Buddhist Practices for Healing Trauma

by Tim Desmond

A transformative and accessible path to profound emotional healing.


While many mental health books draw on secular mindfulness, Buddhist Practices for Healing Trauma offers something a comprehensive healing path grounded in the full breadth of Buddhist wisdom. Drawing from ancient sutras, traditional metaphors, and modern psychology, Tim Desmond—a psychotherapist and longtime student of Thich Nhat Hanh—guides readers through a journey of strengthening, acceptance, and transformation.


Each short chapter offers a concrete practice, from visualizing your five-year-old self to embracing suffering as compost for growth. Interwoven with teachings on non-self, the Discourse on Happiness, and the transformational power of loving–awareness, this book goes beyond symptom relief to support deep spiritual and emotional healing. Gentle, profound, and accessible, this is not just a guide to feeling better—it’s a path toward liberation. For readers seeking trauma recovery through Buddhist practice—not just Buddhist-flavored therapy—this book offers a rare and authentic resource.

224 pages, Paperback

Expected publication June 16, 2026

About the author

TIM DESMOND is a Distinguished Faculty Scholar at Antioch University, teaching psychotherapy rooted in self-compassion. Author of Self-Compassion in Psychotherapy and How to Stay Human in a F*cked Up World, he led a team at Google that developed a practice for predicting counselor efficacy. Desmond is also a student of Thich Nhat Hanh.