One in five of us experiences severe abuse in some form as a child, often leading to devastating emotional and mental health problems in adulthood.[1] As a crime that is often hidden, it is difficult to measure and often comes to light when it is too late. Where prevention has sadly not been possible, is that the end of the story for the victims? Will the legacy of those events leave them feeling overwhelmed and devastated even as adults? Or is it possible to have a full and abundant life when abuse has shattered a person’s childhood, leaving the adult still struggling with the effects?      
        Psychotherapist and minister Giles Lascelle says it is. In Breakthrough, written especially for survivors and their supporters, including those who want to welcome survivors into churches and help them, Giles combines psychological insight with an understanding of the compassionate heart of Christ. This book provides a unique and powerful resource to guide survivors on a journey of recovery and healing from the brokenness of childhood abuse, and to help them come through to a place of peace and joy.
        Breakthrough is a much-needed resource for survivors and those supporting and working with them. It seeks to educate about some of the behavioural outworking of childhood abuse in later life, and how we can better understand them. It also aims to equip churches to become trauma-informed, safe and supportive places for survivors.
        Giles Lascelle says, ‘Victims of abuse can not only survive but thrive. It starts with people recognising that they are not abnormal for feeling the things they feel, for responding in the way they do. That is why people need therapeutic intervention, to make sense of what happened to them. They also need community. No one survives this journey on their own; they need support, especially when it’s tough.’
 
About the author: Giles D. Lascelle is a psychotherapist specialising in trauma. For thirty years he has been working with people who were abused or traumatised, for Social Services, in the NHS and in private practice. He currently leads Breakthrough, a Christian charity providing access to specialist therapy and support for adult survivors of abuse and other childhood trauma, and training for churches and other organisations in how to support survivors. He lives in Bath with his wife, Ally, and their insanely overindulged cat.
   
Breakthrough by Giles Lascelle (ISBN: 9781912726141) is published by Instant Apostle and is available on 17th October 2019 from Christian bookshops, bookstores and online retailers. Non-fiction, 304pp, £8.99.