Healing the Oppressed Body: A Therapeutic Guide for Radical Self-Liberation

by Andrea Gutiérrez-Glik

An essential guide to healing from oppression-based trauma, for everyone left outside of mainstream conversations

There are many books on trauma healing that can change people’s lives. Yet when queer and trans people, people of color, and all of us living at the margins look for books that reflect our own experiences and that specifically name the oppression we experience as trauma, we’re left empty-handed. There’s little that speaks to the specific traumas we homophobia, transphobia, institutional injustices, isolation, medical trauma, and discrimination at every turn. We deserve to have ourselves reflected and considered in the world of trauma recovery.

In Healing the Oppressed Body, somatic therapist Andrea Gutiérrez-Glik provides the best tools and approaches to healing trauma and filters them through an anti-oppression lens, making sure they’re uniquely impactful for all of us at the margins.

In these pages, you’ll learn how trauma is stored and processed by our minds and bodies and how we can work with our amazingly flexible brains and nervous systems to create pathways to healing. You’ll understand just how and why trauma that occurs in our earliest days can affect us throughout our lives. You’ll learn to embrace your Internal Family, making yourself whole. In Healing the Oppressed Body, Andrea Gutiérrez-Glik lovingly offers us the best, most radical solutions to tap into our sources of healing. Along the way, you’ll discover tools and techniques for emotional regulation and therapeutic modalities to heal from oppression-based trauma.

Whether inside the therapy room or on your own, in the pages of Healing the Oppressed Body, you’ll learn how to heal through growing compassion for all parts of yourself and others, finding community support and love, and celebrating the freedom to be your true self.


* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF containing visuals for the Window of Tolerance and Dissociation on a Spectrum, as well as a list of recommended books from the author.

Genres: Nonfiction, LGBT, Queer, Mental Health

Audible Audio

Published March 3, 2026

Reviews

[Kaleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly informative and well written for those who are not therapists to read and gain a wealth of information and support from. I would highly recommend, if accessible, to be in therapy alongside reading as some of the "Do It Yourself" sections could be triggering and bring up memories, experiences, feelings, etc that might be hard to navigate alone. I also highly recommend for therapists who have not yet, or want to work with those in marginalized bodies, this would be a wonderful resource in that work. Overall, highly recommend, just would suggest to read as a companion to doing deeper work with a professional, if accessible, for clients and for therapists to get more specialized training and utilize this as a resource in that work.

[Sol]

I loved this nonfiction book. It tackles all the nuances of trauma, from its initial impact, to how the body responds to it vs. how the brain responds to it. It also tackles theories about how trauma affects interpersonal relationships in childhood and in adulthood. I also appreciated how it doesn't stop only at the individual level, and instead expands the nature of trauma to the systemic oppressions that we face everyday such as patriarchy, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, racism, late-stage capitalism, etc. It also delves deeper into how generations and generations before us have encountered these horrors before, and we inherit them--therefore, we must study them so we can learn how to break centuries-long cycles.
It's a very detailed book, and I think everyone would benefit from reading it no matter how well you know and understand the nature your and others' trauma. You can benefit from it even if only in the knowing that you're not alone.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-access in exchange for an honest review!

[Andrea Gutiérrez-Glik · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s pretty good :) very gay though

[Elizabeth J. Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Healing the Oppressed Body offers an excellent overview of many of the therapeutic approaches commonly used today, but what sets it apart is its attention to those on the margins and its exploration of systemic trauma. The author thoughtfully examines the impact of living within a capitalist society, ongoing global stressors, and collective trauma alongside personal experiences of suffering and healing.

One concept I particularly valued was her discussion of being "safe enough" when true safety is not realistically accessible for many people. That nuance felt both compassionate and grounded in reality.

My main critique is that the author refers to the "container" exercise as though it is her own concept, rather than acknowledging it as a well-established EMDR resource that EMDR therapists are routinely trained to use. A brief reference to its origins would have strengthened the discussion.

While the book does not necessarily introduce groundbreaking new concepts, it succeeds in synthesizing many of today's most widely used therapeutic approaches into a format that is accessible, practical, and easy to understand. It also provides actionable tools readers can apply in their own lives. Most importantly, it does an outstanding job addressing populations and experiences that are often overlooked in similar clinical texts.

Overall, this is a thoughtful, inclusive, and highly readable resource that bridges clinical knowledge and real-world application.

[Lisa Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent book this is. This author starts by talking about how oppression causes trauma, and talks about what trauma does do our bodies and our brains. They then discuss attachment theory and Internal Family Systems (IFS) as a way of explaining how our oppression/trauma was metabolized and also how it might be healed. There are some great exercises here, like extensive directions on how to create a Safe Place (an exercise used in EMDR), which I’ve already shared with a couple of clients. Then we move to how we heal from oppression based trauma - whether that is race, gender, sexuality, disability or class based. Also discussed is legacy or inherited oppression trauma, and the trauma we are all experiencing from living in our “modern” world of capitalism, climate change & pandemics. Literally every therapist should read this book.

[Caroline Love · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were many useful things in this book.
PROS- great exercises that I’d not seen elsewhere
- good for gay and trans people

CONS- I got this mainly for the disabled aspect, but this was barely touched on/lip service only with no vignettes etc about this.
- Very sex positive but fails to address the negative sides of BDSM (choking etc and high risk of death) and difficulties many traumatised people have with touch and sex especially CSA and rape victims. Just because she can ‘f*** her way out of trauma’ this is not the norm.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrea provides an authentic, vulnerable and evidenced based guide to healing the oppressed body. She interweaves thoughtful clinical examples that only a therapist of extensive experience could provide.

The material is written in an easily digestible format with opportunity for self-reflection that could be further expanded on in your individual therapy sessions.

There is something for everyone-whether you are a client, mental health clinician, or someone who is curious about healing from a marginalized perspective, you will finish this book gaining valuable knowledge on your journey for mental wellness.

[Madison Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is both a beautiful gift to trauma survivors as well as a must read for every person engaged in the work and privilege of healing alongside others. I wish this book had existed when I was in my MSW program, but what a gift to have it now. The author makes concepts accessible and relatable to those of us who the field of psychotherapy still leaves at the margins. I can’t recommend it enough!!

[Witchofwhidbey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great therapeutic read with actionable insights and covers a wide range of relevant topics in today’s world. Highly recommend EMDR therapy for those struggling with PTSD.

[Renata Shura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book applies to just about anyone, not just LGBTQ+. Very valuable information presented in an accessible way.

[Amy B · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author does a fantastic job of interweaving theory and realistic application through storytelling as well as explaining the intricacies and nuances of types of trauma.