What do you think?
Rate this book
Nurturing the Light Inside: Overcoming Addiction and Codependency on the Path to Self-Love
A compassionate memoir about overcoming the shame that fuels addiction and a practical guide to learning to love yourself.
This honest and raw collection of essays reveals the author’s struggles with alcohol abuse, body image, and unhealthy relationships as she found the path to the new life she’s built in recovery. It also provides thought-provoking questions for readers to explore their own stories and beliefs about themselves.
Sherry Danner—a former marriage and family therapist with specialized training in addiction and trauma—recalls her own teenage sexual assault, the memory of which was triggered by listening to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony at the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings; a love affair that started in rehab and ended in tragedy; an intense female friendship complicated by alcohol that ended messily; a spiritual awakening that kick-started a hundred-pound weight loss; and an unconventional addiction-recovery method that led to freedom from a decades-long battle with alcohol.
Questions designed to be used as prompts for writing or small-group discussions follow each essay, inviting readers to consider their own lives from an empowered point of view and to challenge limiting beliefs they may hold about their own self-worth. In the final chapters, Danner shares practical steps for overcoming the perfectionistic, shame-based thinking that fuels addiction and codependency and offers suggestions for cultivating self-love and setting healthy boundaries.
This honest and raw collection of essays reveals the author’s struggles with alcohol abuse, body image, and unhealthy relationships as she found the path to the new life she’s built in recovery. It also provides thought-provoking questions for readers to explore their own stories and beliefs about themselves.
Sherry Danner—a former marriage and family therapist with specialized training in addiction and trauma—recalls her own teenage sexual assault, the memory of which was triggered by listening to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony at the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings; a love affair that started in rehab and ended in tragedy; an intense female friendship complicated by alcohol that ended messily; a spiritual awakening that kick-started a hundred-pound weight loss; and an unconventional addiction-recovery method that led to freedom from a decades-long battle with alcohol.
Questions designed to be used as prompts for writing or small-group discussions follow each essay, inviting readers to consider their own lives from an empowered point of view and to challenge limiting beliefs they may hold about their own self-worth. In the final chapters, Danner shares practical steps for overcoming the perfectionistic, shame-based thinking that fuels addiction and codependency and offers suggestions for cultivating self-love and setting healthy boundaries.
Kindle Edition
Published August 11, 2020
5 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 18, 2024
“Our stories matter — especially the messy ones.” (from the introduction)
This highly recommended book is part memoir and part a guide to recovery. The combination of these two genres made the book both engaging and helpful. I couldn’t put it down. Though her stories differ from mine, I could relate. Are any of us truly exempt from the very human struggles of addiction and codependency? I too am a recovering-from-something person; a “heart-broken and healing person” as she describes herself. The lessons of self-love, setting healthy boundaries, and overcoming codependency have stayed with me since finishing the book (and I plan on re-reading it). The questions at the end of each chapter help the reader dive deeper into their own journey.
I’m grateful Danner shared her stories. They are good medicine and will help many, me included, feel a lot less alone in the world as we heal together.
This highly recommended book is part memoir and part a guide to recovery. The combination of these two genres made the book both engaging and helpful. I couldn’t put it down. Though her stories differ from mine, I could relate. Are any of us truly exempt from the very human struggles of addiction and codependency? I too am a recovering-from-something person; a “heart-broken and healing person” as she describes herself. The lessons of self-love, setting healthy boundaries, and overcoming codependency have stayed with me since finishing the book (and I plan on re-reading it). The questions at the end of each chapter help the reader dive deeper into their own journey.
I’m grateful Danner shared her stories. They are good medicine and will help many, me included, feel a lot less alone in the world as we heal together.
March 20, 2021
This has got to be in my top five books about addiction and healing. The author is both a MFT with clinical experience and personal experience as well. I recommend this book for anyone who needs a resource for getting better, but can't do the 12 steps. I LOVE the format of this book!
March 21, 2021
This book is full of wisdom that was obviously well earned. I loved it and highly recommend it to anyone who struggles with addiction or co-dependency
Extremely helpful to anyone who is sick and tired of repeating defeating behaviors
Extremely helpful to anyone who is sick and tired of repeating defeating behaviors
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews