The Book

I’ve worked with hundreds of seriously ill people, and I wish that each of them could spend time with Alex Acker-Halbur so she could personally share with them her wisdom, courage, and resilience. This book is needed by every person suffering from abuse, depression, or serious illness—and I guess that means most of us.

 – Bill Manahan, MD, Assistant Professor Emeritus, Department of Family Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota

If stress and anger are making you sick, Never Give Up: Break the Connection Between Stress and Illness can help you find peace and joy in your everyday life or give you the courage to open a new door to a healthy and fulfilling future.

Author, Alex Acker-Halbur, offers anyone who has suffered trauma or loss not just one way forward, but many. A survivor herself—of an astonishing number of traumas including, sexual, emotional and physical abuse, sexual exploitation by a therapist, rape, and cancer—she describes the connection between mind, body, and spirit and shows how the stress and anger she has experienced connect to her life-threatening illnesses.

Stress is becoming more and more deadly. Over 20,000 studies have been done on stress, and though we’ve gained a vast knowledge about stress, it still continues to weaken our immune systems causing severe health problems. In fact, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians, two-thirds of all office visits to family doctors are due to stress-related symptoms.

Alex tells just enough of her own story to quickly become an inspiring companion for people who are struggling to heal. But her focus is always on sharing the perspectives and practices that have helped her survive and thrive, and the insights that made them possible.

Every chapter contains accessible activities and practical tools geared toward managing the dark moments in life and changing the way we think and act. After completing each activity, we find ourselves a few more steps down a new road toward healing.