Introducing a proven, pioneering program that empowers trauma survivors to take control of their recovery through imaginative exercises Over the last thirty-five years, our understanding of trauma has dramatically changed. We now know that most people live through at least one traumatic event—which can cause disorders that range from depression, addiction, and anxiety, to cardiovascular disease and diabetes. But when leading German psychotherapist Luise Reddemann became head of a psychosomatic clinic in 1985, many doctors were routinely dismissive of patients’ trauma. Dr. Reddemann has devoted her career to this question: How can survivors of complex trauma and PTSD heal—and even help themselves to heal? In Who You Were Before Trauma, she presents her groundbreaking method, along with positive therapeutic strategies, to therapists and patients alike. Psychodynamic Imaginative Trauma Therapy (PITT) incorporates imagination work at every stage of the three-phase trauma therapy model: Establish safety and stabilization Come to terms with traumatic memories Integrate and reconnect with others. By guiding patients to unearth their buried strengths, envision an inner refuge, evoke helpful guiding figures, and ultimately build an “internal counterweight” to their trauma, Reddemann’s approach avoids the counterproductive dynamic where the therapist becomes the patient’s only source of comfort. This definitive trauma resource shows the way to empower survivors—by making them true partners in their recovery.

'I want to help!' It's a thought that goes through many people's minds when they see refugees forced to seek safety in other countries. Some might find themselves asking further questions: What's the best way to talk to someone dealing with trauma? How can I establish a foundation of trust? How will our relationship function? The answers are contained within these pages. A handbook for volunteers, By Their Side offers a solid foundation for people supporting and working with refugees. In clear, comprehensible sections, Barbara Preitler discusses trauma and forced displacement from a psychological point of view, imparting advice and background knowledge, and illustrating ways in which we can deepen our understanding of others and work to build good interpersonal relationships. She encourages us to seek out opportunities for new encounters, helping people with different cultural backgrounds and experiences to build strong relationships.

If you or someone you love has suffered a traumatic event, you know the devastating impact it can have on your life and your spirit. Life-threatening accidents, illnesses, assaults, abusive relationships—or a tragedy like 9/11—all can leave deep emotional wounds that persist long after physical scars have healed. Survivors become “invisible heroes,” courageously struggling to lead normal lives in spite of symptoms so baffling and disturbing that they sometimes doubt their own sanity. Now there is new hope for the millions affected by posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Drawing on more than thirty years’ experience as a therapist and on the most recent cutting-edge research, Belleruth Naparstek presents a clinically proven program for recovery using the potent tool of guided imagery. She reveals how guided imagery goes straight to the right side of the brain, where it impacts the nonverbal wiring of the nervous system itself, the key to alleviating suffering. Filled with the voices of real trauma survivors and therapists whose lives and work have been changed by this approach, Invisible Heroes offers: • New understanding of the physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral effects of PTSD, who is most susceptible, and why symptoms can get worse rather than better with time • Important insights into how the brain and body respond to trauma, why conventional talk therapy can actually impede recovery, and why the nonverbal, image-based right brain is crucial to healing • A step-by-step program with more than twenty scripts for guided-imagery exercises tailored to the three stages of recovery, from immediate relief of anxiety attacks, flashbacks, nightmares, and insomnia, to freedom from depression and isolation, to renewed engagement with life • A helpful guide to the best of the new imagery-based therapies, and how to incorporate them into an overall recovery plan Belleruth Naparstek concludes with the inspiring words of survivors who have found their way back to peace, purpose, and a deep joy in living. Her compassionate, groundbreaking book can lead you and those in your care to the same renewal and healing.

Synthesising clinical case reports and the research literature on the effects of stress, suggestion and trauma on memory, Richard McNally arrives at significant conclusions, first and foremost that traumatic experiences are indeed unforgettable.

Originally published by Viking Penguin, 2014.

"[This book] provides the tools for reclaiming complete well-being after overwhelming experiences of shock, whether caused by the massive sweep of current events such as the Covid-19 pandemic or a personal catastrophe. Dr. Mines redefines psychological trauma and revolutionizes the concept of self-care by identifying the true cause of anxiety, explaining why it is so prevalent in society today and how by recognizing its effect we can find new stability and healing."--Amazon.com

"Psychological trauma can be a life-changing experience that affects multiple facets of health and well-being. The nature of trauma is to impact the mind and body in unpredictable and multidimensional ways. It can be a highly subjective that is difficult or even impossible to explain with words. It also can impact the body in highly individualized ways and result in complex symptoms that affect memory, social engagement, and quality of life. While many people overcome trauma with resilience and without long term effects, many do not. Trauma's impact often requires approaches that address the sensory-based experiences many survivors report. The expressive arts therapy-the purposeful application of art, music, dance/movement, dramatic enactment, creative writing and imaginative play-are largely non-verbal ways of self-expression of feelings and perceptions. More importantly, they are action-oriented and tap implicit, embodied experiences of trauma that can defy expression through verbal therapy or logic. Based on current evidence-based and emerging brain-body practices, there are eight key reasons for including expressive arts in trauma intervention, covered in this book: (1) letting the senses tell the story; (2) self-soothing mind and body; (3) engaging the body; (4) enhancing nonverbal communication; (5) recovering self-efficacy; (6) rescripting the trauma story; (7) making meaning; and (8) restoring aliveness"--

A groundbreaking approach to transforming traumatic legacies passed down in families over generations, by an acclaimed expert in the field Depression. Anxiety. Chronic Pain. Phobias. Obsessive thoughts. The evidence is compelling: the roots of these difficulties may not reside in our immediate life experience or in chemical imbalances in our brains—but in the lives of our parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents. The latest scientific research, now making headlines, supports what many have long intuited—that traumatic experience can be passed down through generations. It Didn’t Start with You builds on the work of leading experts in post-traumatic stress, including Mount Sinai School of Medicine neuroscientist Rachel Yehuda and psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score. Even if the person who suffered the original trauma has died, or the story has been forgotten or silenced, memory and feelings can live on. These emotional legacies are often hidden, encoded in everything from gene expression to everyday language, and they play a far greater role in our emotional and physical health than has ever before been understood. As a pioneer in the field of inherited family trauma, Mark Wolynn has worked with individuals and groups on a therapeutic level for over twenty 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. Techniques for developing a genogram or extended family tree create a map of experiences going back through the generations. And visualization, active imagination, and direct dialogue create pathways to reconnection, integration, and reclaiming life and health. It Didn’t Start With You is a transformative approach to resolving longstanding difficulties that in many cases, traditional therapy, drugs, or other interventions have not had the capacity to touch.

Healing the Wounds of Trauma: How the Church Can Help offers a practical approach to engaging the Bible and mental health principles to find God's healing for wounds of the heart. The approach has been field-tested since 2001 with leaders from Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and independent churches. This is the core book of the Bible-based trauma healing ministry of the Trauma Healing Institute. It is to be used by adult participants in a healing group or training session, led by certified trauma healing facilitators who are using the accompanying Facilitator Guide. This edition contains stories that can be effectively used in North American and global city contexts.