Thema Bryant-Davis examines the cultural issues that health-care professionals need to consider in caring for trauma survivors.

An interdisciplinary discussion of traumatic experience seeks better understanding and care for the suffering of individuals and societies

First published in 1987. Trauma and Its Wake, Volume II: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Theory, Research, and Treatment is the eighth book in the Psychosocial Stress Book Series. The purpose of the Series is to develop and publish books that in some way make a significant contribution to the understanding and management of the psychosocial stress reaction paradigm. The books are designed to advance the work of clinicians, researchers, and other professionals involved in the varied aspects of human services. The primary readership of this Series includes those practitioners, scholars, and their students who are committed to this purpose. The origin of this current book can be traced to Volume #4 in the Series, Trauma and Its Wake: The Study and Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, edited by Charles R. Figley. This was the first attempt to generalize research and clinical findings among a wide variety of traumatic or catastrophic events towards a generalized view of traumatic and post-traumatic stress reactions. Chapters focused on the immediate and long-term psychosocial consequences of exposure to one of many types of catastrophic events: war, rape, natural disasters, incest. Other chapters focused on effective methods of treating or preventing stress reactions or disorders. It is the first in a series of books that will review the latest innovations in theory, research, and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), caused by a wide variety of stressful life events. The book you are reading is the second of this series of annually published volumes on PTSD within the Book Series.

Decades after Charles Figley’s landmark Trauma and Its Wake was published, our understanding of trauma has grown and deepened, but we still face considerable challenges when treating trauma survivors. This is especially the case for professionals who work with veterans and active-duty military personnel. War Trauma and Its Wake, then, is a vital book. The editors—one a Vietnam veteran who wrote the overview chapter on treatment for Trauma and Its Wake, the other an Army Reserve psychologist with four deployments—have produced a book that addresses both the specific needs of particular warrior communities as well as wider issues such as battlemind, guilt, suicide, and much, much more. The editors’ and contributors’ deep understanding of the issues that warriors face makes War Trauma and Its Wake a crucial book for understanding the military experience, and the lessons contained in its pages are essential for anyone committed to healing war trauma.

Now in 24 languages. Nature's Lessons in Healing Trauma... 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 traumatized? By understanding the dynamics that make wild animals virtually immune to traumatic symptoms, the mystery of human trauma is revealed. Waking the Tiger normalizes the symptoms of trauma and the steps needed to heal them. People are often traumatized 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.

Published in the year 1985, Trauma and its Wake is a valuable contribution to the field of Counseling and School Psychology.

When one or both partners in a relationship experience a major traumatic event, the strain can really put the relationship in jeopardy; Healing Together offers couples simple techniques for communicating, regaining trust, and supporting one another through the process of trauma recovery.

"Psychology of Trauma 101 is exceptionally well-written, easy to read, and enriched with empirical findings and discussions related to trauma psychology. Therefore, this book would help any beginning mental health professional better understand the current state of trauma research, theory, and treatment; and thus, Psychology of Trauma 101 is highly recommended. " -- Erin K. Poindexter, Journal of Loss and Trauma As trauma research and practice grow, practitioners, trainees, and others struggle to acquire and apply critical information to help the traumatized. In Psychology of Trauma 101, Lesia Ruglass and Kathleen Kendall-Tackett fill this void with a highly readable and reliable guide for practitioners and students in promoting posttraumatic growth and resilience. Charles R. Figley, PhD, Tulane University Our knowledge about the psychological effects of traumatic events has grown dramatically over the past three decades. Psychology of Trauma 101 is a concise, current, and accessible overview of this critical issue, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), its causes, and its physical and mental consequences. Grounded in the most up-to-date research and theories on trauma and its effects, this text not only covers the concepts of what trauma is and the ways in which different kinds of traumas affect people, but also considers how it is diagnosed in the wake of DSM-5 and is treated with both conventional and alternative methods. Richly illustrated with first-person accounts from trauma survivors, this book encompasses theories, diagnosis, and treatment as well as how trauma affects family members and caregivers. It also addresses the variables of gender, race/ethnicity, and culture as they bear on trauma psychology and the potential health consequences of trauma. In addition, the book illuminates controversies in the field and such emerging topics as posttraumatic growth, multiple traumas, and how traumatic events affect communities. Written by a team of leading researchers and clinicians in the field, the book is an ideal introduction to this critical topic for students and practitioners. Key Features Provides a comprehensive yet concise overview of trauma and PTSD Considers theoretical frameworks for understanding trauma and its impact on physical and mental health Addresses how trauma is diagnosed and treated with both conventional and alternative approaches Covers posttraumatic growth, multiple traumas, and caregiver issues such as burnout and self-care Includes plentiful firsthand accounts from trauma survivors The Psych 101 Series Short, reader-friendly introductions to cutting-edge topics in psychology. With key concepts, controversial topics, and fascinating accounts of up-to-the-minute research, The Psych 101 Series is a valuable resource for all students of psychology and anyone interested in the field.

Trauma does not just happen to a few unlucky people; it is the bedrock of our psychology. Death and illness touch us all, but even the everyday sufferings of loneliness and fear are traumatic. In The Trauma of Everyday Life renowned psychiatrist and author of Thoughts Without a Thinker Mark Epstein uncovers the transformational potential of trauma, revealing how it can be used for the mind's own development. Epstein finds throughout that trauma, if it doesn't destroy us, wakes us up to both our minds' own capacity and to the suffering of others. It makes us more human, caring and wise. It can be our greatest teacher, our freedom itself, and it is available to all of us. Western psychology teaches that if we understand the cause of trauma, we might move past it while many drawn to Eastern practices see meditation as a means of rising above, or distancing themselves from, their most difficult emotions. Both, Epstein argues, fail to recognize that trauma is an indivisible part of life and can be used as a tool for growth and an ever deeper understanding of change. When we regard trauma with this perspective, understanding that suffering is universal and without logic, our pain connects us to the world on a more fundamental level. Guided by the Buddha's life as a profound example of the power of trauma, Epstein's also closely examines his own experience and that of his psychiatric patients to help us all understand that the way out of pain is through it.

These chapters gathered from two special issues of the journal Life Writing take up a major theme of recent work in the Humanities: Trauma. Autobiography has had a major role to play in this ‘age of trauma’, and these essays turn to diverse contexts that have received little attention to date: partition narratives in India, Cambodian and Iranian rap, refugee letters from Nauru, graffiti in Tanzania, and the silent spaces of trauma in Chile and Guantanamo. The contexts and media of these autobiographical trauma texts are diverse, yet they are linked by attention to questions of who gets to speak/write/inscribe autobiographically and how and where and why, and how can silences in the wake of traumatic experiences be read. These essays deliberately set out to establish some new fields for research in trauma studies by reaching out to a broader global context, into various texts, media and artifacts, representing diverse histories with specific attention to different voices, bodies, memories and subjectivities. This collection addresses the contemporary circuits of trauma story, and the media and icons and narratives that carry trauma story to political effect and emotional affect. This book was previously published as two special issues of Life Writing.