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No Longer the Hero: The Personal Pilgrimage of an Adult Child

On the relational dynamics of a dysfunctional home.

Reviewed by Cristina Matos-Grys, associate pastor, Miami Tabernacle SDA Church, Miami, Florida.

Nancy LeSourd, currently a lawyer, wife, and mother, recounts in a gripping style her incredible journey from a severe dysfunctional home to wholeness and total dependence on God. Her mastery of English entices us into this moving and thought-provoking autobiography. Nancy is the oldest of three children, whose mother and father are both lawyers. Her father, an alcoholic and drug user, had constant outbursts of rage and violence. Her mother meekly submitted to this dysfunctional man until suicide became her last option. Sam and Peter, her brothers, turned to alcohol and drugs as their solutions. Nancy be came the family hero, hiding her dysfunctional family behind her super-achievement personality in school and in the community. As an adult, she went through extensive counseling to cope with self-destructive patterns developed as a result of her family back ground.

The author defines and explains all the relational dynamics of a dysfunctional home, its characteristics, and its results. Then, thanks to her extensive reading and counseling sessions, she maps out the painful road to recovery. On this road God is the main guide, healer, and provider. She weaves God into every single counseling approach, technique, and psychological device. She narrates her personal experiences and stories that will draw the reader into her world of emotions, struggles, discoveries, and healing. It is an excellent tool for those involved in helping others through their emotional struggles.


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Reviewed by Cristina Matos-Grys, associate pastor, Miami Tabernacle SDA Church, Miami, Florida.

May 1995

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