How to Read This Book

How to Read This Book

It is not wholly necessary to navigate this book sequentially. The chapters do not lay out the healing process in exact chronological order because everyone’s journey is unique. Some may benefit from reading chapter by chapter, while others may find themselves gravitating toward material in later chapters first as they begin their healing work. More important than what order readers move through this book is that they do so in a way that works for them and that they take the time to reflect on the content and integrate what they learn with their own experiences.

That said, readers will find it helpful to have a general overview of the material in mind. Healing Work starts with the life story. Readers will learn to identify the starting point in their healing journey by learning to tell their story through creating a narrative of their lives and their pain (see Chapter 1). Chapter 2 builds on this and asks how we can use the life story to gain insight about our lives and struggles. Chapter 3 aims to help readers make sense of struggles in their lives that are uniquely activated by the passage of time and the onset of certain life stages, like adulthood or retirement. Throughout the healing journey, it’s important to step back and see the big picture of what we are facing. Chapter 4 helps us do that essential work of taking stock and understanding context. Otherwise, we easily fall into the trap of focusing on individual struggles without understanding how they fit within the whole of our lives. Until we learn to see these issues in context, our attempts to resolve them will be like pulling weeds out of a garden yet leaving their roots intact—our struggles may become less visible for a time, but they’ll soon be back. We may also have learned unhealthy and unreasonable roles in the past that we play