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Do you feel stuck in a dead-end marriage, relationship, or job? Is your life shaped by the demands of your parents, children, or spouse? Do you give in all the time to please your family and friends? If you say yes to any of these questions, you might be trapped by toxic guilt.

In Escaping Toxic Guilt, Susan Carrell discusses the feeling of guilt, eight common situations that arouse this feeling, and a five step plan to recover.

Susan Carrell defines guilt as

the emotion we experience when we feel we have done something wrong.

It’s hard to feel satisfied and at peace if we feel guilty. It can rob our life energy, but it can also power us to change our lives. When we have really hurt others or violated their rights, the guilt we feel is a positive one. The positive guilt helps us to improve our behavior and keeps our society a civilized one.

However, if you feel guilty every time something goes wrong, be it your fault or not, the emotion you feel is toxic guilt. The main reason for toxic guilt is the need for the approval of others. People with toxic guilt are manipulated easily by others who make them feel guilty.

Common situations that arouse guilt vary from leaving a relationship to dealing with an unplanned pregnancy, from relationships with children and parents to claiming the sexual identity. In this book, each situation is discussed with common scenarios and worries of the sufferers. A questionnaire at each section helps you to find out if you are suffering from toxic guilt because of the similar reasons.

Susanne Carrell provides a five step plan to overcome guilt. The first step is to speak the truth: to acknowledge the situation that you are in. In the second step, you claim your territory by setting your personal boundaries. The third step involves bracing for the storm; that is dealing with the reactions of others to the changes in your behavior. And in step four, you ride the wind, meaning that you let go, accept the situation and forgive to find freedom. As the last step, you learn to patrol your borders in order to avoid repeating old guilt-driven habits.

Escaping Toxic Guilt is a powerful book that is based on the lifelong personal and professional experience of Susanne Carrell. This book provides the reader with the means to spot and overcome the toxic guilt.

Click here to learn more about Escaping Toxic Guilt.

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