Healing Troubled Hearts

Recently I had the privilege of reading HealingTroubled Hearts Through Exchanges With the Master, by therapist and minister, Dr. William Day.  Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say this book read me.

Drawing from his own painful pilgrimage to inner healing from childhood emotional wounds, Day presents a profound and beautiful approach to integration and wholeness.  Each page is packed with rich meaning.

The first section of the book shares his story -- from the "chosen one" in the family to be a Catholic priest -- a lack of affection from his father -- going to boarding school to be trained by priests -- walking away from it all -- then zagging through life -- as a humanistic social worker -- then a New Age cult member -- a transpersonal psychologist -- and finally a Christian minister, after a dramatic spiritual conversion.

Throughout, Day does not just tell about his life -- but interprets it.  The meaning he draws from these experiences is quite profound.

Long after his spiritual conversion, Day still found himself struggling with old thought patterns, and wounds from the past.  There seemed to be a disconnect between what he knew in his head and felt in his heart.  One day, while counseling a client, he witnessed the power of Christ's healing presence for painful memories.  This began a quest to understand the true nature of his own inner healing and transformation.

The second half of the book is a guide for helping others towards wholeness, with many powerful insights.

One of my favorite take home points is that healing occurs when Christ is actually present, speaking His truth to the falsehoods we believe (subconsciously) from the past.  Real healing primarily takes place deep in the heart rather than the cognitive level.

Cognitive therapy may adjust behaviors temporarily but will not lead to true transformation.  The healing presence of Christ can accomplish what nothing else can do.

There is so much more -- a great read -- and I wish I would have understood this stuff a long time ago.

Purchase Here

(A complimentary copy of this book was provided to me for review on this blog.  I was not required to write a favorable review.)