Gifts from the Child Within: Self-Discovery and Self-Recovery Through Re-Creation Therapy, 2nd Edition

Gifts From the Child Within reveals the potentialities of the human condition to heal the wounds caused by childhood trauma with the aide of unconscious processes. Dr. Sinor's methods for changing one's internalized picture of reality through Re-Creation therapy is a testament to psychotherapeutic progress. Without the conscious transformation that is required for recovery, she says that most people stay trapped in a mind-set regarding world views, beliefs, goals, motives, values, love, and compassion. This is a significant contribution to humanity. John E. Smethers, PhD Author of Scumbag Sewer Rats www.ScumbagSewerRats.com

Reviewed by Elizabeth E. Gibson-Evans for RebeccasReads (2/08) "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 Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (12/07) "Gifts from the Child Within" is a recovery workbook written for both survivors of childhood abuse and the counselors that work with them. It helps readers discover how childhood trauma has caused emotional suffering in their lives today. For me, personally, it gave me a better understanding of how past events from my childhood had a tremendous impact upon my personal relationships today. The author Barbara Sinor, PhD, has had extensive professional experience in dealing in this area. She also has her own personal history of having been abused as a child. She uses self-disclosure to present some very powerful examples about her own healing. Both her personal and professional experiences validate her knowledge in this area. Sinor offers a paradigm for empowering yourself or a client to resolve their problems by working with body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Sinor states, "Today there are signs that after a long and tumultuous courtship, spirituality and psychology may be finding common ground." Connecting all of these aspects of oneself leads to a holistic approach to healing. She encourages the person in recovery to proceed at their own pace for healing. She does not believe that it should be forced upon anyone. She says, "Each individual must proceed through his\her life discoveries, or in therapeutic intervention at one's own rate with one's own sense of how things are and with one's own resolutions." She teaches you how to get in touch with your inner child to release negative emotions and recreate childhood beliefs and experiences. To learn to live in the moment, you must learn to let go of the past. "You can learn to live in the present by releasing the retained hurt and not allowing it to direct your life. You can accomplish this by using self-empowerment, by acknowledging your personal power." There are seven key steps to the process: Acknowledgement; Self-Awareness; Meeting Your Child Within; Emotional Release Exercises; The Re-Creation Process; For-Giving; and Letting Go. Each step is fully explained in its own chapters. For deeper exploration, at the end of each chapter are thought-provoking Child Within exercises, affirmations, directions for autohypnosis and blank pages for journaling. By using these tools to recreate your past, you will be able to change your present reality and alter your future. "Gifts from the Child Within" is an incredibly powerful healing tool. By using the exercises, I gained some incredible insight into how my past has tremendously affected me today. I learned things about myself that I had never realized before. I am truly grateful to Dr. Sinor for writing this incredible book. I also appreciate that she shared her own personal experiences. By doing so, I knew that she really could relate to what she was writing about.