Restoring Hope And Trust: An Illustrated Guide To Mastering Trauma

by Lisa S. Lewis, Kay Kelly, Jon G. Allen

Understanding how childhood trauma overwhelms adult well-being is at the cornerstone of Restoring Hope and Trust: An Illustrated Guide to Mastering Trauma. Although survivors may use avoidance strategies to cope with the impact of past trauma, many find that it bubbles up anyway often following other life stressors or a new trauma. Restoring Hope and Trust discusses memories of the past, the role of the nervous system, depression, self-image, and the traumatized worldview, showing clearly how past trauma affects present-day success, happiness, and relationships. This conceptual framework empowers survivors to embark on the healing journey. Restoring Hope and Trust is a compact volume based on a ten-session course that brings old and new understanding together in the psychoeducational approach using simple language, illustrations, awareness exercises, and study questions to guide readers whether they are people on the healing journey or clinicians. Author Lisa Lewis notes the importance of learning new strategies for dealing with past trauma: Too often patients want to jump into the processing [of trauma] before they have found healthy ways of regulating their emotions. It s important to be able to talk about the emotions, but not to be overwhelmed by them. We want the details to eventually bleach out and become more like other memories of what has happened in a persons lifetime....Our goal is to rob the trauma of its power. Restoring Hope and Trust reflects the authors combined 25 years of work with groups of trauma patients at the Menninger Clinic and the Heritage Mental Health Clinic. Author Jon Allen explains: For more than a decade, we clinicians and our patients have worked together in psychoeducational groups to learn about trauma from each other. Each individual brings unique expertise to this endeavor, primarily from life experience. Based on this large pool of expertise personal and professional we have continued to refine our educational program; pe

Genres: Self Help, Psychology

145 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2004

Reviews

[Courtney]

Probably the most impactful book I’ve ever read (I’ve never taken the time to write a review if that says anything). There were so many times I had to set the book down just to reflect on how much it was making sense. I knew that I had leftover problems with a past relationship but I didn’t really understand it was trauma and what it was doing to me currently or why it was happening. I didn’t understand how triggers can make you feel like trauma is happening all over again when it’s not actually happening. This has completely opened my eyes and I cannot say enough how amazing it was to read. Each chapter has mindful relaxation exercises to help with anxiety and then ends with homework questions to help you reflect on how each chapter applies to you. I completed all of the exercises and homework and I highly recommend anyone who reads this do the same.

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good sources for information about post traumatic stress disorder can be hard to find. It’s even harder to find discussion of the topic in general rather than information specific to combat veterans, and harder still to find advice for friends and family members trying to support people suffering from the problem. That makes this book an especially valuable resource. The work is direct and to the point about the disorder’s causes, symptoms and treatments.