This annotated bibliography contains a list of top rated books about various types/aspects of Relational Trauma and Complex PTSD. It is based on a minimum of 4 out of 5 star rating and 500 reviews or more on Amazon and is in alphabetical order by author.
Updated Feb 19th, 2023
Allender, D. & Lee-Thorp, K. (2018). The Wounded Heart: Hope for Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse (4.5 stars based on 667 reviews)
Sexual abuse knows no religious or social boundaries. The Wounded Heart is an intensely personal and specific look at this form of abuse. Dr. Allender explores the secret lament of the soul damaged by sexual abuse and lays hold of the hope buried there by the One whose unstained image we all bear. Includes information about false memory issues.
Arabi, S. (2017). POWER: Surviving and Thriving After Narcissistic Abuse: A Collection of Essays on Malignant Narcissism and Recovery from Emotional Abuse (4.5 stars based on 1.239 reviews)
Pathological mind games. Covert and overt put-downs. Triangulation. Gaslighting. Projection. These are the manipulative tactics survivors of malignant narcissists are unfortunately all too familiar with. As victims of silent crimes where the perpetrators are rarely held accountable, survivors of narcissistic abuse have lived in a war zone of epic proportions, enduring an abuse cycle of love-bombing and devaluation—psychological violence on steroids. POWER teaches us that it is important to not only understand the tactics of toxic personalities but also to recognize and combat the effects of narcissistic abuse; it guides the survivor to learning, growing, healing and most importantly of all—owning their agency to rebuild their lives and transform their powerlessness into victory.
Barlow, D. (2021). Recovery from Gaslighting & Narcissistic Abuse, Codependency & Complex PTSD (3 in 1): Emotional Abuse, People-Pleasing and Trauma vs. Emotional Regulation, Mindfulness, Independence and Self-Caring (4.7 stars based on 630 reviews)
In Recovery from Gaslighting & Narcissistic Abuse, Codependency & Complex PTSD (3 in 1), you will have three books that will help you discover:
What Gaslighting, Codependency and Complex PTSD are
Their cycles and how they form; eventually taking over your life
The impact they have on you and your relationships with others
The shift in mindset that you need to help you finally gain the courage to escape
Self-care practices that will help you take back control of your life
How you can rebuild an accurate sense of self that isn't formed by events from your past
You know what helplessness feels like. The paralysis of panic, the loss of control. What it's time for you to learn, is that these feelings aren't forever.
Birch, A. (2015). 30 Covert Emotional Manipulation Tactics: How Manipulators Take Control in Personal Relationships (4.5 stars based on 884 reviews)
Covert emotional manipulation tactics are underhanded methods of control. Emotional manipulation methodically wears down your self-worth and damages your trust in your own perceptions. It can make you unwittingly compromise your personal boundaries and lose your self-respect, and even lead to a warped concept of yourself and of reality. With your defenses weakened or completely disarmed in this manner, you are left even more vulnerable to further manipulation and psychological harm.
Boon, S, Steele, K. & van der Hart, O. (2011). Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists (5 stars based on 683 reviews)
This training manual for patients who have a trauma-related dissociative disorder includes short educational pieces, homework sheets, and exercises that address ways in which dissociation interferes with essential emotional and life skills, and support inner communication and collaboration with dissociative parts of the personality. Topics include understanding dissociation and PTSD, using inner reflection, emotion regulation, coping with dissociative problems related to triggers and traumatic memories, resolving sleep problems related to dissociation, coping with relational difficulties, and help with many other difficulties with daily life. The manual can be used in individual therapy or structured groups.
Burke-Harris, N. (2018). The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity (4.5 stars based on 2,538 reviews)
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris was already known as a crusading physician delivering targeted care to vulnerable children. But it was Diego — a boy who had stopped growing after a sexual assault — who galvanized her journey to uncover the connections between toxic stress and lifelong illnesses. The stunning news of Burke Harris’s research is just how deeply our bodies can be imprinted by ACEs—adverse childhood experiences like abuse, neglect, parental addiction, mental illness, and divorce. Childhood adversity changes our biological systems and lasts a lifetime. For anyone who has faced a difficult childhood, or who cares about the millions of children who do, the fascinating scientific insight and innovative, acclaimed health interventions in The Deepest Well represent vitally important hope for preventing lifelong illness for those we love and for generations to come.
Chen, A. (2019). The Attachment Theory Workbook: Powerful Tools to Promote Understanding, Increase Stability, and Build Lasting Relationships (4.6 stars, 2,301 ratings)
Crawford, C. (2018). Mommy Dearest (4.5 stars based on 664 reviews)
When Christina Crawford’s harrowing chronicle of child abuse was first published in 1978, it brought global attention to the previously closeted subject. It also shed light on the guarded world of Hollywood and stripped away the façade of Christina’s relentless, alcoholic abuser: her adoptive mother, movie star Joan Crawford.
Christina was a young girl shown off to the world as a fortunate little princess. But at home, her lonely, controlling, even ruthless mother made her life a nightmare. A fierce battle of wills, their relationship could be characterized as an ultimately successful, for Christina, struggle for independence. She endured and survived, becoming the voice of so many other victims who suffered in silence, and giving them the courage to forge a productive life out of chaos.
Davis, L. (2008). The Courage to Heal Workbook for Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (4.5 stars based on 976 reviews)
In this groundbreaking companion to The Courage to Heal, Laura Davis offers an inspiring, in-depth workbook that speaks to all women and men healing from the effects of child sexual abuse. The combination of checklists, writing and art Projects, open-ended questions and activities expertly guides the survivor through the healing process.
Davis, L. & Bass, E. (2008) The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, 20th Anniversary Edition (4.5 stars 1554 ratings)
The Courage to Heal is an inspiring, comprehensive guide that offers hope and a map of the healing journey to every woman who was sexually abused as a child—and to those who care about her. Although the effects of child sexual abuse are long-term and severe, healing is possible. Weaving together personal experience with professional knowledge, the authors provide clear explanations, practical suggestions, and support throughout the healing process. Readers will feel recognized and encouraged by hundreds of moving first-person stories drawn from interviews and the authors' extensive work with survivors, both nationally and internationally. This completely revised and updated 20th anniversary edition continues to provide the compassionate wisdom the book has been famous for, as well as many new features
De Becker, G. (2021). The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence (4.5 stars based on 5,963 reviews)
De Becker has made a career of protecting people and predicting violent behavior. His firm handles security for many of the leading figures in Hollywood and Silicon Valley, and his computerized risk-assessment system helps analyze threats to members of Congress and the Supreme Court. Now, in this unprecedented guide, de Becker shares his expertise with everyone. Covering all the dangerous situations people typically face — street crime, domestic abuse, violence in the workplace — de Becker provides real-life examples and offers specific advice on restraining orders, self-defense, and more. But the key to self-protection, he demonstrates, is learning how to trust our own intuitions. For everyone who's ever felt threatened, this book is essential reading.
Eger, E. (2018). The Choice: Embrace the Possible (5 stars out of 18,533 reviews)
At the age of sixteen, Edith Eger was sent to Auschwitz. Hours after her parents were killed, Nazi officer Dr. Josef Mengele, forced Edie to dance for his amusement and her survival. Edie was pulled from a pile of corpses when the American troops liberated the camps in 1945. Edie spent decades struggling with flashbacks and survivor’s guilt, determined to stay silent and hide from the past. Thirty-five years after the war ended, she returned to Auschwitz and was finally able to fully heal and forgive the one person she’d been unable to forgive—herself. Edie weaves her remarkable personal journey with the moving stories of those she has helped heal. She explores how we can be imprisoned in our own minds and shows us how to find the key to freedom. The Choice is a life-changing book that will provide hope and comfort to generations of readers.
Fisher, J. (2021). Transforming The Living Legacy of Trauma: A Workbook for Survivors and Therapists (5 stars based on 1.357 reviews)
Dr. Janina Fisher, international expert on trauma, has spent over 40 years working with survivors, helping them to navigate their journey. In Transforming the Living Legacy of Trauma, she shows how the legacy of symptoms helped them survive.
Fisher, J. (2017). Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation (5 stars based on 667 reviews)
Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors integrates a neurobiologically informed understanding of trauma, dissociation, and attachment with a practical approach to treatment, all communicated in straightforward language accessible to both client and therapist. Readers will be exposed to a model that emphasizes "resolution"―a transformation in the relationship to one’s self, replacing shame, self-loathing, and assumptions of guilt with compassionate acceptance. Its unique interventions have been adapted from a number of cutting-edge therapeutic approaches, including Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems, mindfulness-based therapies, and clinical hypnosis. Readers will close the pages of Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors with a solid grasp of therapeutic approaches to traumatic attachment, working with undiagnosed dissociative symptoms and disorders, integrating "right brain-to-right brain" treatment methods, and much more. Most of all, they will come away with tools for helping clients create an internal sense of safety and compassionate connection to even their most dis-owned selves.
Foo, S. (2022). What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma (4.5 stars based on 1,927 reviews)
In this deeply personal and thoroughly researched account, Foo interviews scientists and psychologists and tries a variety of innovative therapies. She returns to her hometown of San Jose, California, to investigate the effects of immigrant trauma on the community, and she uncovers family secrets in the country of her birth, Malaysia, to learn how trauma can be inherited through generations. Ultimately, she discovers that you don’t move on from trauma—but you can learn to move with it. Powerful, enlightening, and hopeful, What My Bones Know is a brave narrative that reckons with the hold of the past over the present, the mind over the body—and examines one woman’s ability to reclaim agency from her trauma.
Foster, C. (2019). Narcissistic Mothers: How to Handle a Narcissistic Parent and Recover from CPTSD (4.5 stars based on 500 reviews)
Caroline Foster will lead you into a painful path of awareness, but she will also give you concrete advice to take back your power. You will discover all the reasons why your childhood has been so traumatic. You will learn how to handle your narcissistic mother. You will discover all the dysfunctional beliefs and habits that you developed during your childhood. You will learn how to contrast Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms.
Adult children of narcissistic parents are often plagued with so much guilt and a sense of deep obligation and shame that they feel duty-bound to keep whatever happened in the family secret, even when it is shredding their lives. It’s difficult to share your experience because narcissists, especially narcissistic mothers, can be very good at creating the perfect image of their family for outsiders. The solution is not forgiving or forgetting. You should understand your situation and work on your self-development in order to take back control of your life.
Gibson, L. (2015). Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents (5 stars based on 6,216 reviews)
In this breakthrough book, clinical psychologist Lindsay Gibson exposes the destructive nature of parents who are emotionally immature or unavailable. You will see how these parents create a sense of neglect and discover ways to heal from the pain and confusion caused by your childhood. By freeing yourself from your parents’ emotional immaturity, you can recover your true nature, control how you react to them, and avoid disappointment.
Hart, L. & R. (2018). Operation Lighthouse: Reflections on our Family's Devastating Story of Coercive Control and Domestic Homicide (4.5 stars based on 726 reviews)
On 19 July 2016, Claire and Charlotte Hart were murdered in broad daylight, by the family’s father using a sawn-off shotgun. He then committed suicide.Luke and Ryan Hart, the two surviving sons, open up about their experiences growing up and the circumstances surrounding the murders. They hope to highlight the patterns of behaviour in coercive control and its deadly consequences, improving public awareness and leading to informed discussion on domestic abuse.
Heller, L. & LaPierre, A. (2012). Healing Developmental Trauma: How Early Trauma Affects Self-Regulation, Self-Image, and the Capacity for Relationship (4.5 stars based on 725 reviews)
Although it may seem that people suffer from an endless number of emotional problems and challenges, Laurence Heller and Aline LaPierre maintain that most of these can be traced to five biologically based organizing principles: the need for connection, attunement, trust, autonomy, and love-sexuality. They describe how early trauma impairs the capacity for connection to self and others and how the ensuing diminished aliveness is the hidden dimension that underlies most psychological and many physiological problems.
Herman, J. (2015). Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence--From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror (5 stars based on 1,354 reviews)
Trauma and Recovery is revered as the seminal text on understanding trauma survivors. By placing individual experience in a broader political frame, Harvard psychiatrist Judith Herman argues that psychological trauma is inseparable from its social and political context. Drawing on her own research on incest, as well as a vast literature on combat veterans and victims of political terror, she shows surprising parallels between private horrors like child abuse and public horrors like war. Hailed by the New York Times as "one of the most important psychiatry works to be published since Freud," Trauma and Recovery is essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand how we heal and are healed.
Jameson, S. (2019). Why don't you just leave him?: A true story of Domestic Violence (4.5 stars based on 966 reviews)
This honest and open autobiography is the true story of a young woman trapped in a relationship that was violent and abusive. Coercive control drove her to the depths of despair. So often people look on with judgement at others who are in an abusive relationship and say “Why don’t they just leave?” Stacey’s story describes her journey as to why it’s just not so simple to do that. Stacey’s story is one of millions of stories, of people who find themselves caught up in a destructive relationship that they just cannot find a way out of.
Levine, P. (1997). Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma (4.5 stars based on 2,205 reviews)
Waking the Tiger normalizes the symptoms of trauma and the steps needed to heal them. People are often traumatized by seemingly ordinary experiences. The reader is taken on a guided tour of the subtle, yet powerful impulses that govern our responses to overwhelming life events. To do this, it employs a series of exercises that help us focus on bodily sensations. Through heightened awareness of these sensations trauma can be healed.
Levine, P. (2020). In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness (4.5 stars based on 991 reviews)
In this culmination of his life’s work, Peter A. Levine draws on his broad experience as a clinician, a student of comparative brain research, a stress scientist and a keen observer of the naturalistic animal world to explain the nature and transformation of trauma in the body, brain and psyche. In an Unspoken Voice is based on the idea that trauma is neither a disease nor a disorder, but rather an injury caused by fright, helplessness and loss that can be healed by engaging our innate capacity to self-regulate high states of arousal and intense emotions. Enriched with a coherent theoretical framework and compelling case examples, the book elegantly blends the latest findings in biology, neuroscience and body-oriented psychotherapy to show that when we bring together animal instinct and reason, we can become more whole human beings.
MacKenzie, J. (2019). Whole Again: Healing Your Heart and Rediscovering Your True Self After Toxic Relationships and Emotional Abuse (4.5 stars based on 1,767 stars)
From a leading voice on recovering from toxic relationships, a deeply insightful guide to getting back to your "old self" again--in order to truly heal and move on. Jackson MacKenzie has helped millions of people in their struggle to understand the experience of toxic relationships. His first book, Psychopath Free, explained how to identify and survive the immediate situation. In this highly anticipated new book, he guides readers on what to do next--how to fully heal from abuse in order to find love and acceptance for the self and others.
MacKenzie, J. (2015). Psychopath Free (Expanded Edition): Recovering from Emotionally Abusive Relationships with Narcissists, Sociopaths, and Other Toxic People (4.5 stars based 4,426 reviews)
All around us, every single day, human beings devoid of empathy are wreaking havoc and destroying lives in the coldest, most heartless ways imaginable. In constant pursuit of money, sex, influence, or simple entertainment, psychopaths will do whatever it takes to gain power over others. They hide behind a veil of normalcy, arranging their friends and partners like pawns in a game of chess. Using false praise and flattery to get what they want, they can lure any unsuspecting target into a relationship. Once hooked, their charming promises spin into mind games and psychological torture. Victims are left devastated and confused, unable to recognize—or even put into words—the nightmare that just took place.
Mandeville, R. (2020). Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed: Help and Hope for Adults in the Family Scapegoat Role (2nd ed). (4.6 stars, 543 ratings)
From the Author: "Scapegoating in any social system is a dehumanizing process of 'othering'. When you are the target of scapegoating in your family-of-origin, the consequences to your mental and emotional health can be severe, including the development of complex trauma (C-PTSD) symptoms. This introductory guide's purpose is to help the reader determine if they are in the 'family scapegoat' role while educating on family scapegoating dynamics and the devastating consequences of being 'rejected, shamed, and blamed' by the people who were supposed to love and care for them the most."
Marlow-MaCoy, A. (2020). The Gaslighting Recovery Workbook: Healing from Emotional Abuse (4.5 stars based on 984)
Gaslighting is the practice of psychologically manipulating someone into questioning their own sanity―and if you are reading this, you may be all-too familiar with this form of emotional abuse. The Gaslighting Recovery Workbook is a uniquely interactive method of rebuilding your self-esteem and allowing yourself to heal from an abusive relationship. Through a process of explanation, advice, positive affirmations, daily logs, visualizations, and a journal-style workbook approach, you’ll understand gaslighting, the stages of recovery, and how to heal and move forward. It contains the most effective, evidence-based strategies for conquering gaslighting at work, with friends and family, and partners.
Mate, G. (2004). When the Body Says No (4.5 stars based on 1,381 reviews)
In this accessible and groundbreaking book--filled with the moving stories of real people--medical doctor and bestselling author Gabor Maté shows that emotion and psychological stress play a powerful role in the onset of chronic illness, including breast cancer, prostate cancer, multiple sclerosis and many others, even Alzheimer's disease. When the Body Says No is an impressive contribution to research on the physiological connection between life's stresses and emotions and the body systems governing nerves, immune apparatus and hormones. With great compassion and erudition, Gabor Maté demystifies medical science and, as he did in Scattered Minds, invites us all to be our own health advocates.
McDaniel, K. (2021). Mother Hunger: How Adult Daughters Can Understand and Heal from Lost Nurturance, Protection, and Guidance (4.7 stars based on 1349 reviews)
Many of us find ourselves stuck in unhealthy habits simply because we don't see a better way. With Mother Hunger, McDaniel helps women break the cycle of destructive behavior by taking a fresh look at childhood trauma and its lasting impact. In doing so, she destigmatizes the shame that comes with being under-mothered and misdiagnosed. McDaniel offers a healing path with powerful tools that include therapeutic interventions and lifestyle changes in service to healthy relationships. The constant search for mother love can be a lifelong emotional burden, but healing begins with knowing and naming what we are missing. McDaniel is the first clinician to identify Mother Hunger, which demystifies the search for love and provides the compass that each woman needs to end the struggle with achy, lonely emptiness, and come home to herself.
Miller, A. (1997). The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self (4.5 stars based on 2,320 reviews)
This bestselling book examines childhood trauma and the enduring effects it has on an individual's management of repressed anger and pain. Far too many of us had to learn as children to hide our own feelings, needs, and memories skillfully in order to meet our parents' expectations and win their "love." Alice Miller writes, "When I used the word 'gifted' in the title, I had in mind neither children who receive high grades in school nor children talented in a special way. I simply meant all of us who have survived an abusive childhood thanks to an ability to adapt even to unspeakable cruelty by becoming numb.... Without this 'gift' offered us by nature, we would not have survived." But merely surviving is not enough. The Drama of the Gifted Child helps us to reclaim our life by discovering our own crucial needs and our own truth.
Mirza, D. (2017). The Covert Passive-Aggressive Narcissist: Recognizing the Traits and Finding Healing After Hidden Emotional and Psychological Abuse (4.5 stars based on 1,705 reviews)
This type of narcissism is one of the most damaging forms because the abuse is so hidden and so insidious. You can be in a relationship with a covert narcissist that can last for decades and not realize you are being psychologically and emotionally controlled, manipulated, and abused. There are no visible scars with this form of abuse, and you are usually the only one that experiences their destructive and psychologically debilitating behavior. Living with a covert narcissist drains your spirit and leaves you questioning your own reality.
Moultin-Sarkis, S. (2018). Gaslighting: Recognize Manipulative and Emotionally Abusive People -- and Break Free (4.5 stars based on 600 reviews)
A mental health expert sheds light on "gaslighting"--the manipulative technique used by sociopaths, narcissists, and others--offering practical strategies to cope and break free. He's the charmer -- the witty, confident, but overly controlling date. She's the woman on your team who always manages to take credit for your good work. He's the neighbor who swears you've been putting your garbage into his trash cans, the politician who can never admit to a mistake. Gaslighters are master controllers and manipulators, often challenging your very sense of reality. Whether it's a spouse, parent, coworker, or friend, gaslighters distort the truth -- by lying, withholding, triangulation, and more -- making their victims question their own reality and sanity.
Jackson Nakazawa, D. (2016). Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology, and How You Can Heal. (4.5 stars based on 961 reviews)
The emotional trauma we suffer as children not only shapes our emotional lives as adults, but it also affects our physical health, longevity, and overall well-being. Scientists now know on a bio-chemical level exactly how parents’ chronic fights, divorce, death in the family, being bullied or hazed, and growing up with a hypercritical, alcoholic, or mentally ill parent can leave permanent, physical “fingerprints” on our brains.
Perry, B. (2017). The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook -- What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love, and Healing (5 stars based on 4,937 reviews)
How does trauma affect a child's mind—and how can that mind recover? Child psychiatrist Dr. Bruce D. Perry has helped children faced with unimaginable horror: genocide survivors, murder witnesses, kidnapped teenagers, and victims of family violence. In the classic The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, Dr. Perry tells their stories of trauma and transformation and shares their lessons of courage, humanity, and hope. Deftly combining unforgettable case histories with his own compassionate, insightful strategies for rehabilitation, Perry explains what happens to children’s brain when they are exposed to extreme stress—and reveals the unexpected measures that can be taken to ease such pain and help them grow into healthy adults. Only when we understand the science of the mind and the power of love and nurturing can we hope to heal the spirit of even the most wounded child.
Perry, B. & Winfrey, O. (2021). What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing (4.5 stars based on 2,959 reviews)
Through deeply personal conversations, Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry offer a groundbreaking and profound shift from asking “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” Here, Winfrey shares stories from her own past, understanding through experience the vulnerability that comes from facing trauma and adversity at a young age. In conversation throughout the book, she and Dr. Perry focus on understanding people, behavior, and ourselves. It’s a subtle but profound shift in our approach to trauma, and it’s one that allows us to understand our pasts in order to clear a path to our future―opening the door to resilience and healing in a proven, powerful way.
Reese, C. (2018). Attachment: 60 Trauma-Informed Assessment and Treatment Interventions Across the Lifespan (4.5 stars based on 592 reviews)
Dr. Christina Reese, a recognized attachment and trauma professional, has created a comprehensive guide that explains attachment over a lifetime, and offers trauma-informed approaches to treat attachment at any age.
Schwartz, A. (2017). The Complex PTSD Workbook: A Mind-Body Approach to Regaining Emotional Control and Becoming Whole (4.5 stars based on 3,846 reviews)
Those affected by complex PTSD commonly feel as though there is something fundamentally wrong with them―that somewhere inside there is a part of them that needs to be fixed. Though untrue, such beliefs can feel extremely real and frightening. Difficult as it may be, facing one’s PTSD from unresolved childhood trauma is a brave, courageous act―and with the right guidance, healing from PTSD is possible. Clinical psychologist Dr. Arielle Schwartz has spent years helping those with C-PTSD find their way to wholeness. She also knows the territory of the healing firsthand, having walked it herself. This book provides a map to the complicated, and often overwhelming, terrain of C-PTSD with Dr. Schwartz’s knowledgeable guidance helping you find your way. In The Complex PTSD Workbook, you’ll learn all about C-PTSD and gain valuable insight into the types of symptoms associated with unresolved childhood trauma, while applying a strength-based perspective to integrate positive beliefs and behaviors.
Shapiro, F. (2017). Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures (3rd. Ed.). (4.5 stars based on 1101 reviews)
The authoritative presentation of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, this groundbreaking book--now revised and expanded--has enhanced the clinical repertoires of more than 100,000 readers and has been translated into 10 languages…. EMDR originator Francine Shapiro reviews the therapy's theoretical and empirical underpinnings, details the eight phases of treatment, and provides training materials and resources.
Snyder, R. (2020). No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us (4.5 stars based on 622 reviews)
We call it domestic violence. We call it private violence. Sometimes we call it intimate terrorism. But whatever we call it, we generally do not believe it has anything at all to do with us, despite the World Health Organization deeming it a “global epidemic.” In America, domestic violence accounts for 15 percent of all violent crime, and yet it remains locked in silence, even as its tendrils reach unseen into so many of our most pressing national issues, from our economy to our education system, from mass shootings to mass incarceration to #MeToo. We still have not taken the true measure of this problem.
In No Visible Bruises, journalist Rachel Louise Snyder gives context for what we don’t know we’re seeing. She frames this urgent and immersive account of the scale of domestic violence in our country around key stories that explode the common myths―that if things were bad enough, victims would just leave; that a violent person cannot become nonviolent; that shelter is an adequate response; and most insidiously that violence inside the home is a private matter, sealed from the public sphere and disconnected from other forms of violence. Through the stories of victims, perpetrators, law enforcement, and reform movements from across the country, Snyder explores the real roots of private violence, its far-reaching consequences for society, and what it will take to truly address it.
Sweeton, J. (2019). Trauma Treatment Toolbox: 165 Brain-Changing Tips, Tools & Handouts to Move Therapy Forward (4.5 stars based of 885 reviews)
The latest research from neuroscience and psychotherapy has shown we can rewire the brain to facilitate trauma recovery. Trauma Treatment Toolbox teaches clinicians how to take that brain-based approach to trauma therapy, showing how to effectively heal clients' brain with straightforward, easy-to-implement treatment techniques. Each tool includes a short list of post trauma symptoms, relevant research, application, and clinician tips on how to complete the exercise.
Thomas, S. (2016). Healing from Hidden Abuse: A Journey Through the Stages of Recovery from Psychological Abuse (4.5 stars based on 1,756 reviews)
Within every community, toxic people can be found hiding in families, couples, companies, and places of worship. The cryptic nature of psychological abuse involves repetitious mind games played by one individual or a group of people. Psychological abuse leaves no bruises. There are no broken bones. There are no holes in the walls. The bruises, brokenness, and holes are held tightly within the target of the abuse. A guided Personal Reflections journal is included in the back of the book to help the reader go deeper in their application of the six stages of recovery. The journal can be used individually, in a small group setting, or with a therapist.
van der Kolk, B. (2015). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (5 stars based on 37,970 reviews)
Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives.
Walker, P. (2013). Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving: A Guide and Map for Recovering from Childhood Trauma (Rating: 5 stars based on 5,905 reviews)
I have Complex PTSD [Cptsd] and wrote this book from the perspective of someone who has experienced a great reduction of symptoms over the years. I also wrote it from the viewpoint of someone who has discovered many silver linings in the long, windy, bumpy road of recovering from Cptsd. I felt encouraged to write this book because of thousands of e-mail responses to the articles on my website that repeatedly expressed gratitude for the helpfulness of my work. An often echoed comment sounded like this: At last someone gets it. I can see now that I am not bad, defective or crazy…or alone!
Walker, P. (2024). Holistically Treating Complex PTSD: A Six-Dimensional Approach (Just new so not top rated yet but likely will be)
My latest book is textbook-like, as it is a guide for psychotherapists and other helpers to learn my multidimensional approach to effectively treating the childhood trauma that is commonly at the roots of Complex PTSD. This book reorganizes and greatly expands the material of my earlier books. It emphasizes the crucial importance of relational psychotherapy in healing the fear and distrust that most survivors have of all other people. It can deeply aid therapists to mend the damage and arrested development that survivors experienced as traumatized children in the “care” of abusive and/or neglectful parents or other caretakers.
Webb, J. (2019). Running on Empty: Overcome Your Childhood Emotional Neglect (4.5 stars based on 2,218 reviews)
Do you sometimes feel like you’re just going through the motions in life? Do you often act like you’re fine when you secretly feel lonely and disconnected? Perhaps you have a good life and yet somehow it’s not enough to make you happy. Or perhaps you drink too much, eat too much, or risk too much in an attempt to feel something good. If so, you are not alone—and you may be suffering from emotional neglect. A practicing psychologist for more than twenty years, Jonice Webb has successfully treated numerous patients who come to her believing that something is missing inside them. While many self-help books deal with what happened to you as a child, in Running on Empty, Webb addresses the things that may not have happened for you. What goes unsaid—or what cannot be remembered—can have profound consequences that may be affecting you to this day. Running on Empty will help you understand your experiences and give you clear strategies for healing. It also includes a special chapter for mental health professionals.
Wiley, A. (2023). Recovery from Narcissistic Abuse, Gaslighting, Codependency, Trauma Bond & Complex PTSD: The Ultimate Guide to Overcoming Toxic & Unhealthy Relationships, Emotional Abuse & Break Free of Trauma Bonds. 5 stars, 673 ratings
If any of these apply to you...
- You are put down by the person you love
- You feel heartbroken and brutalized and your love is not reciprocated as you deserve
- Your relationship it's killing your very being, but you can't bring yourself to leave
- You are in need to be accepted and you’re loyal to those who have betrayed you
- You keep hearing “if your relationship is so bad why don’t you just leave, why do you hold on to it for so long, why don’t you ask for help?”
You are in the right place. You may wonder how can you get out of it when the smallest thought of leaving that person breaks your heart, and You can't imagine a life without them. This book will walk you through the very precise process that has helped many to go from a state of frustration, dissatisfaction, and pain to a state of lucidity.
Wolynn, M. (2017). It Didn't Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle (4.5 stars based on 4,444 reviews)
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.
