Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence- From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

by Judith Lewis Herman

Book Overview

In a major new work of synthesis, the author of Father-Daughter Incest extends her ground-breaking work to explore the psychological consequences of the full range of traumatic life events. Integrating clinical and social perspective without sacrificing either the complexity of individual experience or the breadth of political context, Trauma and Recovery brings a new level of understanding to a set of problems usually considered individually.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465087655
• ISBN13: 9780465087655
• Release Date: June 1992
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Traumatized

After years of therapy I've acknowledged my mother was equivalent to raw sewage that permeated everything.

A work of art in the field of psychology

Was Judith watching us at home? Did she hide in the closet and take notes? You'll wonder if Judith Herman has the ability to see inside your thoughts after reading Chapter 5. As a survivor of child abuse and trauma, I was amazed by her ability to clearly define my thoughts, reactions and general "take" on life. If you are a survivor of ANY kind of trauma, READ THIS BOOK. My therapist, Dr. Zitlin in San Antonio, asked me to please read this book after one visit with him. Trauma and Recovery proves to me that recovery is actually possible. And in a way that just might work. This is like no other book I've ever read on trauma, child abuse or PTSD. I've read enough self help books to fill three hefty bags and finally I'm reading something that mirrors my own experience. It's compassion filled without losing credibility. Simply amazing. Please take the time to read this.

therapists and survivors: read chapter 5

Just read ch. 5 and you will be sold. As a person who has worked as a therapist with a variety of people and a variety of problems, I was stunned by the way that this book explains the impact of trauma. You need to read the concept of "complex ptsd," presented in ch. 6. Chs 5 and 6 elegantly present a framework for understanding people who have grown up in the fear of a terroristic household, whether with sexual abuse or not, whether with notable physical abuse or not. This framework acounts for the various problems suffered that are often described by clinicians as "borderline personality disorder," "somatization disorder," and other difficult/lets-ignore-them diagnoses. My feeling is that if you grew up in a scary, terroristic home, if you read chapter five you will believe this author was observing the whole time, and you may gain some insight into your own adult life and personality.