Threadbear: A Story of Christian Healing for
Adult Survivors of Sexual Abuse
Tilda Norberg; illustrated by Joyce Thomas
Penn House Press 1997
Threadbear is an illustrated storybook of Christian healing for adult survivors of sexual abuse. The book chronicles steps in the healing process and provides over 40 drawings which serve as healing and companions for survivors in recovery.
Threadbear is a composite story taken from real-life experiences, told as one woman's journey through tumultuous emotions and spiritual ups and downs as she works and prays toward wholeness.
With the help of her Gestalt Pastoral Care minister, she discerns that Threadbear, her tattered old stuffed animal, holds both her horrifying memories and the answers to some of her most profound theological questions.The story witnesses to the power of God to heal and transform even the most damaging experiences.
Praise for Threadbear
I would love to put a copy of Threadbear into the hands of every survivor. They need to have the reassurance that the healing process can be gentle. And most of all, they need hope that healing is possible.
-Carolyn Davies, MSW, LCSW, psychotherapist and survivor
Threadbear is the best resource on sexual abuse that I've read in my 30 years of working as a clinician and as a seminary professor teaching human sexuality. This sensitively written book is both realistic and hopeful. Tilda Norberg's seamless integration of psychology and Christian spirituality is profound. She compromises neither discipline as she weaves them together into a tapestry that speaks truthfully and powerfully of the soul-shattering betrayal experienced by a child at the hands of a trusted person. Joyce Thomas' simple, line-drawn illustrations are terrific. I'm ordering ten books for my counseling staff.
-Carol Schreck, Associate Professor of Marriage and Family, Palmer Theological Seminary
