Healing From Trauma: A Survivor's Guide
6 x 9, paperback, 272 pps.
ISBN-13:978-1-60094-061-3
Self-Help/Psychology $14.95
A Holistic Guide from a Licensed Therapist and Trauma Survivor
Overcoming the shattering impacts of trauma is a hero’s journey. Here is a book written in everyday language that describes the challenges of coping with trauma, provides self-care tools, speaks frankly about therapy and medications (as well as alternatives), addresses important spiritual issues, and offers hope. The author, a psychotherapist, speaks here as someone who has taken the journey from helplessness to mastery.
With innovative insight into trauma-related difficulties, this book helps you:
- Understand trauma and its devastating impacts
- Identify symptoms of trauma(dissociation, numbing, etc.) and common mental health problems that stem from trauma
- Manage traumatic reactions and memories that arise
- Create a more balanced life that supports your recovery
- Select appropriate interventions (therapies, self-help groups, medications and alternatives)
- Recognize how far you’ve come in your healing and what you need to keep growing.
Complete with exercises, healing stories, points to remember, and resources, this is a perfect companion for anyone seeking to reclaim their life from the devastating impacts of trauma.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Robert C. Scaer, MD
Introduction: A Trauma Book for Those in the Trenches
1. Shit Happens
What Is Trauma?
Why Do Some People Suffer More Than Others?
Hidden Traumas
Identifying Your Traumas (Exercise)
Will It Always Be Like This?
Two Kinds of Suffering
Ten Points to Remember
2. It’s a Body Thing
What Happens in Trauma?
Caught in Lower Brain Centers
Under the Influence
Taking Back the Control Room
Resilience
Getting the Traction to Move On
Ten Points to Remember
3. The Footprints of Trauma
Tracks in the Body
Sensitivities
Triggers, Triggers Everywhere
The Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man
Not All Here (Dissociation)
I Can’t Think!
Turned to Stone (Numbing)
Amnesia, Flashbacks, and Fragmented Memory
Insomnia
Intrusive Thoughts and Images
Self-Injuring Behaviors
Guilty without Charge
Living in a Broom Closet
Ruptured Boundaries
Relationship Patterns
Feeling Broken
Alone in an Uncaring World
Ten Points to Remember
4. Trauma-Related Disorders
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Acute Stress Disorder
Depression
Anxiety Disorders
Addictions
Eating Disorders
Dissociative Disorders
Borderline Personality
Physical Diseases Related to Trauma
Casualties of Trauma
Two Cocoons
Exploring Your Cocoon (Exercise)
Ten Points to Remember
5. The Journey of Healing
Kelly’s Story: A Hard-Won Self
Basic Requirements for the Journey
A Deliberate Curriculum
The Tasks of Healing
Personal Resources
Assessing Your Resources (Exercise)
The Spiral of Healing
Jana’s Story: The Importance of Deep Listening
The Drive for Completion
Realigning with Your Wholeness
Each Path Is Unique
Ten Points to Remember
6. How to Choose the Right Helpers
Sharing Your Trauma History
Things to Consider When Working with Health Practitioners
Is Psychotherapy for Me? How Long Will It Take?
Choosing the Right Therapist
Wounded and Wounding Healers
When Is It Appropriate to Change Therapists?
Can I Heal without Psychotherapy?
Ten Points to Remember
7. Selecting Your Interventions
Containment versus Catharsis
EMDR and Alternating Bilateral Stimulation (ABS)
Point Therapies
The TARA Approach for the Resolution of Shock and Trauma
Somatic Therapies (Somatic Experiencing and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy)
Hands-On Therapies for Trauma
Imagery-Based Therapies
Corrective Experiences
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Changing Experience through a Pattern Interrupt
Help from Peers
Residential Treatment Programs
Medications and Natural Alternatives
The Decisions Are Yours
Ten Points to Remember
8. Tools for Dealing with Trauma
Slowing Down the Process
Keeping One Foot on Solid Ground
Grounding
Finding Your Rock
Controlling Your Arousal Level
Learning to Self-Soothe
Accepting Comfort from Another Person
Seeing Options
The Three S’s: Stop, Soothe, Support (An Antidote for Hyperarousal)
The Three R’s: Refocus, Reconnect, Reenter (An Antidote for Dissociation)
The Control Button
Ten Points to Remember
9. Tools for Living
Your Job as Manager
Becoming a Fierce Protector and Advocate for Yourself
Supportive Life Structures
Knowing Your Medicine
Nurturing Self-Talk
Gaining Control of Your Mind
Objectivity
Strengthening Boundaries
Cultivating a Friendly Relationship with Your Body
Humor
Journaling
Creativity and Self-Expression
The Gifts of Nature
Snuggling Up to the World
The Best Revenge Is a Happy Life
Ten Points to Remember
10. Spiritual Issues
Why Did God Let This Happen?
An Earnest Search
Hidden Gifts
What Spiritual Life Has to Offer
The Transcendence Trap
Expansion and Contraction
What’s Suffering Got to Do with It?
Accepting Life as It Is
An Integrated Spirituality
Terry’s Story: Toward an Integrated Spirituality
Ten Points to Remember
11. Ain’t Broke No More
Surviving or Thriving?
Signs of Healing
Signs of Wholeness
A New Me
Coming Home
Robert’s Story: War No More
It’s Never Too Late for a Little Happiness
Ten Points to Remember
12. My Story
Ten Points to Remember
