Best Books on Trauma – Five Therapists Recommend Books

An excellent method for healing from traumatic experiences beyond the therapy room is to get an education through the foremost researchers and clinicians who devote their lives to giving the best information about the psychological effects of trauma and the ways many others have recovered. You are not alone. Check out these wonderful reads and take your first steps battling PTSD and complex trauma.

The First Book: The Body Keeps The Score

by Bessel Van Der Kolk

Those therapists recommended this book to the list of readings as it will help to understand trauma and its effect on all other areas of our lives. Van Der Kolk shares profound explanations for how our nervous and hormonal systems undergo a change following traumatic events, combined with his experience in the field over the years. This is the perfect read for anyone wishing to understand the science underlying their symptoms and the procedures leading to healing.

The Second Book: It Didn’t Start With You

by Mark Wolynn

Depression, anxiety, self-doubt, and the struggle to set limits — all symptoms might be inclusive of generational trauma that went on through the family system. Traumatic experiences transform personalities, which create various roles in family systems, and if untreated, these might become the basis for family dysfunction, passing on for generations. Therapists Laura Boggan and Lesley Rickman have both recommended this book to clients dealing with family trauma.

The Tertiary Book: What Happened to You?

by Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Bruce D. Perry

Two of our experienced clinicians, including Clinical Mental Health Intern Vaneisha Varnado, recommend this book by Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Bruce D. Perry for personal healing and reworking perspectives about trauma. By sharing her own life experiences mixed with the research of a seasoned clinician, she challenges us to confront the insecurities surrounding traumatic experiences, prompting us to ask “What happened to you” as opposed to the traditional, “What’s wrong with you?” It is usually through analyzing how we unconsciously and perhaps consciously talk to ourselves and others about traumatic experiences and the feelings behind them that deep-rooted shame is caused, and it becomes practically impossible to heal. Every single one of us has experienced some form of trauma, and the start of the healing process is showing compassion and understanding for ourselves as well as for others.

Book Four: Getting Past Your Past

by Francine Shapiro, PhD

If you do not yet know what EMDR is and want to know why this mode of psychotherapy is gaining so much momentum, Karen Wade, LMSW, highly recommends this book by the psychiatrist who formulated this therapy in the 90s. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) has uprooted and successfully helped thousands of people (me included) recall traumatic and distressing events and images under the guidance of their therapists while allowing the brain to process and remove the stress and negative emotions behind them.

The Fifth Note: The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook

To further the therapeutic work process on your own, consider using therapist-recommended workbooks such as The Mindful Self Compassion Workbook, available with mindfulness activities and exercises that encourage exploration into self-compassion, self-love, and acceptance. Self-compassion is an engine that allows us to aspire toward our aspirations, care for others while maintaining adequate boundaries, and make sense of our challenging experiences as they arise. If journaling on your own proves difficult but you still want a healthy way to examine your thoughts and feelings, then this is a good direction to start in.