Understanding how childhood trauma overwhelms adult well-being is the cornerstone of this accessible explanation of trauma, its effects, and strategies for healing.
A product of the authors’ combined 25 years of work with groups of trauma patients at the Menninger Clinic and the Heritage Mental Health Clinic, this is a compact volume based on a ten-session course that brings old and new understanding together in the psychoeducational approach.
Co-author Lisa Lewis notes the importance of learning new strategies for dealing with past trauma: “Too often patients want to jump into the processing [of trauma] before they have found healthy ways of regulating their emotions. It’s important to be able to talk about the emotions, but to not be overwhelmed by them. We want the details to eventually bleach out and become more like other memories of what has happened in a persons’ lifetime….Our goal is to rob the trauma of its power.”
Many practical strategies for healing are included, such as normalizing symptoms in a way that will help survivors and their loved ones feel less alone.
Authors: Lisa Lewis, Ph.D.,
Kay Kelly, MSW, LSCSW, & Jon G. Allen, Ph.D.
