The Hiding from Love - by John Townsend (Paperback)

About the Book

We learn in childhood to hide from pain, and often continue hiding our hurt from God and others in adulthood. Here Townsend presents a scriptural approach to help us identify these unhealthy withdrawal patterns and find healing, freedom and security in connected, grace-filled relationships. Includes discussion guide.

Book Synopsis

Reckless Wedding, Maria Flook's first collection of poems, was chosen for the Houghton Mifflin New Poetry Series in 1982 and it also received The Great Lakes College Association New Writers Award. The New York Times wrote: "This poet has the power to see unexpected resemblances - a wonderfully unsettling mix of sexual contamination and back-attic mustiness." Maria Flook has published a second collection of poems, Sea Room, and four books of fiction. He first novel, Family Night, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, was awarded a PEN/Ernest Hemingway Foundation Special Citation. She has also published two collections of short fiction, the a new novel, Open Water, about which the New Yorker wrote: "Flook has fashioned a beautiful book out of the unlikeliest elements."

From the Back Cover

When you experience emotional injury, fear, shame, or pride your first impulse is to hide the hurting parts of yourself from God, others, even yourself. Often you've learned these hiding patterns during childhood to protect yourself in a threatening environment. The problem is that when you hide your injuries and frailties, you isolate yourself from the very things you need in order to heal and mature. What served as protection for a child becomes a prison to an adult. In Hiding from Love, Dr. John Townsend helps you to explore thoroughly the hiding patterns you've developed and guides you toward the healing grace and truth that God has built into safe, connected relationships with himself and others. You'll discover: The difference between 'good' and 'bad' hiding, Why you hide the broken parts of your soul from the God who can heal them, How to be free to make mistakes without fear of exposing your failures and imperfections, How to obtain the joy and wholeness God intends you to have through healthy bonding with others. Hiding from Love will take you on a journey of discovery toward healing, connected relationships, and a new freedom and joy in living.

About the Author

Dr. John Townsend is a psychologist, popular speaker, and cohost of the nationally broadcast New Life Live! radio program, and a cofounder of Cloud-Townsend clinic and Cloud-Townsend Resources. He has written or co-written 27 books, selling over six million copies, including the bestseller Boundaries. He is also the author of Boundaries with Teens and Hiding from Love. He and his wife, Barbi, live in southern California. They have two grown sons.