Stories of Pain, Trauma, and Survival

Stories of Pain, Trauma, and Survival
Author: Sarah E. Meisinger
Publisher: N A S W Press
Total Pages: 100
Release: 2009
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

This volume is filled with anecdotal examples of social work with individuals and groups in a variety of settings that include nonprofit agencies, child welfare services, and veteran's health care. Each story is followed by the author's personal and professional insights on how these experiences have informed her practice. She created this work in response to the need for undergraduate and graduate students to hear about real-life experiences working with traumatized clients and for new social workers experiencing the "baptism by fire" as they enter the profession. The author's main message to all social workers is that they can be more effective by getting "back to basics" and staying in touch with the core values of the profession. She notes that one of the most important services that social workers can provide is to be fully present in "witnessing the pain" of a traumatized client. She feels that the self-knowledge and compassion that emerge from this mindfulness make all the difference in working with clients who are overwhelmed by difficult circumstances.

A Chronicle of Grief

A Chronicle of Grief
Author: Mel Lawrenz
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 173
Release: 2020-07-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830839224

Have you, or someone you love, experienced the devastation of a traumatic loss? In this raw, vivid narrative, Pastor Mel Lawrenz chronicles how his family struggled to survive the sudden death of their beloved daughter. For anyone whose life has been turned upside down by grief, this beautiful memoir offers hope and companionship.

Nurturing Resilience

Nurturing Resilience
Author: Kathy L. Kain
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2018-05-08
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1623172039

A practical, integrated approach for therapists working with child and adult patients impacted by developmental trauma and attachment difficulties—featuring a foreword by Waking the Tiger author, Peter Levine. Kathy L. Kain and Stephen J. Terrell draw on fifty years of their combined clinical and teaching experience to provide this clear road map for understanding the complexities of early trauma and its related symptoms. Experts in the physiology of trauma, the authors present an introduction to their innovative somatic approach that has evolved to help thousands improve their lives. Synthesizing across disciplines—Attachment, Polyvagal, Neuroscience, Child Development Theory, Trauma, and Somatics—this book provides a new lens through which to understand safety and regulation. It includes the survey used in the groundbreaking ACE Study, which discovered a clear connection between early childhood trauma and chronic health problems. For therapists working with both adults, children, and anyone dealing with symptoms that typically arise from early childhood trauma—anxiety, behavioral issues, depression, metabolic disorders, migraine, sleep problems, and more—this book offers hope for a happier, trauma-free life.

The Trauma Heart

The Trauma Heart
Author: Judy Crane
Publisher: Health Communications, Inc.
Total Pages: 378
Release: 2017-06-27
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 0757319815

The majority of people addicted to substances or process addictions such as relationship disorders, eating disorders, self-harming behaviors, gambling or pornography are trauma survivors. Many people caught in the web of addiction don't identify as trauma survivors until their personal, familial, intergenerational, and in-uterine history is exposed. Unfortunately, relapse is inevitable without trauma resolution that can only take place once their history is exposed. It is only when that happens that the behavior disorders will finally make sense. For almost 30 years Judy Crane has worked with clients and families who are in great pain due to destructive and dangerous behaviors. Families often believe that their loved one must be bad or defective, and the one struggling with the addiction not only believes it, too, but feels it to their core. The truth is, the whole family is embroiled in their own individual survival coping mechanisms—the addicted member is often the red flag indicating that the whole family needs healing. In The Trauma Heart, Crane explores the many ways that life's events impact each member of the family. She reveals the essence of trauma and addictions treatment through the stories, art, and assignments of former clients and the staff who worked with them, offering a snapshot of their pain and healing.

One Body

One Body
Author: Sarah Lovell
Publisher: CreateSpace
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2014-12-19
Genre:
ISBN: 9781497379343

Sarah Lovell never knew her biological father, and she first experienced sexual abuse at age eleven. Those early traumas led to a life of increasing instability. Lovell's intimate partners beat and secluded her, and the fragile young woman disappeared into a falsely comforting haze of alcohol and drugs. She lost custody of her first two children, a son and a daughter. She gave birth to two more daughters, and temporarily lost custody of them as well, before a rock-bottom revelation finally forced her to get sober. Her life seemed to be coming together, but her children began to experience heartbreaking traumas themselves. Her teenage daughter journeyed down a path of unthinkable sexual exploitation, while her vulnerable youngest daughter struggled through intense social trauma at school. Lovell, armed with a new career and a burgeoning sober self-confidence, took up the fight for her children. One Body is the story of physical and emotional scars that ultimately teach invaluable lessons. Lovell hopes to inspire other women to keep standing up after life's devastating blows knock them down.

Hope Heals

Hope Heals
Author: Katherine Wolf
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2016-04-26
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0310344557

When all seems lost, where can you find hope? Katherine and Jay Wolf married right after college and sought adventure far from home in Los Angeles, CA. As they pursued their dreams--she as a model and he as a lawyer--they planted their lives in the city and their church community. Their son, James, came along unexpectedly in the fall of 2007, and just six months later, everything changed in a moment for this young family. On April 21, 2008, as James slept in the other room, Katherine collapsed, suffering a massive brain stem stroke without warning. Miraculously, Jay came home in time and called for help. Katherine was immediately rushed into brain surgery, though her chance of survival was slim. As the sun rose the next morning, the surgeon proclaimed that Katherine had survived the removal of part of her brain, though her future recovery was uncertain. Yet in that moment, there was a spark of hope. Through forty days on life support in the ICU and nearly two years in full-time brain rehab, that small spark of hope was fanned into flame. Hope Heals documents Katherine and Jay's journey as they struggled to regain Katherine's quality of life and as she relearned to talk, eat, and walk. As Katherine returned home with a severely disabled body but a completely renewed purpose, she and Jay committed to celebrating this gift of a second chance by embracing life fully, even though that life looked very different than they could have ever imagined. As you uncover Katherine and Jay's remarkable story, you'll be encouraged to: Find lasting hope in the midst of struggle Embrace the unexpected Welcome God's miracles into your everyday life In the midst of continuing hardships, both in body and mind, Katherine and Jay found what we all long to find: a hope that heals the most broken place--our souls. Let Hope Heals be your guide along the way. Praise for Hope Heals: "As I read this book, tears streamed from my eyes even as joy flooded my heart. Jay and Katherine are a raw yet refreshing testimony to the unshakable trustworthiness of God amidst the unimaginable trials of life. This book reminds all of us where hope can be found in a world where none of us know what the next day holds." --David Platt, author of the New York Times bestseller Radical and president of the International Mission Board "Hope Heals is a beautiful, true story that illustrates the love and protection God has for us even in the darkest times of our lives. Katherine and Jay's dedication to each other and the Lord through their most devastating season is inspiring. This book will help your heart believe that He sees, He knows, He cares, and He is still working miracles today!" --Lysa TerKeurst, New York Times bestselling author and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries

Survival Lessons

Survival Lessons
Author: Alice Hoffman
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 75
Release: 2020-08-18
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1504064542

The New York Times–bestselling author and cancer survivor tells how to hold on to joy in times of sorrow in this “absolutely beautiful book” (Sue Monk Kidd). The prize-winning author of such modern literary classics as Practical Magic, The World That We Knew, and The Marriage of Opposites, Alice Hoffman is also a cancer survivor. In Survival Lessons, she shares her transformative journey, showing us how to re-envision our own lives and relationships with our friends and family, and the significance of the everyday choices we make. Sorrow and joy are both part of the human experience, and the beauty of the world is easy to overlook during periods of crisis, illness, or loss. Here, Hoffman offers wit, wisdom, and comfort in “an optimistic instruction manual [for] anyone struggling with self-care in a time of trouble” (Story Circle Book Reviews). “In this gem of a book, Alice Hoffman acknowledges the sorrows of life, while reminding us of its joys. Survival Lessons is filled with love, insight, and lots of practical advice—including a crazy-good brownie recipe.” —Will Schwalbe, New York Times–bestselling author of The End of Your Life Book Club “Hoffman’s storytelling artistry enlivens each intimate, thoughtfully distilled, charming, and nurturing lesson in living.” —Booklist “[Survival Lessons] is not about [Hoffman’s] breast cancer per se but about making choices that will improve readers’ lives and relationships and remind them ‘of the beauty of life.’” —Library Journal “Full of smart intentions and kind reminders . . . Uplifting advice we’ll gladly take.” —Better Homes & Gardens

Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma

Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma
Author: Peter A. Levine, Ph.D.
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Total Pages: 292
Release: 1997-07-07
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 9781556432330

Now in 24 languages. Nature's Lessons in Healing Trauma... Waking the Tiger offers a new and hopeful vision of trauma. It views the human animal as a unique being, endowed with an instinctual capacity. It asks and answers an intriguing question: why are animals in the wild, though threatened routinely, rarely traumatized? By understanding the dynamics that make wild animals virtually immune to traumatic symptoms, the mystery of human trauma is revealed. 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.

Trauma Transformed

Trauma Transformed
Author: Marian C. Bussey
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2007
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 9780231138338

Whether it's physical, psychological, social, historical, or ongoing, trauma is a universal experience, and this book provides professionals with the approaches necessary for successful and empowering interventions across the trauma spectrum. Part one examines the steps individuals take to heal their traumas. Nicolas survives an attack by his own dog; Tay rebuilds her life after years of incest; Claire speaks out about being molested by a program participant at her mental health clinic; and Erma copes with the shattering memories of childhood abuse. Part two focuses on interpersonal dynamics. Frank is held accountable for his violence toward his wife; Erin and her mother confront the reality of bullying and victimization in schools; Beth faces discrimination because of her sexual orientation; and staff members at a transitional housing shelter deal with the death of a client. Part three recounts stories of resilience and healing at the social and community level. Salome and her family process the historical trauma of the massacre of her American Indian ancestors. A group of boys who became fatherless after 9/11 respond to experiential ways of coping with their grief. Jennifer and Kim live daily with the social trauma of poverty. Three Liberian families survive torture, flight, refugee camps, and resettlement. Amory struggles to find meaning and move on from his experience as a combat veteran, and the story of Angelina Batiste epitomizes the loss and resilience of those who lived through Hurricane Katrina. Trauma Transformed provides insight into the psychological and spiritual resources practitioners need to help victims move forward and improve upon their circumstances. Readers will also learn to strengthen their sense of self to prevent secondary trauma.