Nearly one in five women report being raped during their lifetimes. The 2011 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says more than 23 million women (19.3 percent) are raped during their lifetimes. The report says, “The likelihood that a person suffers suicidal or depressive thoughts increases after sexual violence.”
Kristin Clouse, a licensed mental health counselor, says the aftermath of such abuse can also be PTSD, inability to cope, fear, anxiety, self-blame and shame. Clouse’s new release, Healing for our Soul Gardens: Restoration and Wholeness after Sexual Abuse (Redemption Press 2017) is a tool to walk women through the healing and restoration process. Using a garden metaphor, she compares Jesus Christ as our Master Gardener who restores our “soul gardens.”
Clouse weaves elements of her own abuse with practical tools for helping others move out of the victim mentality. She says, “If life feels chaotic, out of control, anxiety driven, or it is difficult to trust others, survivors need to understand how the sexual abuse of their past relates to what they are going through currently.” Clouse lists healthy ways to address negative thoughts and develop new coping skills, while learning the difference between shame-led, fear-driven, and Spirit-led thoughts; as well as how to restore a healthy self-image by identifying “damaged-goods” thinking and faulty core beliefs.
A survivor of sexual abuse in multiple situations as a child and teen, Kristin Clouse turned to drugs and alcohol to cope. As a young adult, she had a life-changing encounter with Jesus, and her life was changed. The founder of The Restore Movement, where ordinary women reach out to those wounded by life issues to see them restored into who God created them to be, has a BS in applied psychology, and a MA in counseling psychology. Her love of gardening planted her theme of healing for the soul gardens of those who have experienced abuse.
URL: https://www.redemption-press.com/shop/product/102831
Media Contact
Company Name: Redemption Press
Contact Person: Author Kristin Clouse
Email: clousekristin@gmail.com
Phone: 703-587-4893
City: Enumclaw
State: WA
Country: United States
Website: https://www.redemption-press.com/shop/product/102831