About this time last year we had a soft release of Survivor Care: What Religious Professionals Need to Know about Healing Trauma.

So much has happened in the last year!

1. Within the first week it was available on Amazon, it hit two #1 categories! Best Seller in Christian Counseling New Release and Best Seller in Psychology & Counseling New Release.

2. It was reviewed by Ruth Everhart in the Christian Century

3. This book was reviewed by Rev. Darcy Metcalf in Christian Feminism Today

4. It made a list of best trauma and resilience resources put out by the Anabaptist Biblical Seminary

5. It got raving reviews from people like Dr. Karen Strand Winslow PhD, Professor and Chair in the Department of Biblical and Theological Studies at Azusa Pacific University:

“I ordered ‘Survivor Care’ as soon as it was out. I had heard Christy present on churches’ roles in helping victims of abuse. My husband, a pastor, leaving for church very early on Sunday morning picked up Sims’ book and started reading instead of going through his sermon notes. He made it the focus of his message, encouraging counselors and pastors to read this book and steep themselves in the help it offers survivors. He tearfully urged survivors to seek help, driven to the compassion this book compels. The results were powerful…. This book not only provides needed advice and resources for those in the helping profession, it is healing for those suffering. Someone has been there. Someone understands.”

6. It appears as a reference in the book The #MeToo Reckoning (InterVarsity Press, 2020).

Make sure you get your copy!

On Amazon or Cokesbury or Barnes and Noble.

I can’t wait to see what will happen in 2020!

Here is what I know is COMING SOON:

A Class through BeADisciple, with CEU’s available through Southwestern College on the book! Announcements about this coming soon!

Here’s the upcoming course description:

Survivor Care is based on the new book from Wesley Foundery Books by Dr. Christy Gunter Sim. Dr. Sim is a well-known expert in this field and used by the Center for Disease Control, the State Department, and hundreds of service providers and churches to know how to best respond to victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and trauma.

The course will follow the format of the book but go more in depth and be taught by the author for further clarification.

Chapter 1: Forming a Basis for Understanding Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victims

This portion helps the student understand what is going on for a person experiencing violence. This part lays the foundation with definitions and key concepts to understand the rest of the course. This section answers questions such as: What is it like when a person fears the threat of death? What does trauma feel like? How should we start to think about violence and trauma?

Chapter 2: Understanding the Brain and Body in Trauma

This part goes into the science behind a victim’s (sometimes odd) behavior and talks about the brain and the body’s normal response during threat. This answers questions like: What is the brain supposed to do when it is threatened? What sort of behaviors can we expect in survivors of violence (behaviors that are biological and come from how our brains work when threatened)?

Chapter 3: Healing Imagined

Within this section we talk about how we can begin to imagine healing based on the prior things we learned. If our bodies respond to threat in certain ways, healing needs to be based on that. We begin to explore what that might look like.

Chapter 4: Vicarious Trauma

This is also called compassion fatigue and within this portion we talk about how we take care of ourselves when we are helping a traumatized person. We ask questions like: How do I figure out what upsets me and how do I create space for taking care of myself when those things happen?

Chapter 5: Community Partners

In this section we talk about the key players in the United States community who work with domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. We also talk about what grants require of community service providers so we can understand what they can do for us and what they cannot do. We discuss what shelters are allowed to talk about, what the roles of police officers/nurses/staff are, and so much more.

Chapter 6: Active Shooters and Other Family Violence Threats

This part focuses on that panic moment of “oh my gosh how do I deal with policy and the threats that come with family violence in my church?”  It helps leaders think through safety policies and procedures for dealing with crisis.

There are several other things that will be covered in the course such as:

• – Creating a confidentiality waiver
• – Practicing de-escalation techniques
• – Preparing for a court subpoena
• – Practicing active listening
• – Safety planning basics
• – Knowing when and how to refer