The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. - Zen saying While the pain and suffering of trauma can seem unbearable, every day we see examples of people who have found a way not only to survive their experiences but also to really live their life to the fullest. This book is about finding your way back to your valued life. In Finding Life Beyond Trauma we hope to help you to move toward living a vital, rich, and awake life.

In the course of nearly thirty years of work with patients in psychiatric hospitals and private practice, Francoise Davoine and Jean-Max Gaudilliere have uncovered the ways in which transference and countertransference are affected by the experience of social catastrophe. Handed down from one generation to the next, the unspoken horrors of war, betrayal, dissociation, and disaster in the families of patient and analyst alike are not only revived in the therapeutic relationship but, when understood, actually provide the keys to the healing process. The authors present vivid examples of clinical work with severely traumatized patients, reaching inward to their own intimate family histories as shaped by the Second World War and outward toward an exceptionally broad range of cultural references to literature, philosophy, political theory, and anthropology. Using examples from medieval carnivals and Japanese No theater, to Wittgenstein and Hannah Arendt, to Sioux rituals in North Dakota, they reveal the ways in which psychological damage is done--and undone. With a special focus on the relationship between psychoanalysis and the neurosciences, Davoine and Gaudilliere show how the patient-analyst relationship opens pathways of investigation into the nature of madness, whether on the scale of History--world wars, Vietnam--or on the scale of Story--the silencing of horror within an individual family. In order to show how the therapeutic approach to trauma was developed on the basis of war psychiatry, the authors ground their clinical theory in the work of Thomas Salmon, an American doctor from the time of the First World War. In their case studies, they illustrate how three of the four Salmon principles--proximity, immediacy, and expectancy--affect the handling of the transference-countertransference relationship. The fourth principle, simplicity, shapes the style in which the authors address their readers--that is, with the same clarity and directness with which they speak to their patients.

The editors of Beyond Trauma: Cultural and Societal Dynamics have created a volume that goes beyond the individual's psychological dynamics of trauma, exploring its social, cultural, politica!, and ethical dimensions from an international as well as a global perspective. In the opening address as International Chair of the First World Conference of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies on Trauma and Tragedy: The Origins, Management, and Prevention of Traumatic Stress in Today's World, June 22-26, 1992, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the conference that formed the foundation for the col lected chapters in this volume, 1 commented: This meeting is a landmark in accomplishing the Society's universal mission. Our distinguished International Scientific Advisory Committee and Honor ary Committee, whose membership was drawn from over 60 countries, the cooperation of six United Nations bodies, and the participation anei endorse ment of numerous nongovernmental organizations and institutions attest to the Society's emerging presence as a major international forum for profes sionals of ali disciplines working with victims and trauma survivors.

Have you noticed that no matter how much time you spend in talk therapy, you still feel anxious and triggered? That is because talk therapy can keep you stuck in a pattern of reliving your stories, rather than moving beyond them. But, most of all, it's because trauma doesn't just reside inside your mind--much more importantly, it locks itself in other parts of your body. When left unresolved, that trauma continues to live there, impacting your life, your relationships, your sense of safety, and your ability to experience joy in very real ways. In Moving Beyond Trauma, Ilene Smith will introduce you to Somatic Experiencing, a body-based therapy capable of healing the damage done to your nervous system by trauma. She breaks down the ways in which trauma impacts your nervous system and walks you through a program designed to process trauma in a non-threatening way. You will discover a healing lifestyle marked by a deeper connection with yourself, those around you, and with everything you do.

In Beyond the Trauma Vortex, Gina Ross proposes a collaboration between the media, trauma researchers, and helping officials in order to break the vicious cycle of trauma and violence. The media, Ross suggests, can use their tremendous influence to promote peace rather than violence and to heal wounded psyches, communities, and nations. Delving first into the destructive nature of the "trauma vortex" through a variety of individual and historical examples, Ross then offers her insight into an alternate, restorative "healing vortex." By focusing on the interrelatedness of personal and collective healing, the author makes a compelling case for why--and how--media professionals can play an influential role in effecting widespread healing for their viewers and for themselves.

In Color-Recommended Version Face Everything And RiseHave you ever been emotionally challenged or triggered by something or someone, and it takes hold of you in a way that seems unmanageable, leaving you in a fight, flight, or freeze response?What does it mean to be activated, charged, or triggered? When we perceive an unmet need or threat, this can create an emotional response known as a trigger response. When we have adverse life experiences or trauma, it's customary to be challenged or triggered by people, places, things, words, behaviors, smells, etc.?Courage to begin looking at what limitations your Trauma, PTSD & Adverse life experiences have created in your life.?Commitment to a healthy relationship with yourself first and Foremost.?Ready to begin a life of Abundance after a life of scarcity.I found that I was triggered by the trauma and adverse experiences I had most of the time. I was sick and tired of being triggered, and I searched for solutions to change this trigger experience that I was having.I'll show you how to process through a challenging experience or trigger to feel empowered instead of debilitated, creating a deeper relationship with yourself where there's honesty and trust within.Suppose you desire to free your mind and heart from low self-esteem, scarcity, or a triggered and emotionally activated state. In that case, this book will inspire you and offer you practical tools to use daily to begin changing this cycle, allowing for a healthier relationship with yourself, leading to more beneficial relationships.Jeannine Rashidi brings her personal experiences of healing trauma, PTSD, and 18 years of professional experience, including the EDHIR® process she created to guide her clients toward integrating the Heart and Mind after the disconnect from trauma and adverse life experiences.Goodbyetension.com

Victor Volkman has created a tool that takes the mystery out of one of the more remarkably effective clinical procedures in a way that can help millions of people revitalize and improve their lives. To those desperate people who have experienced trauma or tragedy, this process is a pathway to dealing with their feelings and getting on with their lives. In the new book Beyond Trauma, Conversations on Traumatic Incident Reduction Volkman presents a series of conversations with a wide range of people from many different backgrounds and experiences. Each provides his or her perspective on Traumatic Incident Reduction, or TIR for short. The book explains the techniques used by professionals and patients to help people sort out, resolve and overcome the negative effects of painful suffering. Untold countless people have to deal with trauma in a wide variety of situations: Soldiers who experience war or injury, families dealing with death, chemical or substance abuse, parental neglect, child or sexual abuse, terrorism, crime and punishment. Beyond Trauma: Conversations on Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR), is unique in that it addresses both people suffering from the effects of traumatic stress and the practitioners who help them. This method has been effective in dealing with many areas of trauma, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), in such diverse groups as veterans, children, 9/11 survivors, motor vehicle accident and sexual abuse survivors. TIR is a brief, one-on-one, non-hypnotic, person-centered, simple, and highly structured method for permanently eliminating the negative effects of past traumas. Contributors include world-renowned experts in traumatology including Windy Dryden, Ph.D., Joyce Carbonell, Ph.D., and TIR's developer Frank A. Gerbode, M.D. Beyond Trauma highlights stories of TIR helping survivors to regain control of their lives. This book will be life changing not only for survivors of traumatic incidents but also for the professionals committed to helping them. "Not in 30+ years of practice have I used a more remarkably effective clinical procedure." --Robert H. Moore, Ph.D. What people are saying about this book: . "Beyond Trauma: Conversations on Traumatic Incident Reduction is an excellent resource to begin one's mastery in this area of practice." --Michael G. Tancyus, LCSW, DCSW, Augusta Behavioral Health . "I have found Beyond Trauma to be EXCEPTIONALLY HELPFUL in understanding and practicing TIR in broad and diverse areas of practice, not just in traditional trauma work. The information from various points of view is really priceless." --Gerry Bock, Registered Clinical Counsellor, B.C. Canada . "Beyond Trauma offers PTSD sufferers a glimpse at a light at the end of the tunnel, while providing mental health workers with a revolutionary technique that could increase their success rate with traumatized clients" --Jeni Mayer, Body Mind Spirit Magazine . "Having read the book, I feel that I have already become better at working with distressed clients." -- Bob Rich, Ph.D.