Baffled by Love: Stories of the Lasting Impact of Childhood Trauma Inflicted by Loved Ones

(Paperback)

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Description

For three decades, Laurie Kahn has treated clients who were abused as childrenpeople who were injured by someone whom they believed to be trustworthy, someone who professed to love them. Their abusersa father, stepfather, priest, coach, babysitter, aunt, neighboroften were people who inhabited their daily lives. Love is why they come to therapy. Love is what they want, and love is what they say is not going well for them.
, she includes strands from her own story, along with those of her clients, creating a narrative full of resonance, meaning, and shared humanity.

Reviews

2018 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Winner in Self Help (Non-Fiction) 2018 IPPY Silver Medal Winner in Psychology/Mental Health "[The author] weaves together her own difficult family history with the stories of women who share the burden of abuse. Kahns in-depth look at childhood trauma is expert, caring, informative, and affecting." Booklist "Psychotherapist Kahn (founder, Womencare Counseling & Training Ctr.), who specializes in the treatment of survivors of childhood abuse, relates the stories of her clients whose understanding of love was twisted by the mistreatment of those who were supposed to love and protect them. An unsettling yet compelling work on the issue of childhood sexual abuse that will be valuable for survivors and their loved ones as well as health-care professionals." Library Journal I feel in my bones that this is a work of oceanic empathy and insight and importancea highly personal yet deeply professional major book that has the potential to shape many lives. Thomas French, Pulitzer Prize winner author of Juniper, Zoo Story This is a love story and a beautiful one. Laurie has done a marvelous job of tracking the processes of pain, healing, and love in her clients and herself. I would recommend it to everyone. Don Catherall PhD, author of Emotional Safety: Viewing Couples Through the Lens of Affect A powerful collection of stories oftraumatic experience. Kahn shares pieces of her own story [too] while warming your heart. Richard A. Chefetz, M.D. Past President, International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation and Recipient of ISSTDs Pierre Janet Writing Award "Laurie Kahn bravely challenges the paralyzing taboos around love and psychotherapy. Her extraordinary achievement rests on wise insights, tender honesty, eloquent prose, and perhaps most of all, on the well-timed telling of her own compelling struggles with betrayal and love." Jennifer Freyd PhD, author of the award-winning book Betrayal Trauma: The Logic of Forgetting Childhood Abuse "A sensitive and wise book. Laurie Kahn explores the devastating experience of having been molested by people you love and treasure who simultaneously are the source of pain and betrayal. Baffled by Love is about the healing power of sharing, exploring and finding words for ones self. A deeply comforting book." Bessel van der Kolk MD, author of New York Times Science bestseller The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Author Bio

Laurie Kahn MA, LCPC, MFA is a pioneer in the field of trauma treatment. For more than thirty years, she has specialized in the treatment of survivors of childhood abuse. In 1980, she founded Womencare Counseling and Training Center. Since then, her ideas and expertise have served both people who have experienced childhood abuse and hundreds of clinicians who have graduated from her Trauma Consultation Training Program. Kahns personal essays have been published in anthologies, and her articles and book reviews in professional journals.