Finding the Gems: : The Search for Meaning in Life’s Traumas and Losses

By Gwen Hecht

Book Id: WPLBN0100304439
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 0.1 MB
Reproduction Date: 4/14/2023

Title:	Finding the Gems: : The Search for Meaning in Life’s Traumas and Losses
Author:	Gwen Hecht
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Non Fiction, Psychology
Collections:	Authors Community, Biographies
Historic Publication Date:	2023
Publisher:	House of Ruach

Member Page:	Gwen Hecht
Citation APA MLA Chicago Hecht, G. (2023). Finding the Gems: : The Search for Meaning in Life’s Traumas and Losses. Retrieved from http://gutenberg.cc/

Description
During her career spanning four decades as a Therapist, Dr. Gwen Hecht has often been asked by patients: "Why did that happen to me?" "Why isn't life more joyful?" "Why can't I have what others seem to have so effortlessly?" "Why do I feel stuck?" "Why didn't my previous therapy help?" "Was I born only to suffer?" "Where was God when this was happening?" "What is spirituality?" "How can I let go of my grief?" In Finding the Gems, she explores these themes, paying particular attention to how the losses and traumas we've experienced as children affect us in our adult lives. Even if your most significant losses or traumas occurred as an adult, lessons learned in childhood will inform your interpretation of adult experiences. Personalizing the work of the great Viennese psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl, she blends psychology, spirituality, humanism, meaning and purpose in a soulful and penetrating account of her own traumas and bereavement. She argues that finding the meaning in painful experiences is what can free each one of us to be who we want to be. Each chapter is introduced by a quote and concludes with a spiritual lesson that will help you find the gems in painful memories and experiences.

Summary
A raw and captivating look into a woman's journey of trauma, loss, hope, and love.

Excerpt
Mine was a sad and lonely childhood, as I was left to fend for myself against uncaring, cold, abandoning, and terribly abusive adults, both family members and strangers. As my life unfolded, there were too many losses to count: innocence, childhood, opportunities, Mother, family, and losses due to death. By my late twenties, I knew more dead people than live people. Life would have been unbearable without love. As I look at my life from the vantage point of being sixty-plus years old, I recognize that I was fortunate to have been well and properly loved by three good men and to have loved them deeply with a combination of awe, wonder, respect, adoration, and passion. They changed something about me and what was to come in my life. Each man’s love provided a building block that lifted me higher, changing my vantage point, thereby changing my perspective and helping me to create a vision of what I wanted from my life. I am grateful for the lessons learned and the outcomes changed because they loved me. And there are the guides, who come to us in many forms. Wasn’t each man my teacher, as I was his student? And was not I his teacher, just as he was my student? Guides to each other, we are changed, hopefully, for the better. Ultimately, that is our choice to make: how will Mother, Father, a lover, or a painful or traumatic experience alter us? Each person makes his own choice in that regard. I chose to align with my potential and my spirit, and I’m grateful I did.

Table of Contents
How to Use This Book Chapter 1- Divine Love Chapter 2- Looking Back Chapter 3- Perspective Chapter 4- Death Chapter 5- Incest Chapter 6- Time Chapter 7- Mother Chapter 8- Soul-Crushers Chapter 9- Miracles Chapter 10- Awareness Chapter 11- Bad Therapy Chapter 12- Oedipus Chapter 13- Mr. Big-Shot Honey Chapter 14- Journeys Chapter 15- Regrets Chapter 16- Mr. Big, Smart, Cuddly Guy Chapter 17- Alone, Again Chapter 18- Death of a Fantasy Chapter 19- My Beloved Chapter 20- Eternal Love Epilogue About Author Dr. Gwen Hecht