them to put up emotional defenses that masqueraded as symptoms of depression. Jacobs Hendel led these patients and others toward lives newly capable of joy and fulfillment through an empathic and effective therapeutic approach that draws on the latest science about the healing power of our emotions. Whereas conventional therapy encourages patients to talk through past events that may trigger anxiety and depression, accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP), the method practiced by Jacobs Hendel and pioneered by Diana Fosha, PhD, teaches us to identify the defenses and inhibitory emotions (shame, guilt, and anxiety) that block core emotions (anger, sadness, fear, disgust, joy, excitement, and sexual excitement). Fully experiencing core emotions allows us to enter an openhearted state where we are calm, curious, connected, compassionate, confident, courageous, and clear. In It’s Not Always Depression, Jacobs Hendel shares a unique and pragmatic tool called the Change Triangle—a guide to carry you from a place of disconnection back to your true self. In these pages, she teaches lay readers and helping professionals alike • why all emotions—even the most painful—have value. • how to identify emotions and the defenses we put up against them. • how to get to the root of anxiety—the most common mental illness of our time. • how to have compassion for the child you were and the adult you are. Jacobs Hendel provides navigational tools, body and thought exercises, candid personal anecdotes, and profound insights gleaned from her patients’ remarkable breakthroughs. She shows us how to work the Change Triangle in our everyday lives and chart a deeply personal, powerful, and hopeful course to psychological well-being and emotional engagement.

"Powerful and poignant.... Newman's message is clear and timely." --The Philadelphia Inquirer In No Shame in My Game, Harvard anthropologist Katherine Newman gives voice to a population for whom work, family, and self-esteem are top priorities despite all the factors that make earning a living next to impossible--minimum wage, lack of child care and health care, and a desperate shortage of even low-paying jobs. By intimately following the lives of nearly 300 inner-city workers and job seekers for two yearsin Harlem, Newman explores a side of poverty often ignored by media and politicians--the working poor. The working poor find dignity in earning a paycheck and shunning the welfare system, arguing that even low-paying jobs give order to their lives. No Shame in My Game gives voice to a misrepresented segment of today's society, and is sure to spark dialogue over the issues surrounding poverty, working and welfare.

- Connecting shame and vulnerability to Scripture and Christian theology - Taps into the popularity of Brene' Brown and Richard Rohr topics - Study guide included