What is Reddit's opinion of Be Healed: A Guide to Encountering the Powerful Love of Jesus in Your Life?

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You are mistaken because free will comes with responsibility. Free will means you do things, despite knowing you might suffer later. This is why God allowed us to sin. Free will. God warned us - do x, it will cause death. So please don't do x. But we still do x. And to save us from this addiction, he even sent Jesus! He literally gave us cure! But we have to be the ones who want to take this cure. Which many still don't want.

Hmm, idk. Because as said I never went to therapy. I don't like meds. What I worked with, mainly, was this. I think therapy would be more successfull if people were doing it also via faith. Genuinelly without this book I wouldn't be so well on it. There is more material, mainly self-observation material. But this one helped me the most. I think therapy also fails people because people don't understand they are the ones doing most of the work. They expect a therapist to do work. Without God's love, my "rehabilitation" wouldn't have been successfull. Tell your therapist about therapy not working, you have to clearly communicate with them and they have to know everything. One advice: don't hide anything. I advise this to every depressed person. The more you shut in and become secretive the worse it gets and you feel more hopeless. You have to communicate. It's hard but it's required. Tell people you trust how you are, totally openly. Don't fight alone.

In addition to the advice from Father u/sparky0457, I recommend praying through Bob Schucht's 'Be Healed'. He has an explanation (and prayerful approach) of how spiritual confusion can sometimes be a result of lies we believe about ourselves & the Lord. I've found his reflections helpful and his prayer exercises fruitful.

>As recently as two years ago, my heart was on fire for the love and affection of a woman. I was hoping that our dating would turn into love and love would turn into marriage. However, that didn’t last and I was jilted. Since then, I’ve really soured on love and relationships and even the idea of sex.

If I had to guess, this is the root of what's going on. But please stop the porn, it's not helping. I might suggest talking to your parish priest, or finding a Catholic therapist to talk these things over with, and praying the rosary every day if you aren't already. There are probably a lot of great books out there but this one might be worth looking into - https://www.amazon.com/Be-Healed-Guide-Encountering-Powerful/dp/1594714762

Some of my favorites:

• Be Healed by Dr. Bob Schuchts
• Loved as I Am by Sister Miriam James Heidland
• In Sinu Jesu by A Benedictine Monk
• Consoling the Heart of Jesus by Father Michael Gaitley

I am so sorry to hear about the abuse you are going through. That is not ok and the Catholic Church certainly does not say that it is ok for parents to abuse their children in any way.

I understand it can be difficult to talk to relatives or a priest about this situation. I hope you will be able to reach out to someone -- a guidance counselor, as others have suggested, or the person on this thread offering their help. Another avenue to try is the National Child Abuse Hotline, which you can call/text at (1-800) 422-4453 or visit the website to read about options in your state. I will pray for the Holy Spirit to send you courage to take this next step and to bring you in contact with the right person to help you.

You may need to stop contact with your parents right now (I would also advise talking about this with the person you ask for help), and it would not be a sin. And if you decide to go that route, you could try it out just for awhile and not feel that you are cutting off all contact permanently. Sometimes a bit of space allows for much-needed healing to occur, and when you are stronger in the future you may find that you are open to some type of limited relationship with your parents. You don't have to make all those decisions right now.

Lastly, I hope you will not give up on the Catholic Church. You might need to take a break from your usual parish for the moment if you associate it with your parents and the abuse, but the Church is a big place and I invite you to explore another parish through live-streamed mass, or books focused on healing such as Be Healed and Unbound. Jesus is the great healer and he can heal these deep wounds caused by your parents -- please don't let their failures keep you away from all the goodness of the Church. As you continue to grow and mature in your faith I am sure you can find your own "personal brand" of Catholicism that is distinct from your parents. I will pray for you as you move forward in this difficult time.

To throw in a few more resources, I have found these two books to be immensely beneficial in my journey to wholeness and integration.

Be Healed by Dr Bob Schuchts is the most powerful integration of Catholic teaching, prayer, and psychological insight I have ever encountered. The fact is that Jesus is the only way out. He desires your wholeness and it requires surrender to get there. Dr Bob shows how our sins cause us to internalize lies (I'm not good/lovable/worthy/etc), and those lies prevent Christ's grace from penetrating our souls. This book, along with attending a conference at the JP2 healing center, changed my life.

Loved As I Am by Sr. Miriam Heidland is a beautiful testimony of the work of God's grace. The biggest temptation in our lives is to think that we are worthless and cannot be loved by God. Sr. Miriam smashes that lie to a thousand pieces. You are good. You are lovable. You are not dirty. You are worthy of forgiveness.