Mental Trauma

Most of us have different aspects, "parts", or "ego states" of ourselves, which manifest as particular moods, behaviors, and reactions depending on the demands of our external and internal environments. This audiobook offers a grab bag of ego state interventions - simple, practical techniques for a range of client issues - that any therapist can incorporate in his or her practice. In her characteristic wise, compassionate, and user-friendly writing style, Robin Shapiro explains what ego states are, how to access them in clients, and how to use them for a variety of treatment issues.

Author, mental health expert, and professor David Bedrick helps us understand how shame shows up—and offers a revolutionary, stigma-free model to help us unshame and release its hold on our happiness. Shame is more than feeling guilty, sad, or responsible. It develops when we experience a trauma but can’t access the tools or freedom to express how we feel—or are denied the ability to ask for the care we need. It shows up when we aren’t witnessed—whether by a loved one, our community, our culture, or anyone from whom we need to hear.

When treating a client who has suffered from interpersonal trauma - whether chronic childhood abuse or domestic violence, for example - talk therapy isn't always the most effective course. For these individuals, the trauma and its effects are so entrenched, so complex, that reducing their experience to a set of symptoms or suggesting a change in cognitive frame or behavioral pattern ignores a very basic but critical player: the body.

A compelling memoir by ABC News correspondent James Longman in which he discusses mental illness and trauma in families, what the latest genetic science is telling us, and how to not only persevere but thrive.

This is an interactive self-help workbook and psychological road map to enable survivors of coercive, cultic, and spiritual abuse to find healing, recovery, and growth.

Cowritten by a patient who experienced transformative relief from trauma through EMDR therapy, and a world-renowned psychologist who explains exactly how and why EMDR works, Every Memory Deserves Respect provides clear information while offering inspiration and hope. Through compelling science and personal stories, we learn how trauma is stored in the brain and body, continuing to cause pain and suffering, and how EMDR frees us by repatterning our thinking and emotional reactions.

The Trouble with Trauma is the story of how the idea of psychological trauma appeals to the human mind. Trauma impacts many people psychologically, but the evidence on the long-term physical effect is incomplete. Theories that psychological trauma can permanently damage your brain, cause physical disease, and change your essential character have become staples of human thought worldwide.

If your life has been affected by addiction (yours or someone else's), abuse, trauma or toxic shaming, you may also be struggling with another invisible problem - codependency. Without your even being aware of the connection to the above issues, it has created additional life-long challenges such as endless guilt, anxiety, perfectionism, need to control, depression, a history of dysfunctional relationships and much more. This easy-to-understand, interactive book will reveal how codependency has sobotaged you, the lies it created in your beliefs and the truths that expose them.

Do you ever feel like your body’s still in survival mode, even when things are calm? Like you’re exhausted from holding it all together—but have no idea how to let go without falling apart? Maybe you’ve even looked in the mirror and thought, “I don’t recognize myself anymore.” If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone—and you’re not stuck. Healing doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With the right tools, just a few minutes a day can shift you from chaos to calm, tension to ease, disconnection to safety.

Cognitive psychology is a study that focuses on how the human brain works. Through the use of cognitive behavioral therapy, people can find ways to keep their mental faculties in check. This includes understanding what can be done to resolve problems and issues in one’s life. This guide explains how cognitive behavioral therapy can be utilized to control fears, depression, anger, and other common problems that may persist in one’s life. With cognitive psychology, people can do more with their lives and know what they can do to manage their attitudes.

The SMART (Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Treatment) program addresses three key processes that can be derailed by developmental trauma—somatic regulation, trauma processing, and attachment-building—and uses movement and sensation to target the neurological structures that support emotional and behavioral regulation.

Too often, survivors of trauma are left feeling hopeless, exiled from normal social interactions, and destined for heartbreak in any relationship they attract. Through her work with clients, and her own experiences, Dr. Copley developed a roadmap for healing the toxic emotions that come from being bonded by trauma in relationships. In Loving You is Hurting Me, Dr. Copley guides you through your trauma origins and into a life rich with meaning, loving connection, and inspiration.

Meet Dr. Eugene Lipov. His research and partnerships have led to an amazing discovery that all trauma has at its root a single piece of human hardware: the stellate ganglion. The symptoms of post-traumatic stress are the same for all of us, whether from childhood poverty or abandonment, the ravages of war, or the brutality of sexual assault. Dr. Lipov's pioneering procedure appears to treat injury to the stellate ganglion, relieving even the worst symptoms of PTSD—irritability, hypervigilance, insomnia, and more—in a fifteen-minute treatment.

Healing Through the Vagus Nerve walks you through how the nervous system and the vagus nerve function, with approachable, non-academic language and helpful illustrations. Amanda Armstrong (founder of Rise as We) teaches all about vagal tone and the impact it has on your mental health and everyday life. Then, a variety of exercises and practices provide an adaptable approach to improving nervous system function.

The Wounds We Carry is a powerful and compassionate guide for anyone living in the long shadow of childhood trauma and Complex PTSD. Written by trauma survivor and healing advocate Emily Grace Carter, this book blends lived experience with research-backed practices to help you break free from the invisible burdens you've been carrying for years. Whether you feel stuck, overwhelmed, ashamed, or exhausted, this book will meet you where you are—with empathy, honesty, and hope.

This groundbreaking book provides a comprehensive overview of the anatomy of racial trauma and the debilitating hidden wounds associated with it. Racially sensitive trauma-informed interventions and strategies that centralize race and racial oppression in every facet of the therapeutic process and relationship are meticulously highlighted, making this a must-listen resource for all practicing and aspiring clinicians.

Ken Falke and Josh Goldberg train combat veterans battling PTSD to understand and achieve Posttraumatic Growth (PTG). PTG helps you discover opportunities from times of struggle, and this book provides actionable strategies for making peace with past experiences, living in the present, and planning for a great future. Through Ken and Josh’s work, thousands have transformed struggle into profound strength and lifelong growth. Now it is your turn. It’s time to learn how to Struggle Well.

The #MeToo movement brought worldwide attention to sexual violence, but while the media focused on the fates of a few notorious predators who were put on trial, we heard far less about the outcomes of those trials for the survivors of their abuse. The conventional retributive process fails to serve most survivors; it was never designed for them. Renowned trauma expert Judith L. Herman argues that the first step toward a better form of justice is simply to ask survivors what would make things as right as possible for them.

Shame influences more of our thoughts and actions than many other emotions. Used as a punishment for bad behavior, shame acts as an incentive for us to behave in socially acceptable ways. As a common method used to regulate children’s behavior, shame is by far one of the most pervasive socializing agents. Many of our more persistent, punitive, and critical feelings about ourselves stem from humiliations in early childhood even if we don’t remember the specific events that prompted them.

From over 25 years of clinical experience, Manuela Mischke-Reeds, MA, LMFT, has created the go-to resource for mental health therapists who want to incorporate somatic techniques into their daily practice. Highly-effective for clients dealing with trauma and stress disorders, somatic psychotherapy is the future of healing the entire person-body and mind.