It's Not About Food, Drugs, or Alcohol: It's About Healing Complex PTSD

by Mary Giuliani

Your Struggle With Food, Weight, Drugs or Alcohol Is Not Your Fault,
It's A Normal Response To Surviving An Abnormal Childhood

Even though Mary was in long-term recovery with food, severe obesity, drugs, and alcohol and had what most people would consider a successful life - behind closed doors, she still struggled and wondered...

Why she had so few close friends and had difficulty finding a fulfilling, romantic relationshipWhy she still struggled with food, sleep, & caffeineWhy she couldn't find the flow and passion she longed for in her careerWhy, even though she was in long-term recovery with food and substances and had maintained a 160lb weight loss for several decades, she felt the need to hide these parts of her past from others
Finally, in mid-life, she discovered the root cause driving these, and her past addictions to food, drugs, and alcohol was a condition known as Complex PTSD (CPTSD), a more severe form of PTSD that developed from her being raised in a chaotic alcoholic home.

This discovery sent Mary on a five-year journey where she researched leading experts in the fields of complex trauma and addiction. She read dozens of books about complex PTSD and the adverse childhood experiences study (ACE Study.) She also studied thought leaders in the fields of neuroscience and developmental psychology. She read countless books about addiction, emotional trauma, childhood trauma in adults, food addiction, and addiction recovery.

Join Mary as she experiences one mind-blowing revelation after another as she learns that CPTSD was operating behind the scenes sabotaging her weight, addiction recovery, relationships, career, and health, and learn what she did to heal.

In A Blending of Memoir, Science-Based Research & CPTSD Workbook, You'll

You're not alone; you're not bad or defective; it's not your fault, your symptoms are normal, and you can healHow to recover with a proven, step-by-step CPTSD Workbook that compassionately guides you in healing from common CPTSD symptoms such as difficulty with close relationships, shame, guilt, anxiety, depression, addiction, and feeling defective and unworthy of love and belongingGain access to a menu of 36 evidence-based body, brain, and mind CPTSD therapies and practices to heal the root cause of your symptomsHow to recover from your struggle with food, weight, drugs, or alcohol with the support of the step-by-step Addiction Recovery WorkbookHow to stay focused and on track with practical worksheets, quizzes, and questionnaires
You Can End Your Struggle With Food, Weight, Drugs, Alcohol, or Close Relationships Starting Today By Clicking on Buy Now With One Click at the top of this page

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

741 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 21, 2023

About the author

Mary Giuliani is a Master Certified Coach and is the author of "It's Not About Food, Drugs, or Alcohol: It's About Healing Complex PTSD."

She is a trauma recovery and resilience coach, a keynote speaker, and a seminar leader specializing in supporting survivors in healing from complex PTSD, achieving long-term recovery with food, weight, drugs, alcohol, and relationships, and turning their pain into purpose.

She lives in Southern California with her partner.

Reviews

[Mike F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book for everybody, and I mean everybody. A crucial point the author makes is that she, like probably all of us, had experiences in childhood that she didn't identify as being traumatic since they didn't involve violence or a near-death experience. I'm a primary care physician who has become obsessed with the emerging science of how stress affects health and how the vast majority of ALL health problems (not just emotional) are rooted in early life adversities (ACEs). I share the author's hope that we all become "trauma-informed": that we get educated on how early life stress affects brain development and how our behavior today is largely shaped by what happened to us in the past.

This book serves not only as a way to become so informed, but also as a fascinating and compelling case study in understanding the long term effects of early life adversity. The author very effectively shares the story of her life, then educates us on the recent scientific understanding of how stress can affect behavior and brain development, then breaks down in detail how her various traumas affected her life. One thing that makes this book a must-read is that there are so many personal traumas she shares, I think everyone will relate to at least one of these adversities.

I've read dozens of books on this subject and therefore wasn't expecting to learn much new info, but I was thankfully way off base. Her insight into addictions was riveting, and I love how she identifies that there are many more addictions than to just drugs and alcohol (we probably all have some sort of "socially acceptable" addiction). What I appreciate most about the book is that even though I was reading it with the goal of helping the patients I serve, her education on behavior brought me to a much deeper understanding of myself and work I need to do for myself. I am so grateful to her for bringing me to this enlightenment.

The last section of the book is an impressively comprehensive guide to how one can start, or continue on, a journey of healing and/or growth. The author rightly understands that everyone is unique and that there is no one size fits all method, but there are a few foundations to focus on. She consistently offers different ways to go about the journey and more than any other book I've read on this topic, she anticipates barriers and offers strategies to address them. All along, the author feels like a genuinely caring cheerleader without going over the top.

My final thoughts are that the material is written and presented in a really easy to read way, so even if I had just a couple minutes to spare, I could read the book and still feel like I discovered a new pearl or two. Also, as a person who is so interested in this topic, I appreciate how she introduces the reader to the leaders in the trauma field and the wonderful wisdom they have provided us.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book opened my eyes to the scientific link between childhood trauma and being raised by a parent with an addiction or a mood disorder. Until reading it I had no idea that a child who witnesses ongoing fighting (emotional or physical violence) between their parents could also cause childhood trauma.
Reading it has helped me make sense of my own struggle with anxiety, depression, which has given me much more compassion for myself since I now understand my struggle with these issues isn't my fault but are a normal response to being raised by an emotionally challenged parent.

I was really impressed with the many worksheets, quizzes, and resources the author provides for healing from complex PTSD, along with how to recover from its many symptoms, such as difficulty with close relationships, mood disorders, addictions to food, alcohol, drugs, and other self-destructive behaviors.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone who struggles with food, weight, anxiety, depression, substances, or relationships since they may be rooted in complex PTSD. This is a great read on understanding what causes childhood trauma and its many symptoms, but more importantly, it gives readers a big dose of compassion for what they went through and provides a guide and road-map on how to heal and recover.

[Susan Jundanian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author is a gifted storyteller who recounts in harrowing detail the multiple traumas of her childhood and her ensuing adult struggles with food, marijuana, and alcohol. Her vivid descriptions and extraordinary candor would make her story compelling reading if offered only as a memoir. But the book transcends mere autobiography as the writer explains her unfolding realization that the root cause of her addictions is complex PTSD born of her painful childhood. As she describes the steps and missteps of her journey toward healing, she offers a compassionate and detailed guide for others. She cites a vast array of research and offers an extensive resource list for those embarking on their own journeys. Her questionnaires and guides to specifying goals and action steps will be useful for readers who are trauma survivors and/or want to help trauma survivors as well as those tho need a nudge to get “unstuck” or simply want to improve their health and relationships.

[Miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected it to be more clinical, but as a clinician I appreciated the perspective from an addict.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate quitting books, but I stopped reading this one at 45%. There was good information, but it was repetitive and poorly written. Misspellings all over the place.