Iron Legacy: Childhood Trauma and Adult Transformation

by Donna Bevan-Lee, Laura King

Donna Bevan-Lee had a tough childhood. When her father was feeling playful, he roped her by the foot like a rodeo calf, yanking her to the ground every time the rope connected. In darker moods, he did far worse, his brutality excused by a church that gives men absolute power over women and children. The abuse she suffered had profound and lasting consequences, including self-loathing, addiction, and an inability to say "no." Too many adults have similar histories. Roughly a quarter of American children experience complex trauma resulting from abuse, neglect, catastrophic illness, or other adversity. Because such trauma affects the developing brain, it's not something we outgrow; it permanently alters our thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and behavior, often without our awareness. It derails our plans, sabotages our relationships, and convinces us that we're unworthy of happiness. It makes us vulnerable to addiction, obesity, depression, anxiety, chronic illness, and early death. It is a formidable challenge. Dr. Bevan-Lee met the challenge of her traumatic childhood and began to help other survivors meet theirs. A pioneer in the field of codependency, she developed programs to treat adults struggling with unresolved trauma. Her flagship program, The Legacy Workshop, has helped thousands of survivors understand their histories and discharge emotions rooted in them. Now she has distilled her history, cutting-edge research, and four decades of clinical experience into Iron Childhood Trauma and Adult Transformation. Full of up-to-date information, practical help, compelling stories, and clear-eyed encouragement, Iron Legacy is a comprehensive guide to recognizing and overcoming childhood trauma, written by someone who has been there.

466 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 29, 2019

Reviews

[Mary&Ken Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have known and worked with Donna Bevan-Lee since 1984. She was our personal and couple’s counselor for many years and then our colleague. Donna taught us about codependence and trauma and its relationship to addictions. She has been helping countless numbers of people heal their lives for over 40 years. Her book, Iron Legacy, is an accumulation of Donna’s many years of wisdom, expertise and humor woven into the telling of her childhood story. She combines a sense of humor, humility and genius in her storytelling that allows the reader to identify and begin to examine their own legacy of childhood trauma. We highly recommend Iron Legacy, it is the best book to date on the effects that our families and cultures have on our lives.

[Nicoline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was at a book fair and received this book for free at a booth where the author was signing copies. Usually I have reservations about free books but honestly this book is insightful and easy to read. I will say I’m only on the first chapter but I’m excited to get to the rest.

[John Burgess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iron Legacy is a rare find among the onslaught of self-help and pop psychology books. Grounded in research and clinical experience, this book requires keeping an extra copy on your shelf to loan out to friends and family. I found myself discussing the science and stories to anyone who would listen. Over the past months, I’ve noticed the impact of this book on my life and the newfound awareness that comes from incorporating the suggested practices and processes.

Iron Legacy captures much of the “new” wisdom currently backed by the groundbreaking work in psychology and neuroscience. For example, “coherence” is a favorite in therapy; at the end of Part II, Dr. Bevan-Lee suggests writing (and re-writing) a meaningful and organized self-narrative. The practical suggestions and specific steps on creating a self-narrative avoids jargon or terms of art while allowing the essence of the idea to become accessible and clear.

Dr. Bevan-Lee has successfully walked a fine line between providing useful information without overly complicating a difficult topic. The depth of understanding and fluidity of presentation is obvious from the beginning and the real stories keep the reader on firm footing. I highly recommend this book to anyone working on addressing their life’s drama and chaos – this book helps us understand how our unresolved childhood trauma can impact our adult lives. Iron Legacy provides hope to those who have “tried everything” without the success they deserve. If you’re interested in bravely moving forward with your life, this book is a solid step towards your transformation.

[Kim Alford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iron Legacy: Childhood Trauma and Adult Transformation is valuable resource
for those with lingering issues from physical and emotional childhood trauma. Well-written and extremely informative, it helps the reader identify, and finally put to rest, the gut-wrenching shame, guilt, and behaviors that hold us back from living life fully. This life-changing book can alleviate long-held feelings from a troubled childhood. If therapy and self-help books have fallen short of providing answers and lasting help, this book is the missing piece that delves with compassion into the reasons behind unresolved issues, and offers concrete steps to healing.

[Bobbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Bevan Lee is my favorite speaker on trauma recovery and codependence. Her voice comes through in her writing authentically. Her deeply personal stories of abuse were hard for me to read, boundary up. Her journey is inspiring. Her shared experience is hopeful. Her tools are life changing.