Whole Again: Healing Your Heart and Rediscovering Your True Self After Toxic Relationships and Emotional Abuse

I read once that trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness. The first book of Jacksons, Psychopath free, saved me. With this book, I feel that I have found some true solutions to healing myself as well as an empathetic witness. I can’t thank him enough ❤️

This sequel to the seminal "Psychopath Free" delivers a forthright strategy to melt away lingering deep inner core shame and inadequacy due to the resulting bodily felt trauma of betrayal from a trusted loved one. Essentially, it's going inwards and turning towards the pain in order to release it and be done with it-- rather than our natural unconscious protective measures that keep us perceived "safe" by avoiding it in favor of external distractions that temporarily numb without ever resolving the reason that the shame stays on within us. Facing temporary sensations of discomfort in choosing to confront our inner wound pay off in a permanent reconnecting with our own personal unlimited source of heartfelt love and well-being that's our innate human birthright.MacKenzie did it once again in getting straight to the nitty gritty realism of the cluster b relationship aftermath as seen on the ground by someone who has lived through it himself. Complicated theory and speculations are all fine and dandy for the academic minded professionals, but the everyday laypersons who have had these experiences just want to know the practical necessities of how to put the whole mess behind us in order to get back to our business of living our best lives ASAP. Save time by giving him a listen and his ideas a try.

I read his first book, Psychopath Free and at the time I was in a toxic marriage, totally confused as to what had been happening over the last decade in the marriage. This book hit every single red flag I was experiencing and validated my experience, because I had no idea what was going on. If you feel you are in a toxic relationship, and need understanding, I highly recommend ANY of his books hands down. He understands ambient, extrovert and covert abuse from a victim and survivors viewpoint, and can help you understand the toxic person you're dealing with, and give you solid information on how to deal with it and what to expect. Toxic people are pathological and he helps you get that its not your fault and how to release yourself of the toxicity in your life.

I read one of this other books "psychopath free" and just had to order this one. Glad I did. Highly recommend if going through a narcissist or sociopath relationship and trying to be able to move on and find acceptance after it ends. It's a must have!! Easy read...very helpful!

Jackson has a relatable way of explaining things. This book will challenge you to do tough work, but offers solutions to move forward. I will definitely re read parts of this book as I attempt to apply his methods. If you're truly ready to give up victim mode and move on, this book is for you.

I picked up this book at my local Barnes and noble and gave it a bit of a read while there. It intrigued me from the very beginning and luckily I was able to find it on amazon for a few dollars cheaper (yay)! I haven’t been able to put the book down since it was delivered. I was at awe with how relatable I was with the author and the stories he told within the book. Grateful that I picked up this read!

I'm a big fan of this author and I'm so excited that this important, beautiful book is out in the world. It's wonderful and well worth your time.

Absolutely a great book following Psychopath Free. Great tips on how to heal and more.

This book is very well written and all the concepts are very clear. Reading this has been a real turning point in my recovery. I love Jackson's 'voice' and find all his work to be so nourishing and like a balm to my injured soul. I had no idea how much of my mental and physical energy I was focusing externally, on other people and how this was distracting me from healing. I am going through the process and it is really working. There is a whole universe inside. Be brave. Dive in!

Even though I’m a published writer with an an MFA from a top-ranked program, I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t write reviews often. However, I absolutely must write a review for this book I just finished reading. My god. I actually cried when I read the last sentence of the book—CRIED at the end of a self-help book! I mean, I cried throughout the book because this book makes you do a lot of emotional/psychological work. Why else would you get this book if you didn’t need to do that?I’m assuming that you need to do a lot of work psychologically if you’re looking at this title, and I’m guessing that maybe you’ve looked at and probably read a lot of books like this. Let me tell you that this book stands out from the rest in the way this author speaks to his reader. Forget the fact that he is not a licensed psychotherapist or psychiatrist. His personal experience as an abuse survivor and the work he did on his first book, Psychopath Free, and the nonprofit he created stemming from that has allowed him to develop the frank, no-bs, straight-talking voice that he uses to impart the great stores of knowledge, wisdom, and research that he shares with his readership. And he makes no claims to how easy or quick your recovery is going to be. This is hard work—but oh so worth it.I take copious notes, and that is why the Kindle edition worked best for me. I love highlighting, in different colours for different types of notes, the amazing passages in the book. The author’s writing can be beautiful, lyrical, and amazingly poignant and insightful at times. I was just stunned by the way he creates images that really struck me and stuck in me, so that his important concepts would not be lost. My deep depression often has often caused memory loss and brain fog, but his sometimes poetic style—which is not to be confused with convoluted or pompous language, but rather just vivid and crisp—really makes you remember his key concepts that apply to your context and situation.He employs conversations and scenarios with clients to provide examples of different personality disorders and how concepts like “protective self” and “core wound” play into contexts of abuse, reactions, and how to heal oneself and keep up the healing.I recommend this book to anyone who has grown up with a narcissistic parent like I have, who has been in a toxic relationship like I have, who has had a narcissistic boss or teacher like I have...any sort of abusive relationship, and is feeling long-term effects that basically destroyed you. I’m not bragging but merely stating facts when I say that by all accounts of my friends, I am an attractive, intelligent (I have two Master’s degrees from highly reputable universities), multitasking and highly globally networked, strong-willed woman with three children, yet because I grew up with a narcissistic mother and alcoholic and violent father, and all my partners were narcissistic to varying degrees, I have nearly all personality disorders listed in this book and have been going through the deepest depression and avoidance disorder of my life. But for all my achievements, I feel like a giant zero, nothing, smear on the ground. I want to crawl under my bed. I give myself an F in the mom category... Yes, that’s oversharing, and that is talked about in the book (LOL), but I’m also a memoirist, and so this is okay by me. The point is, I also am into helping people a lot (which is also talked about in the book), and I’m here to tell you to get this book because it was my light in the longest tunnel of my life. The author also runs a vital Facebook page based on his first book, Psychopath Free, and I recommend you liking that if you’re on Facebook. I will now step off my podium. Thank you.

Very well written, helpful book, i read this, practised what was discussed, took up meditation/yoga, my life has changed positively for ever, it opened up my mind to a new way of thinking, learning and most importantly real unconditional self love and understanding

If you think or know for sure your partner or ex partner is a narcissist than this book will help you .Really recommend

The book arrived yesterday and I read the whole thing in the afternoon and evening. I couldn't put it down. After years of therapy and nothing working, I was anxious to see what someone, who had recovered, had to say. The book is blunt, concise, and has the best descriptions of what it is like to live with C-PTSD and other disorders that are results of being in toxic relationships, and not know how to move on despite best efforts. I had never heard of avoidance and wow, did it ever open my eyes. It tells exactly how we block our own road to recovery through no fault of our own, and how to dissolve it. I already reordered and sent the copy to my adult kid, as we are recovering from the actions of the same disordered person. I have hope where I didn't two days ago, and that's something. Now onto the work.