Description
For survivors of PTSD and repeated, relational trauma — and the people who love them.
Gretchen Schmelzer watched too many people quit throughout remedy for trauma recovery. They found it too difficult or too frightening or just determined that for them it was too late. But as a therapist and trauma survivor herself, Dr. Schmelzer wants us to know that it is never too late to heal from trauma, whether it is the suffering caused within an abusive relationship or PTSD resulting from combat. Now and again what feels like a big setback is in truth an unexpected difficult step forward. So she wrote Journey Through Trauma specifically for survivors–to help them understand the terrain of the healing process and stay on the path.
There are three basic principles that every trauma survivor will have to know: Healing is conceivable. It requires courage. And it cannot be done alone. Traumas that happen more than once–child abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence, gang violence, even war–are all relational traumas. They happened inside a relationship and therefore will have to be healed inside a relationship, whether that relationship is with a therapist or within a group.
Journey Through Trauma gives us a map to help guide us through that healing process, see where the hard parts show up, and persevere in the process of getting well. We learn the five phases that every survivor will have to negotiate along the way and come to keep in mind that since the cycle of healing is not linear, circling back around to a previous stage does not mean defeat – it in truth means progress as well as facing new challenges.
Authoritative and accessible, Journey Through Trauma provides enhance for survivors and their loved ones through one of the crucial challenging but necessary processes of healing that anyone can face.