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Understanding and Healing Emotional Trauma
Understanding and Healing Emotional Trauma is an interdisciplinary book which explores our current understanding of the forces involved in both the creation and healing of emotional trauma. Through engaging conversations with pioneering clinicians and researchers, Daniela F. Sieff offers accessible yet substantial answers to questions such as: What is emotional trauma? What are the causes? What are its consequences? What does it mean to heal emotional trauma? and How can healing be achieved? These questions are addressed through three interrelated perspectives: psychotherapy, neurobiology and evolution. Psychotherapeutic perspectives take us inside the world of the unconscious mind and body to illuminate how emotional trauma distorts our relationships with ourselves and with other people ( Donald Kalsched, Bruce Lloyd, Tina Stromsted, Marion Woodman ). Neurobiological perspectives explore how trauma impacts the systems that mediate our emotional lives and well-being ( Ellert Nijenhuis, Allan Schore, Daniel Siegel ). And evolutionary perspectives contextualise emotional trauma in terms of the legacy we have inherited from our distant ancestors ( James Chisholm, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Randolph Nesse) . Transforming lives affected by emotional trauma is possible, but it can be a difficult process. The insights shared in these lively and informative conversations can support and facilitate that process. This book will therefore be a valuable resource for psychotherapists, psychologists, counsellors and other mental health professionals in practice and training, and also for members of the general public who are endeavouring to find ways through their own emotional trauma. In addition, because emotional trauma often has its roots in childhood, this book will also be of interest and value to parents, teachers and anyone concerned with the care of children.
About This Book
Understanding and Healing Emotional Trauma is an interdisciplinary book which explores our current understanding of the forces involved in both the creation and healing of emotional trauma. Through engaging conversations with pioneering clinicians and researchers, Daniela F. Sieff offers accessible yet substantial answers to questions such as: What is emotional trauma? What are the causes? What are its consequences? What does it mean to heal emotional trauma? and How can healing be achieved? These questions are addressed through three interrelated perspectives: psychotherapy, neurobiology and evolution. Psychotherapeutic perspectives take us inside the world of the unconscious mind and body to illuminate how emotional trauma distorts our relationships with ourselves and with other people ( Donald Kalsched, Bruce Lloyd, Tina Stromsted, Marion Woodman ). Neurobiological perspectives explore how trauma impacts the systems that mediate our emotional lives and well-being ( Ellert Nijenhuis, Allan Schore, Daniel Siegel ). And e volutionary perspectives contextualise emotional trauma in terms of the legacy we have inherited from our distant ancestors ( James Chisholm, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Randolph Nesse) . Transforming lives affected by emotional trauma is possible, but it can be a difficult process. The insights shared in these lively and informative conversations can support and facilitate that process.This book will therefore be a valuable resource for psychotherapists, psychologists, counsellors and other mental health professionals in practice and training, and also for members of the general public who are endeavouring to find ways through their own emotional trauma. In addition, because emotional trauma often has its roots in childhood, this book will also be of interest and value to parents, teachers and anyone concerned with the care of children. Read more
| ISBN-13 | 9780415720847 |
| ISBN-10 | 0415720842 |
| Publisher | Routledge |
| Publication Date | December 2014 |
| Edition | 1 |
| Pages | 262 |
| Language | English |
| Dimensions | 6.14 x 0.6 x 9.21 inches |
| Weight | 14.4 ounces |
Expert Analysis & Insights
In-depth editorial assessment across key dimensions
The conversational format is highly engaging and memorable, with expert voices and personal narratives that make abstract concepts tangible. Many reviewers report the book as transformative and return to chapters repeatedly, indicating strong retention value.
Ideal for self-directed learners and clinicians who thrive on narrative and dialogue; for formal education, supplement with discussion questions or case-based assignments.
The index and chapter structure allow for targeted reading of specific interviews (e.g., Schore, Kalsched) without reading the whole book. Each chapter is self-contained, facilitating quick access to a particular expert's perspective.
Suitable for browsing by expert name or theme, but not as a quick-lookup clinical reference. For rapid access to trauma facts, use a handbook.
Provides a genuinely interdisciplinary and conceptually deep exploration of emotional trauma, covering psychodynamic, neurobiological, and evolutionary dimensions with contributions from leading experts. The interviews allow for nuanced discussion of complex ideas, and the book succeeds in integrating these perspectives.
A strong supplementary text for those seeking a holistic understanding of trauma, but for comprehensive depth, combine with specialized texts on each perspective.
Individual interviews offer practical wisdom, such as Stromsted's embodied practices and Lloyd's approach to addiction and shame. These provide clinicians with philosophical and relational tools that can inform their therapeutic approach, though they are not step-by-step techniques.
Best used for professional development and reflective practice, not as a hands-on guide. Clinicians should pair it with technique-focused texts.
Offers rich clinical insights from renowned practitioners, including specific therapeutic frameworks like Kalsched's protector/persecutor system and Schore's right-brain relational repair, which clinicians can apply conceptually to case formulation. The evolutionary perspective helps depathologize patient responses, enhancing empathic clinical stance.
Useful for seasoned therapists seeking to broaden their theoretical grounding and for trainees to develop case conceptualization skills, but not as a bedside or procedural reference.