Raising an Optimistic Child: A Proven Plan for Depresion-Proofing Young Children--for Life
(McGraw-Hill, 2006) by Bob Murray and Alicia Fortinberry

Creating Optimism:
A Proven Seven-Step Program for Overcoming Depression
(McGraw-Hill, 2004) by Bob Murray and Alicia Fortinberry

24 February 2004

Women who were sexually abused as kids are more likely to smoke--but good relationships, not anti-smoking ads are the answer.

Research findings released today suggest that women who were sexually abused as children are 3.8 times more likely to be smokers than their non-abused peers.

There's no doubt that child abuse of all kinds, including sexual abuse, is on the increase. According to US government figures incidents of child abuse doubled in the 7 years between 1986 and 1993. Other studies have shown that 30% of all women have been sexually abused.

Why is this pandemic of child abuse happening? The fault, according to Bob Murray, PhD and Alicia Fortinberry, MS, the authors of the newly released book "Creating Optimism: A Proven Seven-Step Program for Overcoming Depression," lies in the way our society is structured.

According to Dr. Murray, "The problem lies in the disempowerment of people--especially men-in our society, and many recent studies confirm this view. This disempowerment is largely due to the increasing fear of unemployment and the fact that decision-making in areas that matter most to them has been taken away from them. Disempowered people are more likely to take out their frustration on those they perceive to be less powerful than themselves-their partners, children, less self-assured colleagues, or underlings."

Murray and Fortinberry believe that the solution lies in giving people the tools to create truly supportive, empowering relationships and avoid abusive ones. This will both prevent sexual abuse in the present and give victims the ability to heal from past abuse. "Without offering people empowering relationship skills," says Ms. Fortinberry, "all the anti-smoking campaigns in the world will not stop people smoking, with all the personal and social costs that behavior entails."

Fortinberry was herself a victim of sexual abuse and is an ex-smoker. In Creating Optimism, she and Murray, her husband of 20 years, present simple and effective techniques for creating supportive relationships that can overcome the deep scars left by t sexual abuse. The authors show how an abuse survivor can create and maintain appropriate boundaries that will protect them against further abusive relationships--and the need to smoke!

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About the Authors

Dr Bob Murray is a widely published psychologist and expert on emotional health and optimal relationships. Alicia Fortinberry is a psychotherapist, health writer and executive coach. Together they are the founders of the highly successful Uplift Program, and authors of Raising an Optimistic Child (McGraw-Hill, 2006) and Creating Optimism (McGraw-Hill, 2004).