Shame is one of the most destructive of human emotions. And while anyone can suffer from lingering shame, those who were abused in childhood tend to feel it the most. In It Wasn't Your Fault, a therapist presents a compassion-based therapeutic approach to help survivors of physical and sexual abuse overcome the debilitating shame that often keeps them tied to the past. By offering step-by-step techniques for understanding the root cause of shame, as well as exercises in mindfulness and compassion for the self and others, this book will help readers begin to heal and move past painful experiences.

No one could have imagined how as a child Beverly Engel could have managed to become who she is today—an internationally known expert on abuse recovery and the best-selling author of twenty-two self-help books. This is the raw, candid story of how she made her way in the world in spite of her mother's neglect, unreasonable expectations and constant criticism; in spite of being sexually abused, first at four years old and then at nine; and in spite of being raped at twelve. Raising Myself takes readers on a remarkable journey, showing us how Engel, who was basically on her own from the age of four, learned how to cope with a neglectful, narcissistic mother while being surrounded by a cast of characters that included eccentrics and misfits, a religious fanatic, child molesters, rapists, and hoodlums. It is a soul-searching memoir about how she came dangerously close to the edge of becoming a child molester, a criminal, and a suicide, and how she battled her inner demons...