In this groundbreaking book, a leading clinical psychiatrist redefines how we think about and treat victims of trauma. A "stunning achievement" that remains a "classic for our generation." (Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., author of The Body Keeps the Score). Trauma and Recovery is revered as the seminal text on understanding trauma survivors. By placing individual experience in a broader political frame, Harvard psychiatrist Judith Herman argues that psychological trauma is inseparable from its social and political context. Drawing on her own research on incest, as well as a vast literature on combat veterans and victims of political terror, she shows surprising parallels between private horrors like child abuse and public horrors like war. Hailed by the New York Times as "one of the most important psychiatry works to be published since Freud," Trauma and Recovery is essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand how we heal and are healed.
Trauma, stress, and disasters are impacting our world. The scientific advances presented address the burden of disease of trauma- and stressor-related disorders. This book is about their genetic, neurochemical, developmental, and psychological foundations, epidemiology, and prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment. It presents evidence-based psychotherapeutic, psychopharmacological, public health, and policy interventions.
Safe and effective principles and strategies for recovery from trauma. Trauma recovery is tricky; however, there are several key principles that can help make the process safe and effective. This book gives self help readers, therapy clients, and therapists alike the skills to understand and implement eight keys to successful trauma healing: mindful identification of what is helpful, recognizing survival, having the option to not remember, creating a supportive inner dialogue, forgiving not being able to stop the trauma, understanding and sharing shame, finding your own recovery pace; mobilizing your body, and helping others. This is not another book promoting a new method or type of treatment; rather, it is a necessary adjunct to self-help and professional recovery programs. After reading this book, readers will be able to recognize their own individual needs and evaluate whether those needs are being met. They will have the tools necessary to put themselves in the drivers seat, navigating their own safe road to recovery.
How mindfulness can help trauma survivors move to places of healing. Trauma touches every life, but the way that we hold our pain makes a difference. Mindfulness Skills for Trauma and PTSD provides user-friendly descriptions of the many facets of traumatic stress alongside evidence-based strategies to manage trauma symptoms and build new strengths. This book is a valuable resource for trauma survivors, health professionals, researchers, mindfulness practitioners, and others seeking new pathways to recovery and resilience. It is normal to feel anxious or depressed after trauma, and to have upsetting thoughts and memories. Instead of fighting our feelings and blaming ourselves for what are actually common responses to trauma, mindfulness practices can help us tolerate and decrease distress, cultivate kindness towards ourselves and others, make wise choices, navigate attention, improve relationships, and relax—capacities that reduce trauma symptoms and advance our overall well-being. Practicing the small stuff can help us with the big stuff. As we learn to notice our breathing, walking, minor frustrations or daily activities with curiosity and care, we build inner resources to skillfully handle past trauma, as well as current and future challenges. Mindfulness practices can transform self-blame into self-respect and self-compassion. We can also match specific mindfulness skills to particular trauma symptoms. For example, “grounding” with the five senses can help us when we feel overwhelmed or spaced out, and loving-kindness meditation can alleviate self-criticism. With this book, you will explore scientifically supported mindfulness practices, plus “In their own words” sections that illustrate the skills with personal stories demonstrating how mindfulness practices have helped others recover from trauma. “Research highlight” sections showcase fascinating scientific studies that form the basis for the book's approaches. As we practice effective strategies to handle a full range of experiences, we can each find new sources of hope, connection, and peace.
This volume focuses on the role that religion and spirituality can play in recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other forms of trauma, including moral injury. Religious texts, from the Bible to Buddhist scriptures, have always contained passages that focus on helping those who have experienced the trauma of war. Many religions have developed psychological, social, behavioral, and spiritual ways of coping and healing that can work in tandem with clinical treatments today in assisting recovery from PTSD and moral injury. In this book the authors review and discuss systematic research into how religion helps people cope with severe trauma, including trauma caused by natural disasters, intentional interpersonal violence, or combat experiences during war. They delve into the impact that spirituality has in both the development of and recovery from PTSD. Beyond reviewing research, they also use case vignettes throughout to illustrate the very human story of recovery from PTSD, and how religious or spiritual beliefs can both help or hinder depending on circumstance. A vital work for any mental health or religious professionals who seek to help people dealing with severe trauma and loss.
The latest theory and research on understanding posttraumatic stressand its treatment, providing evidence-based clinical interventionsusing techniques drawn from positive psychology It is known that exposure to stressful and traumatic events can have severe and chronic psychological consequences. At the same time-mindful of the suffering often caused by trauma-there is also a growing body of evidence testifying to posttraumatic growth: the positive psychological changes that can result for survivors of trauma. Blending these two areas of research and exploring the relevance of positive psychology to trauma practice, Trauma, Recovery, and Growth: Positive Psychological Perspectives on Posttraumatic Stress provides clinicians with the resources they need to implement positive psychology interventions in their trauma treatment across a spectrum of?therapeutic perspectives, including cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, humanistic, existential, and group therapies. Featuring contributions by internationally renowned researchers and practitioners and edited by experts in the field of positive psychology who have worked with survivors of trauma in the facilitation of their resilience, recovery, and growth, this timely book is divided into four parts: Toward an Integrative Positive Psychology of Posttraumatic Experience Growth and Distress in Social, Community, and Interpersonal Contexts Clinical Approaches and Therapeutic Experiences of Managing Distress and Facilitating Growth Beyond the Stress-Growth Distinction: Issues at the Cutting Edge of Theory and Practice Trauma, Recovery, and Growth explores the role positive psychology can play in how clinical practitioners treat and work with survivors of stressful and traumatic events and offers an optimistic perspective in the treatment of those who suffer posttraumatic stress following devastating events such as terrorist attacks, childhood sexual abuse, cancer, and war.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a significant source of death and permanent disability, contributing to nearly one-third of all injury related deaths in the United States and exacting a profound personal and economic toll. Despite the increased resources that have recently been brought to bear to improve our understanding of TBI, the developme
A comprehensive reference book about the causes of trauma, how the body responds to it neurologically and often continues to hold it within resulting in PTSD, the body's physiological co-factors that contribute to PTSD, and how to release these over-protections.
Are you suffering from chronic anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, or uncontrollable emotions? Although PTSD affects 7-8% of people in the world, it remains a relatively taboo subject. When people do talk about it, it's usually restricted to war veterans and victims of child abuse. The truth is, PTSD can manifest in response to any kind of trauma -- but what does this mean for people who have been repeatedly subjected to traumatic events? Recent research has shown that it is possible to recover from nightmarish experiences and live a life that feels happy and secure. You don't have to resign yourself to jumping at shadows and enduring intrusive, negative thoughts that wear you down mentally and physically. By taking the steps to understand why you're experiencing these things, you can begin to unlock the strength you have within you. Instead of struggling to find a sense of worth, you can rewrite the script and engage with yourself compassionately. It can be so easy to judge yourself harshly, but you have to remember this: When you are cruel to yourself, you are inadvertently cruel to the innocent child within you. You may have spent years seeking compassion and validation from others and finding only frustration and despair. However, that doesn't mean you're beyond help. Recovery from complex trauma is a long journey, but the rewards you'll reap along the way will keep you moving forward. In Recovery from Complex PTSD, you will discover: What Complex PTSD is and how it differs from the more commonly known PTSD How to rewrite the narrative of your life to overcome negative self-concept and regain control over your life The Loop of Traumatization: how your brain creates a survival-based narrative that dictates your thoughts and behaviors How understanding the causes of complex trauma can allow you to overcome the fear and pain that accompany distressing experiences What it means when you consistently experience disturbed interpersonal relationships The avoidance techniques you are unconsciously employing in your daily life that protect you but are also keeping you stagnant How you can build an accurate sense of self that isn't formed by the events from your past And much more. You know what helplessness feels like. The paralysis of panic, the loss of control. What it's time for you to learn, is that these feelings aren't forever. You are capable of transforming the way you experience life and in turn, change the lives of the people who care about you most. If you're ready to find your way to a content heart and quiet soul through self-exploration, then scroll up and click the "Add to Cart" button right now.
Told in the voice of a Soldier-turned-therapist who struggled through her own debilitating PTSD, The Soldier's Guide is a call to arms, offering facts, empathy, and direction, while urging Service Members to get the help they need, helping family members to understand the battlefield, and connecting civilians with a Warrior culture.
