Three Excellent Trauma Books
I recommend reading about trauma and recovery. Everyone can benefit from understanding trauma; what it means, how it affects us and how we heal and recover. With so much of our news and information coming from social media sources it is important to find reliable and well written information based on good research and data.
The books recommended below will explain how trauma affects your body, your brain, and your stored memories and why even years and years after the events, you can start to feel pain and symptoms. A good understanding of trauma is super important for your trauma recovery.
Do past traumas have an impact your life? Perhaps you have been feeling fine until a change recently. And now life has become more difficult and challenging. Taking care of yourself is really important, consider your choices and when you can – choose what will be most supportive. This might mean saying ‘no’, ‘not now’ and it might also include asking for what you need right now.
Often times the story or memory of the traumatic experience is frozen, submerged, or forgotten. There is a great document “The Truth on Memory” and you find that here. Sometimes past traumatic memories emerge as you grow older, or memories start to intrude in your day to day life. You may feel more anxious and stressed, you may notice some emotional pain, and your thoughts may become intense and overwhelming.
Trauma Therapy?
My years of working as a counsellor specialist in trauma has taught me that talk therapy just isn’t enough when we are working through traumatic experiences from the past.
There are several essential tools and soothing practices that when included in your therapeutic journey to recovery will make you more comfortable, and help you to feel more empowered.
Some of the tools I introduce: movements, postures, creativity, identifying sensations, kindness, rhythm (soothing), gentleness, rituals (daily practices), curiosity (noticing), stillness, self compassion, comfort, plus clear information (psych-education) from well-researched sources.
Powerlessness is a common part of trauma stories. Hence supporting you to regain control and find the healing strategies that feel right for you is essential for your trauma recovery.
There has been a lot being written on this topic and today I think these 3 Trauma books provide foundational information to help you understand trauma recovery.
The Body Keeps The Score. Brain Mind And Body In The Healing Of Trauma
By Bessel Van Der Kolk
Van Der Kolk set up the Trauma Centre in Boston USA, he is commonly thought of as one of the world’s experts on traumatic stress. In this book he offers a bold new paradigm for treatment, moving away from standard talking and drug therapies and towards an alternative approach that heals mind, brain and body.
Van Der Kolk draws on thirty years of experience to argue powerfully that trauma is one of the West’s most urgent public health issues. This book is packed with science and human stories.
“Psychologists usually try to help people use insight and understanding to manage their behaviour. However, neuroscience research shows that very few psychological problems are the result of defects in understanding; most originate in pressures from deeper regions in the brain that drive our perception and attention. When the alarm bell of the emotional brain keeps signalling that you are in danger, no amount of insight will silence it.” ―Bessel A. van der Kolk, The Body Keeps The Score; Brain Mind And Body In The Healing Of Trauma
Waking The Tiger – Healing Trauma
By Peter Levine:
Waking the Tiger offers a new and hopeful vision of trauma. It views the human animal as a unique being, endowed with an instinctual capacity. It asks and answers an intriguing question- why are animals in the wild, though threatened routinely, rarely traumatised?
By understanding the dynamics that make wild animals virtually immune to traumatic symptoms, the mystery of human trauma is revealed. Waking the Tiger normalises the symptoms of trauma and the steps needed to heal them.
People are often traumatised by seemingly ordinary experiences. The reader is taken on a guided tour of the subtle, yet powerful impulses that govern our responses to overwhelming life events. To do this, it employs a series of exercises that help us focus on bodily sensations. Through heightened awareness of these sensations trauma can be healed.”
The Body Remembers
By Babette Rothschild
“This book shines a bright light on the impact of trauma on the body and the phenomenon of somatic memory. It is now thought that people who have been traumatised hold an implicit memory of traumatic events in their brains and bodies.
In essence, the body of the traumatised individual refuses to be ignored. While reducing the chasm between scientific theory and clinical practice and bridging the gap between talk therapy and body therapy, Rothschild presents principles and non-touch techniques for giving the body its due.
Packed with engaging case studies, The Body Remembers integrates body and mind in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. It will appeal to clinicians, researchers, students, and general readers.”
By Jane Macnaught
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Jane Macnaught
E: counsellor@tranquilloplace.com M: +61 425 152 490
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*Please note that this blog post is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not an endorsement of the books. We have created links to the Australian owned online bookstore BOOKTOPIA, and if you purchase with these links the website owner Tranquillo Place will be paid a nominal affiliate fee. We hope you enjoy reading these books.
