Books on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing

What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry was a difficult book for some of us at Book Interrupted to read. We offer caution to anyone who has had big T trauma in their childhood.

As is usual at Book Interrupted we have differing opinions. Some of us believe that this book might not be the best option for you and that it is deeply triggering. Others of us think this book could be helpful, validating and supportive in better understanding the impact of your experiences. Readers should be alerted to prepare themselves for the read, taking care to check in with themselves regularly and plan in advance who they can touch base with should they feel overwhelmed/disregulated.

For a couple of weeks on the Sunday blog, we offer other resources on trauma, for any listeners who would like to learn more, or who also found this book difficult for them and would like support and other perspectives. Last week we shared some crisis lines and online resources. This week we share other books on trauma. This is not a definitive list. Please share any other books on trauma in the comments section below.

Image by Rajesh Rajput on Upsplash

OTHER BOOKS ON TRAUMA

Many of the following suggested books come from recommendations from the Wisdom of Trauma team at Science and Nonduality.

Gabor Maté: When The Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress (U.S. subtitle: Exploring the Stress/Disease Connection)

Gabor Maté: In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction

Gabor Maté: Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder (U.S. title: Scattered: How ADD Originates and What You Can Do About It)

Bessel van der Kolk: The Body Keeps the Score

Stephen Porges: The Polyvagal Theory (for professionals)

Peter Levine: In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness

Peter Levine: Healing Trauma: A Pioneering Program for Restoring the Wisdom of the Body

Peter Levine: Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma

Mark Wolynn: It Didn’t Start With You

Thomas Hübl: Healing Collective Trauma

Julie Brown Yau: The Body Awareness Workbook for Trauma

John Sarno: The Mindbody Prescription: Healing The Body, Healing the Pain

Jeffrey Rediger: Cured: Strengthen Your Immune System and Heal Your Life

Anita Morjani: Dying to Be Me

Mark Epstein: The Trauma of Everyday Life

Daniel Siegel: The Developing Mind

Bruce D. Perry: Brief: Reflections on Childhood, Trauma and Society

Bruce D. Perry: Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential—and Endangered

Diane Poole Heller: The Power of Attachment

Laurence Heller and Aline Lapierre: Healing Developmental Trauma

Nadine Burke Harris: The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity

Resmaa Menakem: My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies