I Know I'm in There Somewhere: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner Voice and Living a Life of Authenticity

I have been in the process of "self-discovery" for the past 20 years and have read many, many books. This book by Helene Brenner takes a fresh, new approach. She helps women to let go of the idea that we are somehow flawed and need to be "fixed." From her use of words (she calls this a self-acceptance book...not a self-help book) to her ideas of why so many women are walking around striving to be perfect, Brenner has put a new face on our quest for living that life of our dreams. She makes it seem attainable because there is nothing really more to "do." There is only to "be."I highly recommend this book and especially encourage women just beginning the process of self-discovery to read it. You will save yourself a lot of time and self-doubt.

How can you "improve" yourself until you've first fully accepted yourself? That's this author's premise - and the message of her book. This book is about surfacing, aligning, adjusting and attuning everything that's RIGHT with us so we can use it to the fullest in contributing our gifts to the world. You won't have to shed pounds or tone muscles to benefit from this book - it's about shedding excess inner weight and toning one's inner voice muscles. Dr. Helene Brenner's book is distinct because it's specific, solid, and "sentient" - you feel you are one on one with her surfacing your inner mysteries. The "innercizes" guide you on an inner dive to surface answers as unique as you. The book provides a scaffolding for your own unfolding - sans gimmicks, catchy buzzwords, prescription diets or trite phrases. Dr. Brenner offers a step-by-step process of looking within to emerge without by engaging your full senses, intuition, logic and knowledge. Along the way, the author explains why our resistance to living our truths grows so loud the closer we get to living them, why our bodies are instruments of smart, intuitive knowledge, and what we can do to burst through our own cocoons. If you read this book and really "work" it, you'll come out closer to becoming the butterfly you are.

Sub-titled A Woman's Guide to Finding her Inner Voice and Living a Life of Authenticity, this book is a well thought out and intriguing guide for women who strive to accept themselves and live accordingly. Written by Helene G. Brenner, Ph.D, a psychologist and director of Women's Counselling and Psychological Services in Frederick and Bethseda, Maryland, the book offers an alternative stance for women who wish to become grounded, harness their self-esteem and unleash their integrity. Instead of following the approach of numerous other self-help books and pop psychology titles, Dr. Brenner believes it's actually a very simple process and something any woman can achieve. Rather than having to change or fix your life, all you need to do in order to be happy and fulfilled is to listen to your inner voice and live in accordance with it. In a down-to-earth style as if she's personally chatting to you, Helene guides readers through the processes needed to firstly find your inner voice, learn to listen to it and finally live from it. One of the aspects that makes the book both enjoyable and encouraging is the numerous real-life examples of women who've been out-of-touch with their inner voices, but managed to reacquaint themselves through using Helene's approach. These are interspersed throughout the text with feeling and compassion, adding a new perspective that really brings the theory to life. Additionally, there are lots of aptly termed "innercizes" - practical exercises to complete that aim to help readers access and live from their Inner Voice - and these, too, help put things into perspective. In essence, this book is a real antidote to the typical "you need to change" self-help book that many people have had more than enough of. It's inspirational, positive, helpful and, above all, its messages and suggestions are fully achievable.

I saw this book at a local bookstore, was really attracted by the cover, and opened it up and read the inside sleeve. I really liked the fact that Helene Brenner was a psychologist who ran a clinic and worked with a lot of women. I figured she might know what she was talking about. I was really looking for something. My life's pretty good, but you know how it is -- two kids in school, a job, a marriage that's as good as any I've seen but not exactly exciting anymore, and I've been thinking a lot lately, is this all there is? What am I going to DO with the rest of my life?I REALLY like this book, and I've already recommended it to about four friends. The best thing I like about it is that it DOESN'T promise sixty days to a totally new you or anything like that. It never says that you think too negatively, or you're being a victim, or you're co-dependent, or you're not "spiritual" enough or loving enough or you have the wrong belief systems. The book is very -- the only word I can describe it is GENTLE. It says, hey, you're human, you're a woman, isn't that great, be compassionate to yourself. I've never seen that in a book before. But what's so neat is that now I have the book in my head. It's funny, I've never heard the author, Helene Brenner speak, but during the day I hear her "talking" to me. I get into a situation, and I find myself asking myself, "Now what do I know to be true here?" Or "What am I FEELING right now? Listen. Pay attention to it." Of course, I went straight for the chapter on relationships. I tried the "innercize" called "the power of positive wanting" on my husband, which is you say what you're not happy about, then you say what you want, then you tell him the GOOD things that will result if he listens to you this time (you'll feel good about him, you'll feel closer, etc..), and darned if it didn't work! (I haven't told him I got it from a book.)I feel a lot, lot better since buying this book. Who knows, maybe I'll still have to get therapy to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life, but this book is a whole lot cheaper. And if I DO get therapy, the therapist is going to have to talk like Dr. Brenner.

I've been in the human potential field for over 30 years and I've rarely seen a book that excited me as much as this one. There is a quiet revolution here, a revolution in the way we approach our own development as human beings.In a refreshing change from the usual "here's what's wrong with you and here's how you fix it" approach, Brenner answers this question: What would growing and changing be like if they were done from the perspective that there is nothing wrong with us to start with? With inspiring real-life stories and practical, inviting exercises, she guides us through a path of inner acceptance that includes honoring what we know, sensing the wisdom of our bodies, and honoring our true desires.Most of the time when I read self-help books I ignore the exercises. But Brenner's exercises (she calls them "Innercises") are so tempting, I found I was doing them effortlessly. They are deeply validating, including one on how to start from what you DO know (you know more than you think you do!). I was in a workshop last weekend, read one of the exercises out loud, and everyone in the group found it so inviting that we spent the next half hour doing it together. The glowing faces when we finished were a testament to the ease and empowerment found all through this book.This profound, beautiful, and nurturing book is so packed with inspiration, I find myself going back to every section again and again. There is so much here, I feel I can only scratch the surface in a review. Spirituality, relationships, career, manifesting our dreams... Yes it is for women AND it is for all of us. We all need to reclaim what we really know and who we really are.