Mental Trauma

Traumatic experiences leave a “living legacy” of effects that often persist for years and decades after the events are over. Historically, it has always been assumed that retelling the story of what happened would resolve these effects. However, survivors report a different experience: Telling and re-telling the story of what happened to them often reactivates their trauma responses, overwhelming them rather than resolving the trauma.

As a pioneer in the field of inherited family trauma, Mark Wolynn has worked with individuals and groups on a therapeutic level for over 20 years. It Didn't Start with You offers a pragmatic and prescriptive guide to his method, the Core Language Approach. Diagnostic self-inventories provide a way to uncover the fears and anxieties conveyed through everyday words, behaviors, and physical symptoms.

The NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) is an integrated mind-body framework that focuses on relational, attachment, developmental, cultural, and intergenerational trauma. NARM helps clients resolve C-PTSD, recover from adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and facilitate post-traumatic growth.

Have you ever wondered "Why did I do that?" or "Why can't I just control my behavior?" Others may judge our reactions and think, "What's wrong with that person?" When questioning our emotions, it's easy to place the blame on ourselves; holding ourselves and those around us to an impossible standard. It's time we started asking a different question. Through deeply personal conversations, Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry offer a groundbreaking and profound shift from asking “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”

Dr. Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems (IFS) model has been transforming psychology for decades. With No Bad Parts, you’ll learn why IFS has been so effective in areas such as trauma recovery, addiction therapy, and depression treatment - and how this new understanding of consciousness has the potential to radically change our lives.

Growing up in a home where there is addiction or relationship trauma puts a child at great risk for long-term, post-traumatic stress effects that adversely compromise adult relationships. Best-selling author, psychologist, and psychodramatist Tian Dayton examines this trauma through an exploration of the way the brain and body process frightening or painful emotions and experiences in childhood.

Post-traumatic stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, substance abuse, depression, a lack of confidence, and many other mental and physical ailments may be a result of childhood trauma you have endured. Uncovering, accepting, and healing this childhood trauma will allow you to let go of the pain, releasing yourself from the guilt, shame, and self-destruction you have been living with. This book will provide you with tools and strategies to heal your childhood trauma allowing you to live fully.

Our human nervous system has the power to cope with high stress but not when it's been ground down by the relentless stimuli of today’s world. Over time, these persistent demands leave us burnt out because our nervous system is stuck in survival mode. In this mode, we have reduced capacity for rational thinking and less capacity to care. Dr. Claire Plumbly draws on polyvagal theory and her professional insights as a trauma therapist working with clients experiencing anxiety, trauma and burnout to give you tools to thrive amidst the challenges of modern life, at work, at home.

Our brains are doing their best to help us out, but sometimes we get hurt instead. And sometimes we hurt people we love, too, because we just don’t know what to do with all of our feelings. With humor and patience, Dr. Faith G. Harper shows you the science behind why your brain is acting up and ideas for new ways to respond when you’re feeling scared, sad, anxious, or angry. You can train your brain to be your friend and help you live a happy, calm, and healthy life.

Amid collective trauma, it helps to know that our bodies are built to respond to stress and what we might do to shift those reflexes. Having studied brain-based and body-based approaches to wellbeing, Dr. Christy Gibson teaches listeners how to embrace their innate power and catalyze community wisdom. Drawing on her work with people suffering from stress and societal challenges, Dr. Gibson shares practical and effective mental health advice you can personalize.

Images and sounds of war, natural disasters, and human-made devastation explicitly surround us and implicitly leave their imprint in our muscles, our belly and heart, our nervous systems, and the brains in our skulls. We each experience more digital data than we are capable of processing in a day, and this is leading to a loss of empathy and human contact. This loss of leisurely, sustained, face-to-face connection is making true presence a rare experience for many of us, and is neurally ingraining fast pace and split attention as the norm.

Traumatic experiences happen to nearly everyone, at some time, in some form. The aftereffects—depression, anxiety, addiction, panic attacks, insomnia, and more—can affect us for years or even a lifetime. But the brokenness following a traumatic event is never a life sentence. We are all changed by trauma, but we do not have to be defined by it.

Are you sick and tired of being haunted by the past? Have you tried countless other solutions but nothing seems to work for long-term healing? Do you finally want to say goodbye to the pain and discover something that actually works for you? If so, then this book is for you. You see, healing from childhood trauma doesn’t have to be complicated. Even if you’ve tried therapy, self-help books, or other methods without success.

After 9/11, mental health professionals flocked to New York to handle what everyone assumed would be a flood of trauma cases. Oddly, the flood never came. In The End of Trauma, pioneering psychologist George A. Bonanno argues that we failed to predict the psychological response to 9/11 because most of what we understand about trauma is wrong. For starters, it’s not nearly as common as we think.

Conventional trauma treatments (talk therapy and medication) simply don't work for many trauma survivors, and now we know why. Researchers have identified the core symptom that drives most other symptoms—neurological dysregulation. It's an injury to your nervous system triggered by abuse and neglect in childhood, and it can profoundly impact your physical health, damage your ability to learn and focus, and hold you back from forming caring relationships. The good news is that healing is possible, and in Re-Regulated, author Anna Runkle (aka the Crappy Childhood Fairy) shows you how.

The simple truth is that PTSD can be extremely debilitating - not just for the person who has experienced trauma firsthand, but for their partners, as well. And while there are many books written for those suffering from PTSD, there are few written for the people who love them. In Loving Someone with PTSD, renowned trauma expert Aphrodite Matsakis presents concrete skills and strategies for the partners of those with PTSD.

Combining evidence-based approaches including positive psychology, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness, and skills for regulating stress, The Resilience Workbook will show you how to bounce back and thrive in any difficult situation. You'll learn how to harness the power of your brain's natural neuroplasticity; manage strong, distressing emotions; and improve mood and overall well-being.

A body-focused, trauma-informed art therapy that will appeal to art therapists, somatic experiencing practitioners, bodyworkers, artists, and mental health professionals

"Untangling Trauma and Addiction" by Grace Monroe emerges as a poignant and transformative guide, offering a new perspective on the daunting challenges of addiction and trauma. With her unique voice, Grace Monroe transcends the traditional boundaries of non-fiction, providing a narrative that is both deeply personal and universally relevant. Grace's journey, marked by her own battles and those of her loved ones, infuses this book with authenticity and heartfelt insight.

From pioneering therapist Cathy A. Malchiodi, this book synthesizes the breadth of research on trauma and the brain and presents an innovative framework for treating trauma through the expressive arts.