Too Christian for my tastes, tho some of the advice was worth taking. I have friends who will appreciate this book. Any Christian with painful pasts would likely benefit from the book. This appears to be a series of self help books in case anyone is interested in pursuing other titles.

If you want to learn how to set boundaries with negative thoughts and painful memories read this book. The author recommends to use The Six Steps of SANITY:
Stop hoarding your hurts
Assemble supportive people
Nip excuses in the bud
Implement a plan of action
Trust the voice of the Spirit
Yield everything to God

Very biblical, practical and easy to understand.

Thank you Netgalley for this book

A great book to help with controlling our thoughts and fears and maintain a healthy balance with others in our lives. The author makes an acrostic from the word SANITY to give guidelines on how to have a plan of action for changing your negative thought life. She states "When you know where you're headed, you can make the smart choices that will get you there. I enjoyed the Bible verses throughout the book that showed what God’s word instructs us to do.
Other books about boundaries seem to focus on boundaries we need to set toward others in our lives, this book is more about boundaries in your own mind and heart. Guard your mind and heart and keep it healthy. Very good read.

was totally unfamiliar with the author and the Setting Boundaries series. But, I am a self-help book junkie, and was trying to help a loved one deal with depression. This book was thorough. It references the effects of unresolved pain and recommends the use of The Six Steps of SANITY to achieve control. SANITY is an acronym for:
Stop hoarding your hurts,
Assemble Supportive People
Nip Excuses in the Bud
Implement a Plan of Action
Trust the Voice of the Spirit
Yield everything to G-d.
In case you missed it, this is a Christianity based book and references Scripture liberally. It is recommended that you keep your Bible handy, Nonetheless, the overall concepts of the book are quite useful.
This is an active book. Exercises are given and journaling is encouraged.. I found it quite useful, and a good addition to my library.
I recommend the book,especially if you would like to control and understand negative self-talk and recycling of painful memories. Please note this book does not take the place of counseling.

This book starts out by giving you a vision of a hoarder house and we're told that peoples' hoarding issues can be related to the amount of pain and loss that a person has experienced. Allison states that we can have years of accumulated emotional, physical and spiritual hurts that we hide from the world but that are not hidden from God or our families.
She describes her abusive childhood, marriage and abortions with candor and emotional pain. showing us how childhood hurts can affect our entire lives.
But then we are told that she met Jesus and how He has been through all of these hurts and pains with her and He showed her how she can help herself and others to thrive even though life is difficult.
The author shows many different methods that people can use to heal and set boundaries for themselves that are Biblical and practical for anyone who's or has suffered emotional, physical and spiritual harm.
Yet she is careful to say that if you know you have mental illness, you should get access to professional treatment and medication.
The acronym and meaning for the healing that God has shown her is:

Six Steps to SANITY
S—Stop hoarding your hurts.
A—Assemble supportive people.
N—Nip excuses in the bud.
I —Implement a plan of action
T—Trust the voice of the Spirit.
Y—Yield everything to God.


Allison then goes into specific details about how to implement these steps in anyone's life. You will need to read this book for yourself to know how God cares for you and what you have experienced and been hurt by in your life and how God wants to give you freedom in spite of what has happened to you in the past.

Allison's book is an amazing example of how you can overcome your painful past with God's help. She outlines 6 steps of sanity that work well and certainly will get you on the path to healing. She talks about how hoarding our painful memories can affect our adult lives. We must let go and give it to God.

Setting Boundaries® with Negative Thoughts and Painful Memories

How to Stop Hoarding Your Hurts
by Allison Bottke

Harvest House Publishers

Self-Help, Christian

Pub Date 01 Apr 2017

I am voluntarily reviewing a copy of Setting Boundaries with Negative Thoughts and Painful Memories:

She grew up with a Mother who in the fifties and sixties saved a lot of paperwork, then they didn’t have a name for it now they call them hoarders. Thankfully her Mother did not save unsanitary trash, and they weren’t on the verge of being buried by mounds of refuse.

When she was a toddler her Mother got Spinal Menningitis and because there father was unable to care for them they were out in temporary foster care. She and her younger brother were sent to live with foster parents, who physically, sexually and mentally abused them and neglected them there older sister was more blessed she lived with a loving foster family.

A short time after they were sent back home, her parents divorced Something Allison would blame on herself.

At 16 Allison had her Son, at seventeen she escaped a violent marriage and got divorced. At eighteen her new marriage is over and she has an abortion.

The book reminds us to stop hoarding our hurts, because it is when we stop hoarding our hurts that healing begins and we are reminded too of the need to assemble supportive people, we need to nip excuses in the bud we also need to implement a plan of action that will move us forward in healing, we also need to trust the voice of the Holy Spirit, and we also need to yield everything to God.

There comes a point in time when every Christian needs to give his problems to the Lord.

I give Setting Boundaries With Negative Thoughts and Feelings five out of five stars.

Happy Reading

A great book.