Books by Author

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Alter, Robert

The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary From the Amazon blurb: A masterpiece of deep learning and fine sensibility, Robert Alter’s translation of the Hebrew Bible, now complete, reanimates one of the formative works of our culture. Capturing its brilliantly compact poetry and finely wrought, purposeful prose, Alter renews the Old Testament as a source of literary power and spiritual inspiration. From the family frictions of Genesis and King David’s flawed humanity to the serene wisdom of Psalms and Job’s incendiary questioning of God’s ways, these magnificent works of world literature resonate with a startling immediacy. Featuring Alter’s generous commentary, which quietly alerts readers to the literary and historical dimensions of the text, this is the definitive edition of the Hebrew Bible.

Aubert, Rhonda J.

Prised Open From the Amazon blurb: This journey begins with a visit to a ladies craft group at a nearby Presbyterian Church, however, when Rhonda is voted on to the Board of Management fourteen years later, as a bookkeeper, she began to see this Church in a whole different light.

After she discovers what she believes to be fraudulent behaviour, she leaves the Church but cannot ignore what she has uncovered.

She writes a detailed report to the Presbytery of Maroondah but is horrified to discover that they have titled their minutes ‘Minutes Concerning dealing with Mrs. R. Aubert’.

From there her story becomes a battle with the hierarchy of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and a Church system of government she believes discriminates against women.

This book walks you through two years of Rhonda’s life with all its twists and turns and shows you the many hurdles people have pushed onto her path.

‘I have written ‘Prised Open’ because I know if I did not, everything I have uncovered will be hidden away and everything I have endured would be for nothing’.

This blog comment by Rhondjeannie, the author of the book Prised Open, contains both some background information on her book and a recommendation by ACFJ Admins.

Badenoch, Bonnie

The Heart of Trauma: Healing the Embodied Brain in the Context of Relationships From the Amazon blurb:

How each of us can become a therapeutic presence in the world.

Images and sounds of war, natural disasters, and human-made devastation explicitly surround us and implicitly leave their imprint in our muscles, our belly and heart, our nervous systems, and the brains in our skulls. We each experience more digital data than we are capable of processing in a day, and this is leading to a loss of empathy and human contact. This loss of leisurely, sustained, face-to-face connection is making true presence a rare experience for many of us, and is neurally ingraining fast pace and split attention as the norm.

Yet despite all of this, the ability to offer the safe sanctuary of presence is central to effective clinical treatment of trauma and indeed to all of therapeutic practice. It is our challenge to remain present within our culture, Badenoch argues, no matter how difficult this might be. She makes the case that we are built to seek out, enter, and sustain warm relationships, all this connection will allow us to support the emergence of a humane world.

In this book, Bonnie Badenoch, a gifted translator of neuroscientific concepts into human terms, offers readers brain- and body-based insights into how we can form deep relational encounters with our clients and our selves and how relational neuroscience can teach us about the astonishing ways we are interwoven with one another. How we walk about in our daily lives will touch everyone, often below the level of conscious awareness.

The first part of The Heart of Trauma provides readers with an extended understanding of the ways in which our physical bodies are implicated in our conscious and non-conscious experience. Badenoch then delves even deeper into the clinical implications of moving through the world. She presents a strong, scientifically grounded case for doing the work of opening to hemispheric balance and relational deepening.

Bancroft, Lundy

***IMPORTANT NOTE:  While we endorse Lundy’s writings about the dynamics of domestic abuse, we do not recommend anyone attend the ‘healing retreats’ Lundy Bancroft offers or become involved in his ‘Peak Living Network.’ See our post, ACFJ Does Not Recommend Lundy Bancroft’s Retreats or His New Peak Living Network for more about our concerns.

Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men  ***READ THIS FIRST*** This book will take you far in your journey to wise up to the deceptions of abusers.  Note:  Bancroft’s books contains some vulgar language because he quotes abusers.  An excellent review of this book can be found here.

Daily Wisdom for Why Does He Do That?: Encouragement for Women Involved with Angry and Controlling Men Even if you have read Lundy’s Why Does He Do That?, this book will be insightful and an encouragement.  This book contains 365 entries, each of which takes just five or ten minutes to read.  Each day the reader focuses on just one principle and works with it mentally through the day.  Each entry ends with a short sentence that summarizes each piece, so that you can repeat those words to yourself as you process what you have read.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?: A guide to knowing whether your relationship can — and should — be saved, with Jan Patrissi.

Caveat:  We have had feedback on this book from a survivor who was into New Age and Spiritualism before she became Christian. She says the book contains some language and concepts that are reminiscent of New Age teachings. The problems seem to be confined to chapter eight. In that chapter there are visualization exercises, Gestalt type exercises involving referring to oneself in the third person or as two different people, references to ‘energy,’ ‘your best possible self,’  ‘living from your center,’ ‘being grounded,’ and ‘creating a Self-Nurturing Plan.’  So while the book has lots of insight into the questions and situations women battle within abusive / unhealthy relationships, we suggest readers be discerning while reading it and not take on board or employ the elements of the book that are akin to New Age practices.

The Batterer as Parent:  Addressing the Impact of Domestic Violence on Family Dynamics (SAGE Series on Violence against Women) This book will help you understand why abusers parent the way they do and what to expect and be careful of in the abuser’s parenting — post separation.  It is written to professionals helping victims so it is more technical and detailed then Lundy’s book When Dad Hurts Mom.

When Dad Hurts Mom: Helping Your Children Heal the Wounds of Witnessing Abuse Focusing upon the effects on children whose mother is being abused, and teaching her how she can help them, this book is written to survivors and is less technical and detailed as Lundy’s The Batterer as Parent.  You will not miss any key points if you only read this book.

Bartelmes, Jane

My Path from Doormat to Dignity: A Personal Story Click here to read a recommendation for this book.

Bartlett, Andrew

Men and Women in Christ: Fresh Light From The Biblical Texts

Barbara Roberts highly recommends this book. Of all the authors who are addressing the thorny issues of men and women in the church and in the home, Andrew Bartlett has impressed her the most. Bartlett pinpoints flaws in both complementarian and egalitarian viewpoints. Bartlett believes that in the church women can hold leadership positions, and that in marriage men and women are not entirely equal because husbands have a greater obligation to self-sacrifice (be willing to die for their wives).

From the Amazon blurb: The debate between egalitarian and complementarian views on women in the church and in marriage continues to cause division among evangelical Christians. Many books on the subject are written from a firmly partisan point of view, whether complementarian or egalitarian. This one is different. Andrew Bartlett makes use of his experience as a judge and arbitrator in assessing the debate, with impartiality rather than advocacy (like a barrister). In a very thorough but accessible analysis, he engages with exemplars of each view and with all the key biblical texts. He partly agrees and partly disagrees with both sides, and offers fresh insights into interpretation of the texts. He seeks progress towards healing of a sharp division.

Click here to read how Andrew Bartlett answers the question What is the worst mistranslation in our English Bibles relating to women?

Brewster, Susan

Helping Her Get Free: A Guide for Families and Friends of Abused Women  Guidance for those who support victim-survivors.  Recommended by Lundy Bancroft.  This book was originally published as To be an Anchor in the Storm.

Brooks, Jenna

October Snow

Brown, Christa

This Little Light: Beyond a Baptist Preacher Predator and His Gang From the back of the book: One of TIME’s Top 10 underreported news stories of  2008, the Southern Baptist Convention’s unwillingness to protect its children deserves scrutiny. In sharing her painful history, Christa Brown shines a light on the patterns of Baptist clergy sex abuse and the collusion of Baptist leadership.

The Baptist “good ol’ boys” network is exposed as a web of power and manipulation, centralizing nearly everything except responsibility for informing congregations about predator pastors who commit unspeakable crimes and church-hop with ease.

God, Scripture and faith become the pedophiles’ weapons for gaining victims’ submission. God, Scripture, faith, hush-money, and intimidation tactics then become the church leaders weapons for silencing victims.

A must-read for anyone concerned with the safety of children and the abuse of power in evangelical churches.

Canfield, Muriel

Broken and Battered. The author tells the stories of two Christian survivors, one of whom was married to a pastor, the other to an extreme narcissist.

Coogan, Declan

Child to Parent Violence and Abuse. Published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Addressing the under-reported issue of child to parent violence and abuse, this book presents the effective intervention method of non-violent resistance. Tips for adapting the method, alongside case studies make this an invaluable tool for practitioners working with affected families.

While we have not read this book, it comes from a secular publisher that has a good reputation in the DV sector. It is the same publisher that published the book about Intimate Partner Sexual Violence in which Barbara Roberts contributed a chapter.

Crough, Patrick

Seducers Among Our Children, How to Protect Your Children From Sexual Predators — A Police Investigator’s Perspective Crough, a retired investigative sergeant from New York, shares his experience as an investigative officer for child sex abuses cases.  Crough’s book gives practical and vital instruction and information on how to protect your children from sexual predators.

Darling, Hadassah Lily

For the Kingdom!: My abuse story, my thoughts and the good news blog posts

Davis, Rebecca

Untwisting Scriptures: that were used to tie you up, gag you, and tangle your mind.  This book untwists and presents the beautiful truth of God’s Word, exposing sin where it needs to be revealed, and offering hope to those who most desperately need it. Scriptures can be untwisted. You can rise up from spiritual abuse and walk in the freedom of Christ.

Dawn, Waneta

Behind the Hedge A novel about domestic abuse where the abuser scarcely shows any physical violence.

de Becker, Gavin

The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals that Protect Us From Violence Helps you recognize early warning signs that someone may be dangerous.

DeKeseredy, Walter S. & Martin D. Schwartz

Dangerous Exits: Escaping Abusive Relationships in Rural America Looks at the physical, mental and sexual violence rural women may face when exiting dangerous relationships, after they have left them, or even post-divorce. People are very fond of leveling judgments at women who don’t “just leave”, but this book is a timely reminder of the terrorism that serves to frighten women into remaining – and their fear of what may happen if they leave is, as this book shows, not groundless. DeKeseredy and Schwartz explore the danger of sexual assault when a woman “emotionally” separates from a partner – i.e. she does not have to even announce she is leaving; the man just senses she is growing distant and rapes her in order to reassert control and ownership.

Eddy, Bill

BIFF: Quick Responses to High Conflict People, Their Hostile Emails, Personal Attacks and Social Media Meltdowns Written by president and co-founder of High Conflict Institute, Bill Eddy created the BIFF response to protect you and your reputation by responding quickly and civilly to people who treat you rudely — while being reasonable in return.  BIFF stands for Brief, Informative, Friendly, and Firm.  This little book gives over 20 examples of BIFF responses for all areas of life — plus additional tips to help you deal with high-conflict people anywhere.

Evans, Patricia

The Verbally Abusive Relationship: How to Recognize it and How to Respond An excellent introduction to the dynamics and types of verbal abuse.  Includes a questionnaire tool to help readers evaluate their own relationships.

Fox, Christina

A Heart Set Free:  A Journey to Hope through the Psalms of Lament For many of us, we might busy ourselves with projects or work long hours to keep our mind off our pain. We might look at our circumstances and seek to change our situation in the hope that we will finally feel at peace once our life has changed.

The question is – How often do you look to God in His Word for help and hope? How often do you turn to Him when you feel anxious, distraught, or abandoned? How often do you bring your burdens to your Savior? Take a journey of hope through the Psalms of lament with Christina Fox.

Gladwell, Malcolm

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking This books does not address abuse, but it will help you to pay attention and give more credit to your intuition.

Goldstein, Barry, J.D., and Elizabeth Liu, J.D.

Representing The Domestic Violence Survivor: Critical Legal Issues; Effective Safety Strategies Recommended resource for lawyers who are representing domestic abuse victims.

Greenfield, Susan

Would the Real Church PLEASE Stand Up? Survivor account of fleeing from her abusive pastor husband.

Hare, Robert

Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us  Robert Hare is a leader in the field of criminal and abnormal psychology.  He has designed the most reliable tool used for testing for psychopaths.

Hare, Robert and Paul Babiak

Snakes in Suits:  When Psychopaths Go to Work Researchers Paul Babiak and Robert Hare have long studied psychopaths.  Hare, the author of Without Conscience, is a world-renowned expert on psychopathy, and Babiak is an industrial-organizational psychologist.  The two came together to study how psychopaths operate in corporations, and the results were surprising.

Hennessy, Don

How He Gets Into Her Head:  The Mind of the Male Intimate Abuser This book uncovers the layers of covert tactics which men employ to establish and maintain control over their intimate partner.  By deepening our understanding of what is going on the author suggests that we can develop a more efficient and consistent response to the issue.

How He Wins: Abusive Intimate Partners Going Free Excerpt from the back of the book: In this challenging book, Don Hennessy offers advice to women experiencing coercive control, and presents powerful first hand testimony from a number of these women. He pays particular attention to the impact of domestic violence on the target-woman’s wider family. He examines our practices and procedures, our attitudes and beliefs in relation to those he terms “psychefiles”, and argues that we have made few inroads in this area – either into the prevalence of male intimate abuse or in relation to the tactics that support the ability of the abuser to establish and maintain his control.

Steps to Freedom: Escaping Intimate Control  From this post: “Controlling behaviour, particularly of men towards women, is far more common in all walks of life than we have been led to believe. In this easy-to-read guide, best-selling author Don Hennessy offers practical advice to all those dealing with violent or controlling behaviour in their own lives, based on his experience of dealing with hundreds of such people in a therapeutic setting. Most important, he explains to the reader how they can throw off the shackles and live lives free from fear and intimidation.”

Herman, Judith

Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence-from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror Herman draws on her own cutting-edge research in domestic violence as well as on the vast literature of combat veterans and victims of political terror, to show the parallels between private terrors such as rape and public traumas such as terrorism. The book puts individual experience in a broader political frame, arguing that psychological trauma can be understood only in a social context.  Meticulously documented and frequently using the victims’ own words as well as those from classic literary works and prison diaries, Trauma and Recovery is a powerful work that will continue to profoundly impact our thinking.

Truth and Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice From the Amazon blurb: From one of America’s most influential psychiatrists, a powerful manifesto for reimagining justice, based on the testimony of trauma survivors

The #MeToo movement brought worldwide attention to sexual violence, but while the media focused on the fates of a few notorious predators who were put on trial, we heard far less about the outcomes of those trials for the survivors of their abuse.

The conventional retributive process fails to serve most survivors; it was never designed for them. Renowned trauma expert Judith L. Herman argues that the first step toward a better form of justice is simply to ask survivors what would make things as right as possible for them. In Truth and Repair, she commits the radical act of listening to survivors. Recounting their stories, she offers an alternative vision of justice as healing for survivors and their communities.

Deeply researched and compassionately told, Truth and Repair envisions a new path to justice for all.

Hill, Jess

See What You Made Me Do: The Dangers of Domestic Abuse That We Ignore, Explain Away, or Refuse to See From the Amazon blurb: Every year in England and Wales alone, one in twenty adults suffer domestic abuse, two thirds of them women. Every week, two men kill a woman they were intimate with. And still we ask the wrong question: Why didn’t she leave? Instead, we should ask: Why did he do it? Investigative journalist Jess Hill puts perpetrators — and the systems that enable them — in the spotlight. Her radical reframing of domestic abuse takes us beyond the home to explore how power, culture and gender intersect to both produce and normalise abuse. She boldly confronts uncomfortable questions about how and why society creates abusers, but can’t seem to protect their victims, and shows how we can end this dark cycle of fear and control.

Hinton, Jimmy

The Devil Inside: How My Minister Father Molested Kids In Our Home And Church For Decades And How I Finally Stopped Him From the back of the book: When Jimmy Hinton’s sister confided in him that their own father had sexually abused her, Jimmy was both dismayed and spurred into action. His father, a respected minister in the community, was a predator who used his role behind the pulpit to secretly molest and abuse countless victims. Turning his father over to the police, Jimmy became a tireless advocate and voice for the victims. His pursuit of justice would eventually result in his father’s confession and subsequent conviction.

Haunted by the discovery of his father’s grotesque acts against children, Jimmy, also a pastor, worked to restore the very church where his dad had perpetrated such sickening acts. He was determined to protect others and nurture an environment of healing in the aftermath of abuse. Today he relentlessly studies and exposes the deception techniques that predators like his father used to molest, harm, abuse, and terrorize children.

Ingraham, Dale and Rebecca Davis

Tear Down This Wall of Silence:  Dealing with Sexual Abuse in Our Churches (an introduction for those who will hear) This is a well researched resource for believers navigating sexual abuse in their churches or ministries.

Instone-Brewer, David

Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context  Published before the title above, this one goes into more scholarly depth.

Divorce and Remarriage in the Church: Biblical Solutions for Pastoral Realities Written for the average lay Christian.

Instone-Brewer’s divorce and remarriage website and his YouTube PlayMobile depictions of Instone-Brewer’s teaching on divorce and remarriage. (The link takes you to the first message in the series.)

Johnson, Scott A.

Physical Abusers and Sexual Offenders:  Forensic and Clinical Strategies The first resource of its kind, this book addresses the similarities between these overlapping fields. The book’s detailed structure includes information on the psychological, emotional, physical, and sexual facets of the abuse cycle from name-calling, to complete psychological deconstruction, rape, and homicide.

Johnson, David & Jeff VanVonderen

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse: Recognizing and Escaping Spiritual Manipulation and False Spiritual Authority Within the Church Highly recommended apart from the fact that this book does not explicitly say that divorce is permissible in cases of spousal abuse.

Joseph, Stephen

What Doesn’t Kill Us: The New Psychology of Post-Traumatic Growth

Joyce, Kathryn

Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement Introduction to the world of the patriarchy movement and Quiverfull families.

Katz, Emma

Coercive Control in Children’s and Mothers’ Lives “The ground-breaking insights in Emma’s book are helping professionals and victims-survivors to enhance their levels of understanding of the harms caused by perpetrators of coercive control, and to learn about effective ways of tackling this form of abuse.” This quote, by Barbara Roberts, can be found here.

Lamb, Warren

Behind the Veil: Exposing the Evil of Domestic Oppression and Providing Hope

An excerpt from Warren Lamb’s Amazon bio: “A “recovered psychologist,” Warren Lamb has been serving as a pastor, Bible teacher, Biblical counselor, and theology professor for over 30 years.”

See here for more details from Warren Lamb’s Amazon bio.

Levy, Barrie 

In Love and in Danger:  A Teen’s Guide to Breaking Free of Abusive Relationships Recommended by Lundy Bancroft.

Levy, Barrie and Patricia Occhiuzzo Giggam

What Parents Need to Know about Dating Violence:  Advice and Support for Helping Your Teen Recommended by Lundy Bancroft

Magnusson Davis, Ruth and William Tyndale

The October Testament (bonded leather edition) Bonded Leather – January 1, 2018 From the Amazon blurb: A sturdy, high-quality edition of the October Testament, 2018 edition, with smythe-sewn binding and a ribbon marker. The October Testament is William Tyndale’s New Testament as it was published in the 1537 / 1549 Matthew Bible, complete with the notes and commentaries of that Reformation Bible, and all gently updated by Ruth Magnusson Davis. This is the only ‘modern’ bible which is not. It maintains the beautiful historic language and the enduring doctrine of the faith.

McAndless-Davis, Karen & Jill Cory

When Love Hurts: A Woman’s Guide to Understanding Abuse in Relationships  Karen is a Christian but the book is written for non-Christians as it aims to be of assistance to all women. Lundy Bancroft and Jackson Katz endorse the book.

More information about the book can be found at this website.

McOrmond-Plummer, Louise, Dr. Patricia Easteal, and Dr. Jennifer Y. Levy-Peck

Intimate Partner Sexual Violence: A Multidisciplinary Guide to Improving Services and Support for Survivors of Rape and Abuse  This is an authoritative resource for all professionals who work with IPSV victims including counselors, social workers, refuge workers, victim advocates, mental health professionals, pastoral workers, lawyers, police, and health practitioners.  This book brings together advice from professionals working with individuals who have experienced IPSV, including Barbara Roberts who has contributed a chapter in this book;  the chapter is entitled “Pastoral Responses to Christian Survivors of Intimate Partner Sexual Violence”.

McQueen, Janie

Hanging On By My Fingernails: Surviving the New Divorce Gamesmanship, and How a Scratch Can Land You in Jail

Middelton-Moz, Jane

Shame & Guilt: Masters of Disguise This book describes how debilitating shame is created and fostered in childhood and how it manifests itself in adulthood and in intimate relationships.

Murray, Dr. Jill

But He Never Hit Me: The Devastating Cost of Non-Physical Abuse to Girls and Women This has been recommended by one of our readers. You can read her comment about the book here.

Needham, David

Birthright: Christian, Do You Know Who You Are? This book does not address abuse, but addresses another issue sorely lacking in our understanding.  Needham writes in the introduction, “Could it be that a major reason for the indifference, the epidemic occurrences of moral shipwreck in our evangelical churches, and the shattering of Christian homes is because we have seen ourselves as nothing more than ‘Christian’  forgiven sinners – failing to be what we should be, because we cannot stop being what we think we are?”

Olympia Union Gospel Mission

Bible Studies On Domestic Violence is a PDF created by Olympia Union Gospel Mission.  This workbook includes ten biblical studies which focus on understanding the basic dynamics of domestic violence relationships, including verbal abuse.

Paul, Christi

Love Isn’t Supposed To Hurt Here is what one of our readers has said about this book: “When I started to realize that my marriage was abusive this was really helpful because she is a Christian woman and she describes the abuse she suffered at the hands of her first husband who was also an alcoholic.  Just one caution though, I found myself saying things like, well he doesn’t do that so maybe it’s not so bad for me etc., but she talks about how she left and what she did to leave and also spends a fair amount of time talking about some therapy that she went through to help heal herself of the verbal abuse she had suffered.  I just remember her saying in there, I wasn’t created to be abused. No one is. So many lightbulb moments!“

Payne, Philip Barton

Man and Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul’s Letters From the Amazon blurb: Does Paul teach a hierarchy of authority of man over woman, or does he teach the full equality of man and woman in the church and home? In Man and Woman, One in Christ, Philip Barton Payne answers this question and more, injecting crucial insights into the discussion of Paul’s view of women. Condensing over three decades of research on this topic, Payne’s rigorous exegetical analysis demonstrates the consistency of Paul’s message on this topic and its coherence with the rest of his theology. Payne’s exegetical examination of the Pauline corpus is thorough, exploring the influences on Paul, his practice as a church leader, and his teachings to various Christian communities. Paul’s theology, instruction, and practice consistently affirm the equal standing of men and women, with profound implications for the church today. Man and Woman, One in Christ is required reading for all who desire to understand the meaning of Paul’s statements regarding women and their relevance for Christian relationships and ministry today. This work has the potential of uniting the church on this contentious issue.

Pierce, D. Anne

Sexual Abuse in Marriage The author is a Christian.

Roberts, Barbara

Not Under Bondage: Biblical Divorce for Abuse, Adultery and Desertion  This book explains the scriptural dilemmas of abuse victims in regard to separation and divorce,  carefully examines the scriptures and scholarly research, and shows how the Bible sets victims of abuse free from bondage and guilt. It will help victims throw off the unbiblical traditions they have been in bondage to and get free from their abusers. Read reviews of this book at Barbara’s website by theologians, by pastoral carers, and by others.  Additional reviews of this book can be found: by Ps Dave Orrison (here), and by Angela Ruth Strong (here and here).

Robinson, Joanne

He Loves Me Not?: How to Break the Cycle of Painful Relationships For Christian women preparing for dating and marriage relationships and those recovering from a break up or divorce.

Rule, Ann

Dead by Sunset  A “true-crime” story about real-life abuse by a psychopathic man named Bradley Morris Cunningham who murdered his wife.  Free of any restraints of conscience, Cunningham devastated the lives of intelligent, talented women and just about everyone else around him.  His ability to deceive and manipulate was incredible.

Too Late to Say Goodbye This “true-crime” story is about Bart Corbin, the “handsome twin” responsible for a double homicide that spanned 14 years.

Salter, Anna 

Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists, And Other Sex Offenders Drawing on the stories of abusers, Anna C. Salter shows that sexual predators use sophisticated deception techniques and rely on misconceptions surrounding them to evade discovery. Arguing that even the most knowledgeable among us can be fooled, Salter dispels the myths about sexual predators and gives us the tools to protect our families and ourselves.

Sapienza, Katherine

Stolen From My Arms  A true story about a mother that risks everything to get her son back.  When the legal system fails her she must take a different course of action — a dangerous one.  A true, heart-rending story which illustrates God’s mercy and redemption.

Silvious, Jan

Fool-Proofing Your Life: How to Deal Effectively with the Impossible People in Your Life Building upon the Book of Proverbs in the Bible, Silvious teaches us that abusers (fools) are not your normal brand of sinner and cannot be handled with typical methods we might use for dealing with other people. Caveat: This author says abuse is not grounds for divorce; we disagree with that, but find other useful things in the book.

Simon, Dr. George, Jr.

Character Disturbance: The Phenomenon of Our Age Any abuse victim reading this book is very likely to say “he is describing my situation!”

How Did We End Up Here?: Surviving and Thriving in a Character-Disordered World Dr. Simon’s most recent book. He answers questions such as: Can he (she) really change? Is there a chance for us?  Should I stay or do I go?  What do I do about the lies, deceit, and manipulation?

In Sheep’s Clothing: Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People Discusses the mentality of abusers and the tactics of covert abuse.

The Judas Syndrome: Why Good People Do Awful Things Has a more overtly Christian tone than the previous two books.

Stark, Evan

Coercive Control Stark, founder of one of America’s first battered women’s shelters, shows how ‘domestic violence’ is neither primarily domestic nor necessarily violent, but a pattern of controlling behaviors more akin to terrorism and hostage-taking.

Steffens, Barbara & Marsha Means

Your Sexually Addicted Spouse: How Partners Can Cope and Heal

Stout, Martha

The Sociopath Next Door  Conscienceless people are far more numerous than we realize and Stout helps us learn to recognize their mentality and tactics, and how we must deal with them.

Taylor, Dr. Jessica, and Jaimi Shrive

Indicative Trauma Impact Manual ITIM: ITIM for Professionals 2023 More information on the book can be found in this article, A non-psychiatric model of trauma., as well as at this link, VictimFocus: ITIM: Indicative Trauma Impact Manual.

Thomas, Angela

My Single Mom Life: Stories and Practical Lessons for Your Journey Read a recommendation of this book here.

Tracy, Stephen

Mending the Soul: Understanding and Healing Abuse While not specific to domestic abuse, it is nevertheless very useful for understanding the dynamics of abuse in general. Discusses sexual abuse at some length.

Tucker, Ruth A.

Black and White Bible, Black and Blue Wife:  My Story of Finding Hope after Domestic Abuse Ruth recounts a harrowing story of abuse at the hands of her husband, a well-educated charming preacher no less, in hope that her story would help other women caught in a cycle of domestic violence and offer a balanced biblical approach to counter such abuse for pastors and counselors.

Van Dam, Carla

The Socially Skilled Child Molester:  Differentiating the Guilty from the Falsely Accused This book reveals the secret but successful strategies used by child molesters which allows adults to intervene long before children are abused.  It focuses on the sexual deviants who “groom’ family, friends, and their community to allow their activities, though arousing suspicion, to go on without restriction.

Van Epp, John, Ph.D.

How to Avoid Falling in Love with a Jerk: The Foolproof Way to Follow Your Heart Without Losing Your Mind This book is helpful for those entering new relationships.

Wade, Allan et al

Response Based Approaches to the Study of Interpersonal Violence Recommended for all professionals who are in some way or other dealing with interpersonal violence and abuse. We have not read this yet but are comfortable endorsing it as we have great respect for Allan Wade one of the authors / editors, and are confident his co-editors would be of similar integrity.

Weiss, Elaine

Family and Friends’ Guide to Domestic Violence: How to Listen, Talk and Take Action When Someone You Care About is Being Abused

Wilson, Andrew and Rachel

The Life We Never Expected:  Hopeful Reflections on the Challenges of Parenting Children with Special Needs Andrew and Rachel Wilson know what it means to live a life they never expected.  As the parents of two children with special needs (autism), their story mingles deep pain with deep joy in unexpected places.  With raw honesty, they share about the challenges they face on a daily basis — all the while teaching what it means to weep, worship, wait, and hope in the Lord.  Offering encouragement rooted in God’s Word, this book will help you cling to Jesus and fight for joy when faced with a life you never expected.

Wilson, Sandra D.

Released From Shame: Moving Beyond the Pain of the Past Shame is a wicked ally of abuse.  Writing from a Christian perspective, Wilson teaches us about shame, about its causes, and how to be free from it.

Zens, Jon H.

No Will Of My Own: How Patriarchy Smothers Female Dignity & Personhood This book has been recommended by one of our commenters.  You can read her comment about the book here. Read here for Barbara Roberts’ comment on the book, which includes a link to the Amazon reviews of the book. Or click here to go directly to the Amazon reviews of the book.