in my own journey i have come across "courage to heal" as well. it was suggested by my former therapist of three years. i read a few chapters and could not get past the empasis on female victims. it was not the one sided application of it so much as it was the fact that it did not address the unique experiences of male victims. i then came across a title specifically for men who are survivors. i forget the exact title ( icould not find it in my personal library right aff) but it goes something like this "lost boys: the forgetten victims of sexual abuse" it was a great book and helped me a great deal. i bought another title by the same author that was just as as good. the author is a male survivor himself and is a mental health professional who uses many case histories to illustrate the unique experiences of our victimization. i will post both titles as soon as i find them again. two other books i found very helpful and more balanced was regarding memories. i will post that info elsewhere since it is not relevant to this thread. take care, brothers.

"Abused Boys" is by Mic Hunter. It was the first book I got on sexual abuse, and it is still very helpful to me. I got to meet and thank him for that at the conference in Minnesota. I am glad that I was able to get to know him a little. He's not just a published author, he's a human being, and a nice guy, too!

(I felt like some kind of groupie, asking guys like Mic to autograph books for me! )

He shows up on Amazon for a lot of titles, but the stuff that is for professionals is probably beyond me. Not probably, definitely.

After meeting with some women survivors in 12 Step Meetings, I realized that the similarities between what they say and what I feel are greater than the specific differences. I do appreciate the differences, believe me. That's why I'm here on Male Survivor. I just felt (and feel) that I need all the help I can get, even if it takes effort on my part to "fit" it to me.

I did read a recovery book that annoyed me by ignoring male survivors of abuse. It nodded toward male war veterans as PTSD victims, but it seemed at times the author made strained efforts to avoid the notion of male abuse survivors. I don't remember what that book was, and I won't go back to it. So I can understand if someone doesn't want to use "Courage to Heal" if they're getting that same "I'm not wanted here" feeling that I got from that other book.

Thanks,

Joe