Pelzer, Dave. Help Yourself: Finding Hope, Courage and Happiness. New York: Plume Books, 2001.
218 pages
Reviewed by J. d'Artagnan Love
Most people know Dave Pelzer's most famous work, A Child Called It. Dave experienced one of the most severe documented cases of child abuse and neglect in United States history. I was interested in reading this particular book because of curiosity about the concept of resilience discussed ad nauseam in developmental psychology research. Dave has experienced horrors from which few would recover, but seems to have become a moderately well adjusted, productive, and happy adult. I was curious to know how he got there and thus, picked up this book.
In this book, Dave chronicles what he did to survive his situation, not just physically, but psychologically. He discusses how he manages his life now and the psychological significance of the trauma he experienced. His goal is an honorable one: an attempt to help others by sharing how he overcame and continues to overcome his childhood experiences.
Perhaps I should not have been surprised to find that the strategies Dave uses and suggests in his book aren't ground breaking. The advice provided is the same advice found elsewhere in other self-help books and research. Keep a positive attitude. Practice forgiveness, not for the sake of the offender but for your own mental health. Practice self-reflection and take responsibility for your choices. Try to spend time helping others to get out of your own head. These are all valid options for improving a life but nothing new was really added to the conversation on resilience and trauma recovery.
While it may seem so, I'm not terribly disappointed with this book. I'm sure it will be and is helpful to those who have never encountered these concepts before. For me, it fell flat because of the amount of exposure I've had to the ideas. Had I read this in high school before I became steeped in trauma research, it would have probably seemed ground breaking and inspiring to me then. Alas, that is not how my experience with this book was in reality though, and so I can't say I liked it all that much.
RECOMMENDED FOR: Readers with no experience or background on the topic of resilience and trauma recovery. It's a good "starter" book on the topic.
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR: Readers with any previous background on the subject. The ideas are repeats of ideas already well known.
2 darts out of 5
218 pages
Reviewed by J. d'Artagnan Love
Most people know Dave Pelzer's most famous work, A Child Called It. Dave experienced one of the most severe documented cases of child abuse and neglect in United States history. I was interested in reading this particular book because of curiosity about the concept of resilience discussed ad nauseam in developmental psychology research. Dave has experienced horrors from which few would recover, but seems to have become a moderately well adjusted, productive, and happy adult. I was curious to know how he got there and thus, picked up this book.
In this book, Dave chronicles what he did to survive his situation, not just physically, but psychologically. He discusses how he manages his life now and the psychological significance of the trauma he experienced. His goal is an honorable one: an attempt to help others by sharing how he overcame and continues to overcome his childhood experiences.
Perhaps I should not have been surprised to find that the strategies Dave uses and suggests in his book aren't ground breaking. The advice provided is the same advice found elsewhere in other self-help books and research. Keep a positive attitude. Practice forgiveness, not for the sake of the offender but for your own mental health. Practice self-reflection and take responsibility for your choices. Try to spend time helping others to get out of your own head. These are all valid options for improving a life but nothing new was really added to the conversation on resilience and trauma recovery.
While it may seem so, I'm not terribly disappointed with this book. I'm sure it will be and is helpful to those who have never encountered these concepts before. For me, it fell flat because of the amount of exposure I've had to the ideas. Had I read this in high school before I became steeped in trauma research, it would have probably seemed ground breaking and inspiring to me then. Alas, that is not how my experience with this book was in reality though, and so I can't say I liked it all that much.
RECOMMENDED FOR: Readers with no experience or background on the topic of resilience and trauma recovery. It's a good "starter" book on the topic.
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR: Readers with any previous background on the subject. The ideas are repeats of ideas already well known.
2 darts out of 5
2 comments:
Good day! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a team of
volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community
in the same niche. Your blog provided us useful
information to work on. You have done a wonderful job!
I every time spent my half an hour to read this weblog's articles all the time along with a cup of coffee.
Post a Comment