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Who am I in a Traumatised and Traumatising Society?: How perpetrator-victim-dynamics determine our life, and how we can break free
Professor Dr Franz Ruppert’s latest book is part personal account and part an update of his theoretical thinking, specifically as it relates to our society. Identity-oriented Psychotraumatology Therapy (IoPT), developed by Professor Ruppert over the last 25 years, is established as a new way of thinking about trauma, and its influence on our individual lives, and now, this new book looks at its influence on society as a whole. We know through Professor Ruppert’s work, that trauma, particularly traumas that happen at the very beginning of life, have a profound influence on the lives of most of us… and we are our society. All of our societal institutions, such as our political system, our legal and justice systems, our physical and mental health systems as they currently are, are made up of us and people like us, and so have an influence on our lives, that often is in fact traumatising. Professor Ruppert makes a specific focus on the dynamics of perpetration and victimisation as the cyclic forces that hold us in a continually traumatising and re-traumatising world that it is hard to step away from. However to recognise within ourselves our ability to function as a perpetrator, as a way of not connecting with our trauma, brings us to a responsibility for our place in society and our connection with others, and is beneficial for our own well-being. At the end of the book Ruppert discusses the idea of having a clear psyche, and thereby connecting with others who also work with their traumas to clear their psyches, and suggests that by this means we can create the society that we want.
205 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 21, 2019
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175 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 10, 2019
There is perhaps no more timely question facing us currently than who we are in a traumatised and traumatising world.
This is the fourth book I've read by Franz Ruppert and he continues to deepen his understanding of the layers of pain, dissociation and disconnection that now threaten the very fabric of our world.
In this book, in which he is more self-revealing than I have seen in the past, he clearly outlines the nature of trauma, the pervasiveness of our survival responses, and the deep entanglements of victim and perpetrator strategies that paralyze our world.
He offers a glimpse of hope at the end of this book, suggesting what might be possible when - with the help of others - we recognize both our wounding and our survival strategies.
The book offers some direction for individuals and for our societies, in ways that step out of what Jessica Benjamin calls a world of "doer and done to" and into a truer and freer and more tolerant existence.
I have learned a great deal from reading Franz Ruppert's work. While very much a part of the world of psycho-traumatology, there is something particular and unique about his vision and insight which speaks to me; resonates with me, in body, mind and soul.
This is the fourth book I've read by Franz Ruppert and he continues to deepen his understanding of the layers of pain, dissociation and disconnection that now threaten the very fabric of our world.
In this book, in which he is more self-revealing than I have seen in the past, he clearly outlines the nature of trauma, the pervasiveness of our survival responses, and the deep entanglements of victim and perpetrator strategies that paralyze our world.
He offers a glimpse of hope at the end of this book, suggesting what might be possible when - with the help of others - we recognize both our wounding and our survival strategies.
The book offers some direction for individuals and for our societies, in ways that step out of what Jessica Benjamin calls a world of "doer and done to" and into a truer and freer and more tolerant existence.
I have learned a great deal from reading Franz Ruppert's work. While very much a part of the world of psycho-traumatology, there is something particular and unique about his vision and insight which speaks to me; resonates with me, in body, mind and soul.
February 7, 2022
E o carte bună care pune în lumină felul în care propriile noastre traume pot afecta societatea. Merită citită dacă vă doriți o perspectivă diferită asupra lucrurilor, deși pe alocuri mi se pare că e prea radicală și se abate prea mult de la subiectul menționat în titlu.
September 23, 2021
Experiența lecturii acestei cărți (de la care aveam așteptări rezonabile, având în vedere reputația autorului de specialist în traumă) a început bine și a devenit din ce în ce mai dezamăgitoare. Nici nu știu ce să menționez mai întâi... O perspectivă reducționistă, axată exclusiv pe dinamica agresor-victimă cu pretenția de a elucida fenomene intrapsihice, psiho-sociale și istorice complexe, argumente circulare și nesusținute științific, bias-uri la tot pasul, ca să nu mai vorbesc despre poziția anti-avort a autorului (inclusiv în cazuri de viol). Deși pornește de la unele principii sănătoase (reconceptualizate original sub numele de „biografia traumei”) și fără a pune la îndoială bunele intenții ale domnului Ruppert, impresia pe care mi-a creat-o discursul său a fost că e rodul unei gândiri vecină cu delirul, caracteristică unor curente de pseudo-psihologie, antivacciniste și conspiraționiste. Când totul reprezintă o traumă potențială (chiar și nașterea prin cezariană? serios?), orice comportament ulterior se transformă în „strategie de supraviețuire la traumă”(indiferent dacă poate are alte cauze), iar categoriile de diagnostic (așa cum apar în manualele de profil) devin un fel de abuzuri ale sistemului psihiatric „tiranic” ca agresor social instuționalizat „traumatizant” (dictatura medicală a antivacciniștilor). Arhicunoscutele neajunsuri ale capitalismului, excesele psihiatriei, stigmatizarea, lăcomia industriei farmaceutice sunt privite prin aceeași optică și, spus fără ocolișuri, dihotomia asta repetată obsesiv este cam „forțată”, cam „bate la ochi” ca orice agresor al rigorilor cunoașterii psihologice. În universul acestui model cu o putere explicativă deosebită, există (doar) două (trei) posibilități , fie ești victimă, fie agresor, fie amândouă. Deci, „Cine sunt eu într-o societate traumatizată?” Suntem cei afectați de promovarea, mai mult sau mai puțin conștientă, a unor informații false, potențial periculoase pentru sănătatea noastră.
February 7, 2021
Initial a parut ca Franz Ruppert vorbeste in generalitati despre lucruri si ca-si da cu parerea si in situatii care-l depasesc.
Dar dupa, a inceput sa vorbeasca despre ce stie el mai bine, si din punctul asta am inceput sa pay attention to him.
Mi-a placut foarte tare tot ce am citit si revelator cumva. Un om simplu, modest, care admite ca dupa ani de studiu pe traumele altor oameni, a ajuns sa fie ascultat si luat in seama de public in momentul in care s-a descoperit pe sine.
Nu am auzit pana acum de metoda intentiei si teoria psihotraumei centrate pe identitate, si nici de tehnica rezonantei, dar ce se intampla in procesul asta e ca faciliteaza accesul la propria conditie de victima, si eventually de agresor. E un proces colectiv cu oameni care il ghideaza pe pacient si care ii insceneaza intentiile pe niste biletele, pacientul ajunge sa-si insuseasca pana la urma cele mai intime intentii "eu as dori sa stiu ce vreau sa omor in mine", de pilda, printr-un proces de obiectivizare a propriei biografii.
Sunt multe lucruri la care m-am gandit foarte aplicat pe experientele mele, si am avut a-ha moments.
Take outs:
"Cine crede ca poate salva pe altcineva din conditia lui de victima sau de agresor nu intelege nimic din psihicul uman. Traumele pot fi controlate si depasite, numai de oamenii care le-au suferit." - deci saving other ppl, a bit useless, you might become a victim too.
"Este nevoie de multa claritate si hotarare pentru ca individul sa nu se lase inhamat de oameni traumatizati si de institutii traumatizate la strategiile lor de supravietuire si sa nu se supuna propriilor atitudini tipice de agresor-victima."
Persoanele traumatizate (care de cele mai multe ori intra in relatie cu alte persoane traumatizate, traiesc de cele mai multe ori iluzia ca "we are meant for each other.", acea relatie este sau va deveni abuziva.
Agresorii nu au un eu definit, el este ingropat in biografia traumei lui. Ci un pseudo-eu. Pentru ca nu pot avea un eu propriu si nu se pot autodefini in mod autonom, agresorii traumatizanti au nevoie in continuare de relatia cu victimele lor, pe care nu le pot lasa in pace.
Parintii sunt cei mai mari agresori traumatizanti, iar un astfel de adevar este in continuare perceput ca un tabu.
Dar dupa, a inceput sa vorbeasca despre ce stie el mai bine, si din punctul asta am inceput sa pay attention to him.
Mi-a placut foarte tare tot ce am citit si revelator cumva. Un om simplu, modest, care admite ca dupa ani de studiu pe traumele altor oameni, a ajuns sa fie ascultat si luat in seama de public in momentul in care s-a descoperit pe sine.
Nu am auzit pana acum de metoda intentiei si teoria psihotraumei centrate pe identitate, si nici de tehnica rezonantei, dar ce se intampla in procesul asta e ca faciliteaza accesul la propria conditie de victima, si eventually de agresor. E un proces colectiv cu oameni care il ghideaza pe pacient si care ii insceneaza intentiile pe niste biletele, pacientul ajunge sa-si insuseasca pana la urma cele mai intime intentii "eu as dori sa stiu ce vreau sa omor in mine", de pilda, printr-un proces de obiectivizare a propriei biografii.
Sunt multe lucruri la care m-am gandit foarte aplicat pe experientele mele, si am avut a-ha moments.
Take outs:
"Cine crede ca poate salva pe altcineva din conditia lui de victima sau de agresor nu intelege nimic din psihicul uman. Traumele pot fi controlate si depasite, numai de oamenii care le-au suferit." - deci saving other ppl, a bit useless, you might become a victim too.
"Este nevoie de multa claritate si hotarare pentru ca individul sa nu se lase inhamat de oameni traumatizati si de institutii traumatizate la strategiile lor de supravietuire si sa nu se supuna propriilor atitudini tipice de agresor-victima."
Persoanele traumatizate (care de cele mai multe ori intra in relatie cu alte persoane traumatizate, traiesc de cele mai multe ori iluzia ca "we are meant for each other.", acea relatie este sau va deveni abuziva.
Agresorii nu au un eu definit, el este ingropat in biografia traumei lui. Ci un pseudo-eu. Pentru ca nu pot avea un eu propriu si nu se pot autodefini in mod autonom, agresorii traumatizanti au nevoie in continuare de relatia cu victimele lor, pe care nu le pot lasa in pace.
Parintii sunt cei mai mari agresori traumatizanti, iar un astfel de adevar este in continuare perceput ca un tabu.
September 23, 2021
On my first read, I was somewhat disappointed. I think it's due to his prose. I hugely enjoy Franz Ruppert's Youtube talks and interviews, but in book form, I found it's not an overly enjoyable read, and I didn't learn anything fundamentally new.
This still holds on my second read, although I am a bit less critical. As someone having gone through depression due to childhood trauma, I am totally convinced of Ruppert's main thesis both from my own experience as from many other books I read: That throughout history, children have been raised in an inhumane manner, which has led to collectively traumatized civilizations, which can't help but acting destructively despite all their best intentions.
I have also experienced that Ruppert's way of healing trauma works: to discover, reconnect to and embrace your suppressed childhood pain, to see and acknowledge your having been a victim - to me at least, this was the key to change my traumatized and traumatizing life, to be able to separate myself from my toxic family and seek a life on my own. It was a long and painful process, but it's definitively worth it.
Ruppert gives a good overview of all this, with many examples. Again, I agree to virtually everything in this book. However, I often would have liked more thorough explanations, or experiments, or scientific studies confirming his theses. To the uninitiated and critical person which may not be quite free from trauma, I am sure this book will be off-putting and will be rejected by the ramblings of someone obsessed with his own trauma.
Also, I would have preferred him to focus more on everyday traumatic and traumatizing behaviour in families, instead of elaborating so much on more extreme forms of trauma. Sure, these do happen every day to, but I have met enough people who weren't abused sexually or physically, but who are definitively traumatized by well-meaning parents without any real, authentic emotions, thus unable to recognize and accept theirs, and this is the most common form of trauma and just as destructive.
There were a few statements which I wouldn't agree to. I'm sure abortions are traumatizing to the mother, but if you ask me, I actually would have preferred being aborted than growing up with emotionally overwhelmed parents. Also, although I do agree that a mother has a very different role in the early months than the father, I didn't like how stereotypical Ruppert's view of mother and father often come across. I would say I am more like a mother to my boy than my ex-wife, who is more like a father. In the end, parents are parents, whether male or female. The same somewhat old-school gender roles can be found when he discusses sexual abuse, which is invariably committed by males. Again, I'm sure men are in the majority, but I'm sure cases where children are sexually abused by their mothers are not uncommon.
But apart of that, this is a good round-up of what I consider to be THE basic problem of humanity. But I'm not sure if it works for complete "newbies", and I had hoped for this to be a book I could recommend to anyone open to this harsh criticism of society. I'm sure I will recommend it though, but I could think the problem could be presented in a more convincing manner.
(Alice Miller's For Your Own Good , Arno Gruen's The Insanity of Normality , Lloyd Mause's History of Childhood)
This still holds on my second read, although I am a bit less critical. As someone having gone through depression due to childhood trauma, I am totally convinced of Ruppert's main thesis both from my own experience as from many other books I read: That throughout history, children have been raised in an inhumane manner, which has led to collectively traumatized civilizations, which can't help but acting destructively despite all their best intentions.
I have also experienced that Ruppert's way of healing trauma works: to discover, reconnect to and embrace your suppressed childhood pain, to see and acknowledge your having been a victim - to me at least, this was the key to change my traumatized and traumatizing life, to be able to separate myself from my toxic family and seek a life on my own. It was a long and painful process, but it's definitively worth it.
Ruppert gives a good overview of all this, with many examples. Again, I agree to virtually everything in this book. However, I often would have liked more thorough explanations, or experiments, or scientific studies confirming his theses. To the uninitiated and critical person which may not be quite free from trauma, I am sure this book will be off-putting and will be rejected by the ramblings of someone obsessed with his own trauma.
Also, I would have preferred him to focus more on everyday traumatic and traumatizing behaviour in families, instead of elaborating so much on more extreme forms of trauma. Sure, these do happen every day to, but I have met enough people who weren't abused sexually or physically, but who are definitively traumatized by well-meaning parents without any real, authentic emotions, thus unable to recognize and accept theirs, and this is the most common form of trauma and just as destructive.
There were a few statements which I wouldn't agree to. I'm sure abortions are traumatizing to the mother, but if you ask me, I actually would have preferred being aborted than growing up with emotionally overwhelmed parents. Also, although I do agree that a mother has a very different role in the early months than the father, I didn't like how stereotypical Ruppert's view of mother and father often come across. I would say I am more like a mother to my boy than my ex-wife, who is more like a father. In the end, parents are parents, whether male or female. The same somewhat old-school gender roles can be found when he discusses sexual abuse, which is invariably committed by males. Again, I'm sure men are in the majority, but I'm sure cases where children are sexually abused by their mothers are not uncommon.
But apart of that, this is a good round-up of what I consider to be THE basic problem of humanity. But I'm not sure if it works for complete "newbies", and I had hoped for this to be a book I could recommend to anyone open to this harsh criticism of society. I'm sure I will recommend it though, but I could think the problem could be presented in a more convincing manner.
(Alice Miller's For Your Own Good , Arno Gruen's The Insanity of Normality , Lloyd Mause's History of Childhood)
October 14, 2024
Everyone should read this book, but especially those who have children.
We live in a traumatized society and we do not know it, we have normalized and perpetuated behaviors of victims and aggressors without wanting it, but each one of us can change it, break these spirals that hurt us.
We live in a traumatized society and we do not know it, we have normalized and perpetuated behaviors of victims and aggressors without wanting it, but each one of us can change it, break these spirals that hurt us.
November 26, 2025
Me ha gustado mucho, me costó leerlo pero entendí muchas cosas de la sociedad actual, me llegue a plantear cuestiones diversas como lo que puede afectar un trauma des de bien pequeños o bien como el asociarse y definirse en un grupo cerrado puede hacer que pierdas tu esencia real.
September 3, 2023
Absolut remarcabil! Nu am știut că am relație victimă -agresor, pot sa fiu și eu la rândul meu agresor !
Teoria lui este una aplicativă! Foarte bun ! Recomand cu drag acest autor ✅
Teoria lui este una aplicativă! Foarte bun ! Recomand cu drag acest autor ✅
November 6, 2025
Dacă lăsăm deoparte unele declarații mai conservatoare și dure ale autorului, cred că putem face o scurtă actualizare și o sincronizare între noi, în raport cu ceilalți.
June 21, 2024
Este es un libro que deberían de darle a todos los papás en mi parecer, la verdad es que no todas las personas están hechas para ser papás, y los que si, aún así deberían de tomar terapia antes de tener hijos. El mismo libro lo dice, o tomas terapia y curas tus traumas conscientes e inconscientes, o tus hijos cargarán con ellos, generando el ciclo de ser traumatizado y ejercer el trauma.
4 años después:
Releer este libro me transportó a los primeros días en que me llamaba la atención la psicología. Definitivamente, me doy cuenta de que este libro fue un gran impulsor de mi interés en esta área, ya que me embarcó en un viaje de autocuestionamiento. Incluso, siento que me ayudó a ser mucho más curiosa.
En esta segunda lectura, definitivamente tomé una buena decisión, porque me doy cuenta de que el análisis que hice hace unos cuatro años no fue tan profundo como el actual.
Este libro me hace cuestionarme toda mi crianza y me lleva a ser más consciente, como persona, de que existen muchos patrones de crianza que influyen en la sociedad actual. Me parece simplemente increíble.
Definitivamente, recomiendo este libro a las personas que les gusta cuestionar y ver su vida desde diferentes perspectivas.
Considero que, hasta cierto punto, este libro es un gran comienzo para adentrarse en los temas de psicología. Además, es un libro que te abre los ojos y te ayuda a darte cuenta de patrones que puedes tener muy normalizados y que te pueden afectar en cualquier tipo de relación.
4 años después:
Releer este libro me transportó a los primeros días en que me llamaba la atención la psicología. Definitivamente, me doy cuenta de que este libro fue un gran impulsor de mi interés en esta área, ya que me embarcó en un viaje de autocuestionamiento. Incluso, siento que me ayudó a ser mucho más curiosa.
En esta segunda lectura, definitivamente tomé una buena decisión, porque me doy cuenta de que el análisis que hice hace unos cuatro años no fue tan profundo como el actual.
Este libro me hace cuestionarme toda mi crianza y me lleva a ser más consciente, como persona, de que existen muchos patrones de crianza que influyen en la sociedad actual. Me parece simplemente increíble.
Definitivamente, recomiendo este libro a las personas que les gusta cuestionar y ver su vida desde diferentes perspectivas.
Considero que, hasta cierto punto, este libro es un gran comienzo para adentrarse en los temas de psicología. Además, es un libro que te abre los ojos y te ayuda a darte cuenta de patrones que puedes tener muy normalizados y que te pueden afectar en cualquier tipo de relación.
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