Wounded by Words: Healing the Invisible Scars of Emotional Abuse

Susan Titus Osborn, MA, suffered emotional abuse as a child. She continued the cycle by marrying verbally abusive men. Today, she is remarried to a supportive Christian husband, and the cycle of abuse has been broken. She is an inspirational speaker and writer and has published more than 30 books. She is currently the director of the Christian Communicator Manuscript Critique Service. Jeenie Gordon, MS, MA, LMFT, suffered emotional abuse as a child. She is now a licensed marriage and family therapist. In her practice of more than 20 years, she has counseled many verbally abused patients. She has published 5 books, one of which was a Gold Medallion finalist. Karen L. Kosman was a victim of domestic abuse. Today, however, she is a popular inspirational speaker for Celebrate Recovery, Stephen Ministries, other women’s ministries, as well as other church groups. A coauthor of Wounded by Words and Too Soon to Say Goodbye, her published works also appear in Chicken Soup for the Soul as well as other compilation books. This mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother lives in Hemet, California, with her husband.

In Wounded by Words, the authors explore how emotional abusers isolate, disorient, and indoctrinate their victims and how their unkind words leave lasting scars. Readers will learn how to recognize the signs of verbal or emotional abuse and change abusive patterns. Readers who feel rejected and worthless because of the abusive words of a parent, spouse, intimate partner, or other person will rediscover hope. Through the study of God’s Word, prayer, and advice from a counselor and other victims, readers will see their distorted self-images begin to change. As they lay down a new life foundation, with Jesus Christ being the cornerstone, readers can begin to erase old, destructive tapes that replay in the mind and gradually renew hope and faith.

The old adage, "Sticks and stones may break your bones, but names will never hurt you," is not true. Unkind words leave lasting scars, affecting how we deal with every aspect of our lives. Verbal abusers isolate, disorient, and indoctrinate their victims. Words can be either boulders that crush and destroy a person or building blocks that create a solid foundation and strengthen self-esteem. A parent’s comment in a moment of anger can create an identity crisis that lasts a lifetime for the child. Comments like, "I wish you’d never been born," "Can’t you do anything right," and "How can you be so stupid," create a feeling of rejection and worthlessness. Old tapes continue to play in her mind, setting up a cycle of failure in relationships that is carried on from generation to generation.

The victim needs to lay down a new foundation for her life with the cornerstone being Jesus Christ. Through studying His Word, prayer, and counseling by others, her distorted image of herself begins to change. She begins to erase the old, destructive tapes in her mind. Gradually her hope and faith are renewed. She comes to the realization that she does not deserve to be put down with demeaning, caustic words.

Wounded by Words contains twelve chapters filled with personal stories of people who have suffered verbal abuse. The issues these people have learned to deal with will help the reader confront her denial, make her realize others have experienced what she is going through, and provide hope and wholeness as she seeks answers. We will transition from one story to the next with inspirational thoughts, biblical truths, and practical advice for the reader.

In Scripture, the stories of Leah, Joseph, Hannah, Job, Abigail, King David, Mary Magdalene, and Mary and Martha demonstrate examples of verbal abuse. How they overcame this invisible destroyer is encouraging to us all. These stories demonstrate how God dealt with emotional abuse in biblical times, and he expects us to deal with this issue today as well.

Susan Titus Osborn, Karen L. Kosman, and Jeenie Gordon all suffered emotional abuse as children. Karen and Susan both continued the cycle by marrying verbally abusive men. Today both are remarried to supportive Christian husbands, and the cycle of abuse has been broken. Both are inspirational speakers and writers. Susan has published 28 books, and Karen has had many articles and stories published in books and magazines. Jeenie, as a licensed marriage and family therapist for 20 years, has counseled many verbally abused patients. She has published five books, one of which was a Gold Medallion finalist.