‘The Trauma Effect’ is a deeply moving and disturbing book that reveals in the most dramatic terms a family secret, a trauma, a tragedy that destroyed a family. This compelling and deeply poignant book exposes uncomfortable truths and traces a journey of recovery. Trauma can leave an entire family with an inheritance of guilt, blame and shame, which can be absorbed unconsciously by descendants down the ages. This book shows how such learned trauma can be extinguished so that the next generation does not have to carry the burden of it too. ‘The Trauma Effect’ highlights the urgent need to act, to grasp the skeleton, take it out of the closet and bury it once and for all.
This book was very interesting as it explored the meaning of inherited trauma and the different techniques used to help “break the cycle”. Thomelin discusses her own trauma which was quite heart breaking and difficult to read at times, putting myself in her shoes I can totally understand how difficult this must have been as a mother and watching the trauma pass down the family.
Having experienced some difficult times through my childhood and not wanting to pass any trauma down through my family I was instantly interested in this book and the techniques used to help prevent inherited trauma.
I felt this book was very well written and was so thought provoking, it has definitely made me stop and think in regards to my own coping mechanisms and how I can help myself and others in my family.
Thank you for sharing your story with us Zetta and for helping us all to heal along with you ❤️.
It all happened because of one photograph. It featured Zetta’s aunt holding a baby. The aunt had three children, meaning Zetta had cousins, but what happened to them? Why was nobody talking about her aunt and her children?
This book explores generational trauma that exists within the families. It’s split into two parts, and in the first one, the author looks at a case study of her own family, the shocking secret and the taboo that is still persistent around the issue.
She looks at how generational trauma affected different members of her family, including herself.
In the second part of the book, Thomelin explores the effects of generational trauma and provides some useful therapeutic approaches on how to solve the issue.
I was particularly interested in the chapter describing the feelings associated with generational trauma: guilt, blame, shame, judgement, but also the sense of inherited loyalty to our families.
Secrets have a way of coming out, therefore they shouldn’t stay hidden. I was shocked about how trauma can be passed on generations down the line through actions of our parents, grandparents, and so on.
Overall, it’s a great book, offering useful advice and help.
I had a very heavy heart reading this, I had never heard of generational trauma before but since talking to my own psychiatrist again it paints a huge picture that we seemed to be missing in my road to recovering my own trauma and the traumas that I have of my own.
I can't imagine the pain Zetta and her family went through, I also feel very sorry for her regarding her aunt. But from experience with losing an aunt this way I know she must have been feeling very scared and unable to cope anymore and possibly not wanting her own children to suffer either.
It was painful to read but in the best way that opens your heart to something you didn't know you needed.
This was beautifully written and made me feel less heavy in my shoulders by the time I had finished. Although I did have to sit in silence for an hour after I had finished because it felt like I needed to mourn.
An interesting examination of inherited trauma and techniques for halting it and break the cycle, I couldn’t put this down.
I flew through the first part in which Thomelin discusses her own family’s tragedy and, although it’s clear from quite early on what’s happened, it’s still quite the gut punch when you finally reach the heart-breaking reveal. As a mother myself I did find this hard reading, but then imagine this trauma being handed down through your own family, the pain must be unimaginable.
I found the techniques Thomelin recommends to be quite fascinating and I’m interested to try some myself. I wonder how each would apply to different sorts of trauma, but it definitely provided food for thought.
I’d recommend this book to anyone who has experienced a trauma first-hand, to stop the spread of the hurt to future generations, and also to those who want to open up those conversations with older members of their family who may be holding on to grief or shame. It’s a very cathartic read.
Thank you to the publishers and to Random Things Tours for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Review for 'The Trauma Effect' by Zetta Thomelin. .
I will start by saying that this isn't my usual chosen genre but I'm an eclectic reader and happy to read most books. I was intrigued by the sound and cover of this book and decided to give it a go and am pleased that I did. This book is beautifully written, thought provoking, educational, intriguing and fascinating. The fact that Zetta is a trained therapist who uses her own experiences to help others through trauma makes this book not only unique but also shows that anybody can be affected. I also believe the fact that she is a trained therapist herself will also help to gravitate those in need in these circumstances towards this book as she is not only trained but has lived through it herself. I must admit that I had never previously heard of generational trauma prior to reading this book and I must also confess that I was a bit dubious about how much what somebody in your family that you may not have even met could possibly cause trauma. Well, this book certainly opened my eyes to that!! In Zetta's case it all starts with a photograph of somebody that turns out to be an Auntie. This seemingly innocent photograph snowballs into a life filled with secrets, deceit, lies, trauma, heartbreak, illness and much more. I will not disclose what it was about this photograph or her Aunt that led to the trauma but I will state that this "secret" truly is a heart-breaking, devastating and life changing one for many. The first part of this book goes into these details and I absolutely flew through the first half. I must admit that it did take me a lot longer to read the second half as it discusses the effects of generational trauma and the therapeutic approach to it. I do believe this would be more interesting a read to somebody who has lived with trauma than I found it to be as it was not relevant in my situation. However, that is not to say that I did not enjoy reading it as I was intrigued by all the information, the techniques and ideas that Zetta gives in this section and which can also be used for things such as stress, which I can definitely relate to!! My heart absolutely broke for Zetta and her family for what they all went through after what happened and I think it is amazing that Zetta is using this devastating experience for good by helping others overcome trauma. It cannot have been easy for her to open up about something that has been kept as a family secret for so long! I would most definitely recommend this book to anyone who is living or has lived through trauma, whether that is trauma of a first generation or inherited/multi generational trauma!! However, I would also recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about trauma and its effects on future generations and also those that may not have trauma in the family but hidden feelings and emotions as many of the techniques Zetta describes in this book can be used for a wide range of purposes. I would like to end my review by saying Thank You to Zetta for having the courage, determination and bravery for sharing your story with us and for writing it in such a beautiful, open and personal manner too.
Overall an intriguing, eye-opening, educational and beautifully written book that helps with trauma.
What makes this book unique is that the author, a trained therapist, uses her own experience in uncovering a long held family secret to help others in a similar situation.
I won't tell you what the secret is, except to say it is truly devastating. It was, at the time, a tragedy that was covered by national newspapers.
Zetta Thomelin wasn't able to turn to her family for background and context because those who could help are no longer here.
She felt very angry at first that the story had been suppressed and hidden away, through guilt or maybe shame.
She then started researching to fill in the gaps. Her perceptions changed during this process. "I could almost sense the bewildered confusion of the family, as their world fell apart and turned into a nightmare," she writes. "Judgments upon the family that were still clearly there decades later, as we saw when my father went back to the area the family had lived in and being confronted by it all yet again."
In part two of the book, she studies the impact of trauma, and in particular generational trauma, when a traumatic experience is passed down through the generations after the individual suffering had not had support or been able to process the trauma.
There is plenty of data and background to substantiate the theory of generational/transgenerational trauma.
There are exercises of visualisation, starting with how to go about creating a "resource state." This involves visualising a memory with a good feeling, recreating an experience we enjoy doing and imaging a place in nature where we would like to be.
This leads to a visualisation where a conversation is had with one of the sufferers of the original tragedy: the chance to have a conversation that was never had.
The book is a mine of advice and guidance on how families can begin to understand their own experience and start the process of resolution and healing. The personal experience of the author makes it all the more valuable.
Zetta Thomelin’s book really gets you thinking about how previous generations of your family may have impact on you now. The book and her own family story within it really highlights this very well. It’s laid out in two sections, The first is the writer’s own family story of a major event that occurred before her birth that acts as a good example of generational trauma seeping down into future generations. The second is an insightful analysis of how she overcame the affects of the family event and in turn shows how one might approach looking at and dealing with one’s own family issues.
Zetta Thomelin’s family story is an interesting read in itself which got me thinking of aspects of my own family and how events and changes in the past may have affected me. It’s an intriguing, tragic and impactful story of perspectives and how the differences between what one may have been told about your family’s past may not, in the final analysis, be what you imagined it to be. Hence, whatever perspective and affect the original version of things may have had, adjustments to the facts may need to be made to stop unconscious bias affecting your present life.
The analysis section of the book, using her own example, shows how you may approach investigating the facts of the past and using this new knowledge to put any past family trauma into a new light. This In turn allowing new perspectives and a better balance of one’s outlook on oneself and those previous generations.
I found Zetta Thomelin’s book to be intriguing, enlightening, insightful, and a good way to reflect on events of the past to potentially change one’s future for the better.
The Trauma Effect by Zetta Thomelin is a deeply moving and beautifully written non fiction book that explores inherited trauma and the effect it can have on a family moving forward. The author tells her own personal story of how a traumatic family tragedy brought her family to its knees, devastating them as the ripples continued to be felt for generations to come.
The first part of the book lays out the family secret as the author thought it to be, before then delving into the real truth behind the story as she researches what actually did happen all those years ago and how the truth of the story differed from what she had been told.
The final third of the book takes a look at how traumatic past events in a family can lead to an inheritance of shame, causing both psychological and physical damage as the weight of the past is unknowingly passed down to future generations.
Zetta Thomelin writes with a raw honesty that I find incredibly moving as she brings to life a heartbreaking family tragedy that is as shocking as it is deeply upsetting.
The Trauma Effect is a compelling and thought provoking book that takes the reader on a journey of healing and self discovery as it shows how to finally bring a stop to inheritance trauma and the shame, blame and guilt that goes along with it…
Zetta Thomelin has written an honest and deeply moving book that I would highly recommend.
This book fascinated me from the start. I threw myself in, expecting the usual type of therapy book. How wrong was I! Zetta Thomelin takes us on a very personal journey through her family history. In itself this is quite a tale, with a big, jaw dropper of a reveal. Zetta shares the trauma that has hung over her family for generations, and how it has affected them all. After sharing her own story, the author delves deep and hits us with the therapy bit, which she delivers in a clear and concise manner.
#TheTraumaEffect is compelling. Full of emotion and heartbreak. But equally it offers hope and positivity.
I’d genuinely recommend this book to anyone who has suffered from a personal trauma or who has lived with the impact of trauma through their family.
Review I was very interested in this book when I saw the title as then read the blurb. The Traume Effect is a "deeply moving and disturbing book that reveals in the most dramatic terms a family secret, a trauma, a tragedy that destroyed a family... and exposea uncomfortable truths and traced a journey of recovery".
This book was such an incredibly written book, taking Zetta's own personal trauma and that of her family and using it to help others as she herself is a therapist. The book is such a heartwrenching tale, more so because of its raw honesty, and shows the damage that generational trauma can have...but also how to heal and move forward with forgiveness. The trauma, that involved her aunt, was also publicised on the press, and overall caused such a massive damage to the family dynamics which they rippled out to next generations. Zetta explains how she felt she couldn't even probe into her aunt until recently as it was too painful for anyone to talk about - without anyone recognising the lasting effects this would have on her. From personal experience, generational trauma is definitely real but from reading this book I have learnt so much and will definitely utilise techniques to help myself heal too.
I found this book an absolute page turner. I’m continually looking at why some of my family members have behaved as they do and this resonated and helped me so much. Part 1 is about the trauma and the effects and part 2 gave powerful suggestions and insights to release my own trauma and not carry with me my relatives trauma anymore. Most importantly for me to not pass on the trauma to the next generation. It stops with me and that feels very empowering. Zetta Thomelin tells us her journey through the trauma effect and it’s very powerful. A must read. No spoilers needed.
Be ready to embark on an unusual and captivating reading adventure. A terrible tragedy, an investigation, the aftermath, the diagnosis, the therapy. A truly great and profound non-fictional work. Shocking, heart-breaking, therapeutical and full of hope. Do not hesitate to join Zetta Thomelin on an emotional journey.
💜 Blurb - ‘The Trauma Effect’ is a deeply moving and disturbing book that reveals in the most dramatic terms a family secret, a trauma, a tragedy that destroyed a family. This compelling and deeply poignant book exposes uncomfortable truths and traces a journey of recovery. Trauma can leave an entire family with an inheritance of guilt, blame and shame, which can be absorbed unconsciously by descendants down the ages. This book shows how such learned trauma can be extinguished so that the next generation does not have to carry the burden of it too. ‘The Trauma Effect’ highlights the urgent need to act, to grasp the skeleton, take it out of the closet and bury it once and for all. 💙 Review - This was such an interesting and thought-provoking read. I couldn't put it down and I read it in one sitting. Even though there are some sensitive subjects, they are written with care. The book was well written and made me think at times. Overall, a brilliant read that I highly recommend to other readers. I look forward to reading more by the author. 💝 Thank you to Random Things Tours, the author and publisher for my arc ebook copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.