Surviving Trauma

Ruth M. Glenn wasn’t surprised the first time her husband beat her. She was hurt and disappointed but after a childhood in a broken and violent home, she was not surprised. After all, this was just the way things were, right? It was only after she lay bleeding in a carwash parking lot, after being shot three times by him, that Glenn resolved—if she managed to survive—to spend the rest of her life standing up to domestic violence.

"How could something that happened so long ago affect me today?" I asked my therapist right after she told me I was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). How could an assault at six years old be the defining factor in my adult existence? And with those questions, my life's trajectory changed. I began to search for answers.

When 16-year-old Amy returns home, she can't tell her family what's happened to her. She can't tell them where she's been since she and her best friend, her cousin Dee, were kidnapped six years ago - who stole them from their families or what's become of Dee. She has to stay silent because she's afraid of what might happen next, and she's desperate to protect her secrets at any cost. Amy tries to readjust to life at "home," but nothing she does feels right. She's a stranger in her own family, and the guilt that she's the one who returned is insurmountable.

Often, those who live through trauma come away with feelings of shame, guilt, anger, and despair. These are common, even normal, responses in the immediate aftermath. Left unaddressed, though, those feelings may develop into substance abuse problems, eating disorders, depression, or anxiety. Learning how to move on, to pick up and live life again, takes effort and guidance. Botwin guides listeners through the stories of others who have gone on to live fulfilling, happy lives, and provides tips and tools for healing and moving on.

A week after my 50th birthday, and just as our family was about to move home, something happened that changed the way I looked at life. I spoke to others about how they rebuilt their shattered worlds after very different personal traumas, emerging stronger than before. I hope our experiences, together with the latest science on resilience, will help guide all those going through tough times. This book says that it's possible not just to survive them but to thrive. To rise.

She didn’t know her life would change forever that day. She only knew it was cold, and something was not quite right about the room she was walking into. She couldn’t escape - every fiber in her being was telling her to run, yet she had nowhere to go and no one to turn to. She could only sit and watch someone take their last breaths. She made her choices and knew they weren’t all the right ones.

The dream of joining the military after high school to serve the country other family members had honorably served takes a terrifying turn in her first assignment after boot camp. Authority Beyond Reproach tells the author's experience of physical, emotional, and sexual trauma from her superiors in the immediate chain of command.

Surviving Lasts a Lifetime: A Parent's Journey Through Medical Trauma details the journey of a young mother who survives a near death experience against all odds. It chronicles the survival, recovery, and the difficult task of moving on, and integrating a new normal. Astrid wrote letters as a "guide to life" for her children in case she would not live to teach them to her own children, as the trauma brought into sharp focus life's great questions about love, family, and purpose.

Author Brandon Lee is a two-time Emmy winning journalist for his reporting on the opioid crisis. The irony is that Brandon was also a drug addict. Brandon’s trauma, however, started as a child when he was sexually abused by his piano teacher and youth soccer coach...It wasn’t until the age of 37 when he finally got the courage to break his silence about being a sex victim and how that trauma led him down a dark path of sex and drug addiction. Brandon’s mission is to give other addicts hope that they can build a new life they never thought possible.

After suffering the tragic loss of a parent to murder, many people would seek comfort and stability from their spouse. However, for the author of this book, the opposite proved true. Instead of finding support and love in her marriage, she found herself trapped in a narcissistic relationship that only added to her trauma.

At age four, Diana manages her family's banking, grocery shops alone, and befriends the town drunk. Her father is too busy chasing skirts and throwing fits to notice what she does. And her mom is too mentally absent to properly parent. While Diana's narcissistic dad terrorizes and exploits her, she works harder to please him. Estill, an award-winning humor author, shares an honest and comedic look at her dysfunctional childhood. As an adult, she struggles to reclaim her power while caring for her dementia-impaired dad.

When the Bible talks about the third- and fourth-generational curse, that's so true. If the curse is not broken by you, then who will stop it dead in its tracks? Fierce Wholeness: Finding Myself After Childhood Emotional Trauma is Robin's story—in all of its raw and messy but authentic and beautiful transparency—as she seeks to repair the dam that had been busted, the riverbed that had been washed away, the landscape that had been obliterated by her family of origin. Listeners who grew up in the clutches of the branches of emotional abuse will be empowered by Robin's story.

When trauma enters the lives of the unsuspecting, it steals from their very soul. It not only robs them of peace and joy, it can take years and decades from their lives while they desperately try to fill the hole in their heart, pretending that their soul isn't leaking out of it. No one is ever prepared for trauma, and no one is ever left unchanged by traumatic events.