October 2007 Books
Power Abused, Power Healed; Transforming Burnout
Power Abused, Power Healed
Power abused—a theme all too present in so many facets of our lives. In her insightful treatment of the subject, therapist Judith Barr has authored a book deserving of our attention. Drawing on her years of professional and human experience, she sheds light on the unconscious beliefs underlying abuse and victimhood and the depth of understanding required to heal them.
This is a book of stories of people like you and me, seen in the light of the fairy tale' The Emperor's New Clothes . We are the emperor, we are the community that refuses to see the obvious—and we are the child who, in all innocence, gives voice to the unacceptable truth. Presenting the fate of the child with a different twist in each case, the author examines the abuse all too often meted out by therapists who have not yet learned to understand the human psyche and soul or completed their own inner healing. Each story is then recapped for clarity, and questions are posed to assist us in identifying the scenes of our own lives in which we have played victim and perpetrator so that we may begin our own healing process.
“Think of what our world would be like if the adults in the late 1930's and early 1940's had healed their wounds,” Barr suggests. “How many Germans would have never become part of Hitler's defense force… if they weren't searching for an authority figure in place of an absent parent…?”
The time for healing has to be now, for there is no other time. In the words of the author, “The way I know to change the abuse of power is to commit to healing the misuse and abuse of power in my own life and then to help others do the same.”
So, while Power Abused, Power Healed is a book to help us learn to heal ourselves, it can also help us heal society's political, economic and spiritual ills on a grand scale. As a mirror, it has huge potential for bring buried issues to light for healing. And as a book, it's highly readable—definitely one of the most compelling treatments of this vital subject to be found anywhere.
—Chiwah
Transforming Burnout
People in all walks of life experience burnout on the job: librarians, teachers, medical practitioners, masons, beauticians, engineers, chefs, and even musicians. It's that feeling, day after day, of ‘Oh no, I just can't get out of bed and do this another time.' You become despondent, distant, critical, bereft of joy at work—although on weekends, you may bound out of bed overflowing with energy.
How to fix it? Quit your job, find another profession? Maybe. But more often than not, there's a simpler answer—especially if you're doing what you always wanted to do, or a job you previously enjoyed.
In Transforming Burnout, Dr. Alan Shelton takes us by the hand and leads us through his own experience of healing from burnout, which he accomplished without giving up his work as a physician for a Native American community. But he didn't do it on his own. He couldn't; he didn't know how. He did it with the help of a tribal healer, who “brought his spirit back to him.”
This helpful little book is a guidebook back to balanced living, packed with wisdom you've probably run into in other places but put together in a way that leads you to looking into your own life and applying a few simple principles that actually make a difference.
If peace, joy and compassion have vanished from any part of your life, whether it be from your work or from family or social interactions, take the easy way out. Don't walk away—if you do, you'll just have to start over. Instead, pick up this tiny book and put these principles to work in your life. And then share with others how you rediscovered joy.
—Chiwah
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