I've been searching for a book like this my entire life! My mom died suddenly when I was 9 years old, and I thought I would never recover. People (especially adults) looked at me with pity like my life was over. Finally, Dr. Shiro has named and illustrated through research and anecdotes what I have come to realize in my own life and seen in others, too. It is not only possible to recover from life-altering trauma, but to be transformed BECAUSE of it. I now know this is called Post Traumatic growth and under certain conditions and with the right support, anyone can experience it following trauma. We are not doomed to suffer indefinitely.
In this book, Dr. Shiro clearly outlines the path to Postraumatic growth, for anyone who seeks to achieve it. She names the 5 stages that survivors experience on the way to growth: Awareness, Awakening, Becoming, Being, and Transforming. This book is so inspiring, not only because of the hope it gives those who have been traumatized, but also in the clear path it names for healing and thriving afterwards. The stories within are fascinating, starting with Dr. Shiro's two grandparents, both survivors of the Holocaust, who inspired her life's work of studying Post traumatic growth. One grandparent stayed very stuck in trauma, while the other seemed to transform because of it. Dr. Shiro spent her lifetime researching to understand why. She was obsessed with finding out: Why do some people derail into a life of chaos and often addiction after trauma, while others transform? She gives us the gift of that research and the hope it instills in all of us in this beautifully researched and gorgeously written book.