4 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent read, 2005-09-19
This book arrived in excellent condition and in a timely manner. This book certainly ministers to the soul of anyone who reads it.
50 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
Specific answers, not platitudes, 2004-07-26
I have read almost everything I can get my hands on to help me understand myself, my ex, and why it all went wrong. I finally feel like I understand why we have the defenses we do, and why it's so hard to snap out of it. The author combines years of solid experience working with people in real clinical situations with inspirational insight into issues of the heart in light of the Biblical understanding God gives us about how He created us. This book was rare for me, because it is solid and specific about why we are afraid to reach out and grasp what we most need to truly heal. I found it especially different because it addresses the problem of well-meaning Christians who come across as judgemental when they are really trying to be loving and helpful, as well as the tendency sometimes in counseling to provide acceptance and safety without the truth and responsiblity we need to grasp the power to actually change. It is refreshing because it is solid, specific, and treats us as complex, wonderful but fallable children of God who are hurting and so to protect ourselves from further injury we hide, afraid to reach out and try again. But it is not a how-to formula book so much as a scriptural guidebook to see how God made us and how he heals us. This book is not just the same old same old. For me, this book was tremendously important for unlocking hurts and helping me understand. It's not as easily readable as some of his other books like Changes that Heal, Boundaries, or Safe People, but I think it builds on the others and goes deeper. It's about exactly what it says it is, why we hide from love and how to safely come out of our fears and become who we were created to be.
27 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
Awesome book, 2002-02-12
One of the best things about this book is that he backs up what he is saying by scripture. So you know the book is really based on the Bible. He also tells a lot of stories about other people which makes you feel as if it is not just a bunch of information being shoveled on you. I am only on chapter 4 but I have already learned so much about myself and the things that I have hidden in my life and why I have hidden them. I cannot wait to get further into the book and to start to learn how to change it!
42 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
very accessible and readable, 2001-03-15
I think many readers may find this book useful. Whether you find it useful may depend on whether you are a beginner, that is, on your past exposure to self-development or spiritual growth reading. If you already have strong habits of introspection, you may find the approach of the book too simple for you. (The book is more about "withdrawal" than about fear of or struggle with intimacy.)
However, if you have not had much chance analyze your past, and want an approach that relies on a traditional foundation, then it book may be very useful to you.
70 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
Hiding From Love: The Book that Helped Change My Life, 2000-09-26
Hiding From Love provided me with the insight I needed to understand all the why's I had dealt with my entire life. At the age of 45 I was finally able to understand why I had felt so "unlovable", "insecure" and "stupid" as a child, that there were very valid reasons for my thinking that way about myself that were NOT MY FAULT. I began to see myself with confidence, and worthy of being loved, for the first time in my life! I would recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone struggling with childhood abandonment issues.