Scars That Wound: Scars That Heal: A Journey of Self Injury

In Scars that Wound: Scars that Heal, author Jan Kern chronicles Jackie's story, a young woman that turned to cutting and self-injury to release her pain. Through Jackie's heartbreaking journey, Ms. Kern offers hope and healing to any teen that has ever struggled with self-injury. But as Ms. Kern notes in the introduction, healing is not an easy journey nor is it meant to be taken alone. In a gentle, comforting tone, Ms. Kern explores things that lead many into self-injury and how to get help. Powerfully descriptive, Scars that Wound: Scars that Heal is not only a good read for those who self-injure but also for youth pastors, friends and family members of someone that self-injures. From how to pray for a friend that is self-injuring to ways you can be there for your friend, Ms. Kern's suggestions cover many different aspects of self-injuring. Like the other books in the Live Free series, Scars that Wound: Scars that Heal is not an easy, light-hearted read. But it is a beautifully moving story of one young woman's journey to freedom.

This book is great as it covers the issue of self-harm from all angles. From the perspective of the self harmer, from an external viewpoint and even gives pointers to those trying to help the self injurer. It also provides direction for holistic healing as it demonstrates God's role in the healing. Struggling with self harm myself I really appreciated that this book had raw honesty. It wasn't this fairy tale book of recovery. It was the hard slog of years of work and effort with a hope-filled ending.

I've worked with teens for over two decades, and Jan Kern addresses the issue of self-injury with compassion and insight, as well as provides tangible help for the teen (or those who love them) seeks answers and help.

This book uncovers the secret world of a self-harmer that so many never know or understand. As you read you understand Jackie's pain and why she turned to cutting. I really believe this book is perfect for a self-harmer to read and find healing. God is going to use this book to help so many who struggle, parents who don't know what to do, friends that want to help, and people who just don't understand it. Buy this book for yourself and many other copies for everyone you know. Every youth pastor should read it and have all his staff read it too!!