The Monster's Journey: From Trauma to Connection

by Mark D. Forman

Joseph Campbell – the great 20th Century mythologist – revolutionized our understanding of story and psychology with his exposition of the Hero’s Journey; the path of change undertaken by normal individuals that ultimately transforms their understanding of life. However, the Hero’s Journey does not work equally well for all – especially those who have already had their lives and selves irrevocably altered by early childhood trauma. In order to understand their passage to growth, this book will introduce the Monster’s Journey – a modern archetypal path that describes recovery from early traumatic experience and its aftermath. The monster is the one shaped by adverse childhood events, suffering a severe loss of innocence, who must then heal and transform in order to come into a trusting relationship with the normal world.

This book will stand on the shoulders of Campbell, and will introduce the reader to the Monster’s Journey step-by-step. Our primary lens, like Campbell, will be the analysis of story, but of modern fiction as opposed to ancient myth. Through our analysis we will divide the Monster’s Journey into easy to follow stages that can be traversed by those in recovery from early trauma. This book is intended primarily for trauma survivors, but will be of great benefit to their loved ones as well as to therapists who treat trauma.

Genres: Psychology

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 21, 2020

Reviews

[Gilles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Forman's Monster's Journey is a unique addition to the field. His exploration of trauma is threefold. First Forman lays out basic facts about psychological traumas, their etiology, their symptoms and efficient ways to assess or detect them. Then Forman presents his core idea, which is based on the striking parallels between the healing journey of people who have experienced trauma and the hero's journey as it was theorized by Joseph Campbell. That's when Forman conceptualises the "monster's journey", from survival to healing and eventually to transcendance. At the end Forman presents an extensive list of available therapeutic avenues, which he carefully contextualizes so as to help the reader navigate their many options. An entire chapter is dedicated to meditation and its use to heal from trauma. Regarding meditation Forman is obviously both an expert and a fan. Despite his self-admitted enthusiasm his didactic and precise approach leaves the reader objectively informed.
Forman's exploration of trauma is very thorough, informative, and sensitive. It is deeply personal as well, and in many instances Forman shares about his own experience of trauma and his own journey through and beyond it. I found his use of Campbell's hero's journey absolutely compelling. Myths are psychological. At the same time human life is mythical. Forman bridges these two dimensions elegantly. However I also found his initial reliance on a set of studies conducted by the Kaiser Group limiting inasmuch as they only focus on parents- or adults-caused traumas. Nevertheless I believe that thanks to its depth and scope, his exploration of the monster's journey manages to shed light on the lives of everybody who has dealt with trauma. I can only highly recommend this book.

[Nikola Ristic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Mark Forman. This time he draws on Joseph Campbell and his archetypal Hero’s Journey and offers the Monster’s Journey, a modern-day experiential structure for healing childhood trauma. From lost innocence to the traumatic experience, to pain, alienation and self-judgement that turn one into a monster, to love, understanding and connection that helps one overcomes trauma, Forman offers us the vehicle for both understanding and healing childhood trauma. The real gems of this book are Forman’s own personal, honest and deeply moving account on childhood trauma and his own original contribution to the childhood trauma treatment, a trauma-sensitive approach to meditation. This book is not only for psychologists and trauma survivors, but for everyone who wants to develop empathy for their fellow human beings in this complex, complicated and at times cruel world and for everyone who wants to understand the psychological aspects of being human. As an author, philosopher and spiritual teacher, I highly recommend this book.

[Bailey Martel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Monster's Journey describes an alternative to "The Hero's Journey" so common in literature and media. Having deep trauma from childhood, and never feeling like the world was ever welcoming to me, I relate much more to the monster's journey. I am thankful for this book for that, and I feel seen for it.

I give it 4 stars, for me it felt like a good introduction in to a new way of understanding one's journey, but doesn't seem to go much further than that, aside from a few recommendations like therapy and meditation. I found myself wondering if there is derivative fiction using this work as a reference to deep dive a little further.