Book Review: Healing is a Choice by Stephen Arterburn
One phone call from his wife ended normalcy forever for Stephen Arterburn. He knows emotional pain, and he accepts no excuses when it comes to spiritual (emotional) healing. Whether it's his own emotional pain, or that of the reader, he proposes that God has given us the ability to heal, but we often impair the process. In this book he gives examples from his own life, sharing the story of his own divorce, the subject of that phone call from his wife. As a Christian in ministry who taught about relationships, the last thing he expected was the demise of his own marriage. But it happened.
In Healing is a Choice, Arterburn outlines ten choices that lead to healing. Each choice is also paired with a lie, or a myth, such as "There is no hope for me," or "Time heals all wounds." Each chapter concludes with workbook questions and an extensive application section for the material. This is an updated version of a previous printing and both the book and workbook are combined into one.
Although it could be used in a small group, the questions and application are introspective and personal, so many people would be more comfortable with it as a journaling exercise.
I thought Arterburn did an excellent job of presenting the material in a conversational style. He writes as though having a conversation with the reader. He's also very transparent about his own struggles and he gets real with the reader. He gives solid Biblical support for his ideas which makes this more than just a pop-psych self-help book.
The one drawback is that the application material in the "workbook" section that follows every chapter is very long. Some readers will find it too extensive. Arterburn says in the intro that he doesn't recommend skipping over parts of that, but I'm afraid that some readers will. This workbook includes more teaching from the author, exercises (and questions for reflection or journaling) that get the reader thinking about his or her own life, then more teaching, more exercises, then a Bible study with many verses to look up and exercises that correlate. Then more teaching, and journaling. I think the workbook is as long as the chapter. On the positive side, it's thorough and readers really work through their pain.
I highly recommend this book for anyone dealing with wounds that keep them from moving forward.
I received an e-book copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest and objective review.
