This book will help the sufferer understand the links between past trauma and present difficulties and offers ways to gain control over these problems, allowing the individual to deal with intrusive memories, manage mood swings and build better relationships in adulthood.

Emotional, physical and sexual abuse in childhood can result in a range of problems and lead to long-term difficulties that make life a struggle. With this in mind, clinical psychologist Dr Helen Kennerley has devised this highly acclaimed self-help programme based on the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to help you to understand the links between your past trauma and any present difficulties. It offers you the means to gain control of your life and your feelings, enabling you to deal with any intrusive memories and mood swings, and develop healthy, better relationships in adulthood. Anyone who has endured childhood abuse and continues to battle with its aftermath will find this book supportive and liberating. The book gives you: - An understanding of the range of problems childhood abuse can create - Advice on how to build healthy relationships in adulthood - A structured, step-by-step self-help guide OVERCOMING self-help guides use clinically proven techniques to treat long-standing and disabling conditions, both psychological and physical. Many guides in the Overcoming series are recommended under the Reading Well scheme. Series Editor: Emeritus Professor Peter Cooper

Fully updated edition of the bestselling self-help book, now recommended on the national Books on Prescription scheme. This ever-popular guide offers a self-help programme, written by one of the UK's leading authorities on anxiety and based on CBT, for those suffering from anxiety problems. A whole range of anxieties and fears are explained, from panic attacks and phobias to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and generalised anxiety. It includes an introduction to the nature of anxiety and stress and a complete self-help programme with monitoring sheets based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. The following websites may offer useful further information on anxiety disorders: www.social-anxiety.org.uk www.stress.org.uk www.triumphoverphobia.com

Survivors of trauma—whether abuse, accidents, or war—can end up profoundly wounded, betrayed by their bodies that failed to get them to safety and that are a source of pain. In order to fully heal from trauma, a connection must be made with oneself, including one’s body. The trauma-sensitive yoga described in this book moves beyond traditional talk therapies that focus on the mind, by bringing the body actively into the healing process. This allows trauma survivors to cultivate a more positive relationship to their body through gentle breath, mindfulness, and movement practices. Overcoming Trauma through Yoga is a book for survivors, clinicians, and yoga instructors who are interested in mind/body healing. It introduces trauma-sensitive yoga, a modified approach to yoga developed in collaboration between yoga teachers and clinicians at the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute, led by yoga teacher David Emerson, along with medical doctor Bessel van der Kolk. The book begins with an in-depth description of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including a description of how trauma is held in the body and the need for body-based treatment. It offers a brief history of yoga, describes various styles of yoga commonly found in Western practice, and identifies four key themes of trauma-sensitive yoga. Chair-based exercises are described that can be incorporated into individual or group therapy, targeting specific treatment goals, and modifications are offered for mat-based yoga classes. Each exercise includes trauma-sensitive language to introduce the practice, as well as photographs to illustrate the poses. The practices have been offered to a wide range of individuals and groups, including men and women, teens, returning veterans, and others. Rounded out by valuable quotes and case stories, the book presents mindfulness, breathing, and yoga exercises that can be used by home practitioners, yoga teachers, and therapists as a way to cultivate awareness, tolerance, and an increased acceptance of the self.

Help for the "helping" professional" who may suffer from burn-out, compassion fatigue or vicarious trauma, from absorbing others' trauma.

Go beyond the pain and fear of sexual abuse to heal the trauma Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) can be a physically and emotionally painful soul-shattering experience that can traumatize a person for a lifetime. The Wall of Fear: Crossing the Wall from Trauma to Recovery from Childhood Sexual Abuse is a unique exploration of the subjective experiences of both client and therapist as they together travel the path to recovery. Therapists get a clear illustration of the therapy process while CSA survivors are offered a gauge with which to judge their own progress toward recovery. New therapeutic concepts are clearly presented and extensively discussed while sensitively charting the experiences of clients on the journey toward healing. As Winston Churchill once said, If you’re going through hell, keep going. The Wall of Fear charts the arduous progress of a survivor from the initial understanding that they need help and guidance, to choosing the correct therapist, to the emotional roadblocks most clients face on their own personal recovery from the hell of CSA. The authors team up to courageously provide readers with a comprehensive and candid portrait of their experiences of CSA therapy while demonstrating the approaches which effectively enhance healing. Features include schematic drawings of the stages of therapy, the client’s own diary from her youth through her therapy in adulthood, client drawings illustrating progress in therapy, and effective art exercises that can be used at the beginning of therapy. The text includes extensive references, useful appendixes, and a helpful glossary of terms for the layperson. Topics in The Wall of Fear include: the nature of sexual trauma (the new concept of the World of Trauma) growing up traumatizedand its effect on friendships, sexual development, dating, and mate selection couples’ relationships and sexuality selecting a therapist the new concept of The Wall of Fear closure coping with the therapy process parenting by CSA survivors and the impact on the next generation the subjective experiences of both therapist and CSA survivor The Wall of Fear stands as a testament that no matter what sexual trauma a person may endure, there is hope for recovery. This is insightful, crucial reading for survivors of CSA and therapists at all levels of expertise.

This is a new addition to the popular Introduction to Coping with series of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy based self-help booklets. Written by the author of the bestselling self-help titles Overcoming Anxiety and Overcoming Childhood Trauma, this new title offers valuable guidance for those who have experienced trauma as a child, be it emotional, physical or sexual. This useful self-help guide looks at the psychological impact of childhood trauma and offers some helpful strategies, based on CBT, to help the sufferer start on the road to recovery. Also contains useful information on how to get specialist help. This practical booklet will also be a valuable resource for health professionals and family members.

Professionals working with traumatized children are often asked whether it would be better to ‘let sleeping dogs lie’, because the child may not be ready to discuss their experiences, and out of fear that they may become further distressed or disturbed. In Treating Chronically Traumatized Children, Arianne Struik presents the case for waking those ‘sleeping dogs’ in a safe and structured environment, in order to allow the healing process to begin and prevent trauma later in life. Struik has developed a method for those cases labelled most difficult to treat, involving deregulated, traumatized children who refuse to talk about their memories, or claim to have ‘forgotten’ them completely. It incorporates factors in the child’s environment and network to ensure that they are safe and secure before beginning the process, and stable throughout treatment. Downloadable worksheets enhance the book’s content and make each section straightforward to work through, supporting the child through the stabilization, processing and integration phases of treatment. Illustrated throughout by case studies and comprehensive explanation of the theory and the treatment method, Treating Chronically Traumatized Children is clear and accessible and is ideal for psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists and counsellors, as well as parents and anyone working with chronically traumatized children and adolescents.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an extremely debilitating anxiety condition that can occur after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal. Although many know that this mental health issue affects veterans of war, many may not know that it also affects victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, natural disasters, crime, car accidents and accidents in the workplace. No matter the cause of their illness, people with PTSD will often relive their traumatic experience in the form of flashbacks, memories, nightmares, and frightening thoughts. This is especially true when they are exposed to events or objects that remind them of their trauma. Left untreated, PTSD can lead to emotional numbness, insomnia, addiction, anxiety, depression, and even suicide. In The PTSD Workbook, Second Edition, psychologists and trauma experts Mary Beth Williams and Soili Poijula outline techniques and interventions used by PTSD experts from around the world to offer trauma survivors the most effective tools available to conquer their most distressing trauma-related symptoms, whether they are a veteran, a rape survivor, or a crime victim. Based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the book is extremely accessible and easy-to-use, offering evidence-based therapy at a low cost. This new edition features chapters focusing on veterans with PTSD, the link between cortisol and adrenaline and its role in PTSD and overall mental health, and the mind-body component of PTSD. This book is designed to arm PTSD survivors with the emotional resilience they need to get their lives back together after a traumatic event.

The impact of childhood trauma and abuse can forever alter the course of history. Throughout generations, countless children have been hurt by those that are meant to care for them. Yet, in society once those children turn to adults the impacts of child abuse are often discounted and spoken to with the frame of 'that was years ago" or "it's time to get over it." The reality is that we are at the core a collection of all of our experiences leading up to this very moment. If the childhood trauma survivor's foundation is built atop a volcano, then sooner or later it will be engulfed. Childhood trauma and abuse is the elephant in the room of societies mental health epidemic, and most people don't know how to understand the role that trauma has played in their life.When I sat down to craft the baseline of The Think Unbroken book, I did so intending to create something that would be a testimony to the undeniable will of the human mindset. For generations, the world has been plagued by the ramifications of the effects of Child Trauma, and like millions of childhood trauma survivors, I was stuck in The Vortex. My life in a word was a disaster. I was an addict of undeniable proportions, I was morbidly obese and suffocating under the weight of my past. Think Unbroken is not only a guide to helping other Trauma Survivors find their way out of The Vortex, but it is also the cornerstone to how I changed my life. I am, in essence, a product of my product, and I believe that Think Unbroken is the key to taking the first steps in overcoming the effects of childhood trauma.This book will expose you to possibility through mindset, palatable understandings of self, and a step by step guide to discovering out how to place the first piece of the puzzle on the table. What you will find in Think Unbroken is not just my story, but a reflection of the possibilities that can become a reality when you understand that Mindset is Everything. Childhood trauma took everything from me, but I took everything back, and so can you."THOUGH TRAUMA MAY BE OUR FOUNDATION IT IS NOT OUR FUTURE."