Revolutionizing Trauma Treatment: Stabilization, Safety, & Nervous System Balance

by Babette Rothschild

Challenges the notion that clients with PTSD must revisit, review, and process their memories to recover from trauma. Being able to monitor and modulate a trauma client’s dysregulated nervous system is one of the practitioner’s best lines of defense against traumatic hyperarousal going amok―risking consequences such as dissociation and decompensation. This paperback edition of Babette Rothschild’s The Body Remembers, Volume 2 , clarifies and simplifies autonomic nervous system (ANS) understanding and observation. It includes a full-color table that distinguishes six levels of arousal, which has proven to be an essential clinical tool, presenting a new and useful distinction between trauma-induced hypoarousal and the low arousal that is caused by lethargy or depression. Multiple therapeutic transcripts illuminate key points in trauma treatment, including stabilizing clients who dissociate, identifying and implementing hidden somatic resources, and utilizing good memories and somatic markers. With an authoritative yet personal voice, Rothschild’s book is essential reading for anyone working with those who have experienced trauma. The full-color ANS table is also available separately as a laminated desk reference card. 10 black-and-white illustrations

Genres: Psychology, Mental Health, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Counselling, Social Work

256 pages, Paperback

Published April 27, 2021

Reviews

[Morgan Blackledge · Rating 5 out of 5]

GREAT BOOK:

REVIEW COMING SOON!

[Abby Hendrix-Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most practical book I’ve read in graduate school.

[Dean Paradiso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up at a local library, while researching trauma therapy and related. It's a wonderful book in terms of challenging the status quo on trauma therapy and healing PTSD, but also because the author offers so many view points and alternative avenues of research in dealing with trauma clients. I'm not a trauma therapist or professional, and was reading this through the lens of a meditation and mindfulness teacher. The live sessions detailed with clients really bring the ideas to life, and also details the author's ideas and experiences with the effectiveness of the phased approach of regulating, safety and sensory stabilisation before attempting to resolve memories and the clients issues directly. The basis of the book is the idea that caring for the trauma client and their needs is more important than just resolving memories and fixing PTSD itself. I also really like the suggestions in the last chapter for adapting alternative treatments such as yoga, mindfulness, and general self awareness for the purposes of healing trauma and PTSD. A great addition for professionals and anyone interested in the fascinating area of healing trauma, which is more pervasive than most people realise.

[Concerto Piano · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the vast and often turbulent landscape of trauma therapy, Babette Rothschild emerges as a guide, illuminating pathways to healing with wisdom, compassion, and a profound understanding of the human nervous system. Revolutionizing Trauma Treatment: Stabilization, Safety, & Nervous System Balance is not just a book - it is a manifesto for a new, more humane approach to treating trauma, one that prioritizes stability over catharsis, safety over confrontation, and the delicate balance of the nervous system over the rush to relive past horrors.

In crafting this transformative framework, Rothschild does not dismiss the value of trauma memory work entirely, but she situates it as a later stage in treatment - one that should only be undertaken once clients have developed the inner resources to handle it. She invites therapists to adopt a flexible, patient-centered approach, one that is responsive to the unique needs of each individual rather than dictated by rigid clinical protocols.

Throughout the book, real-world case studies breathe life into Rothschild’s theories, offering glimpses into the diverse ways trauma manifests and how stabilization techniques can change the course of therapy. These stories serve as testaments to the power of her methods, demonstrating how clients who once lived in a constant state of dysregulation gradually learn to reclaim a sense of peace.

Ultimately, Revolutionizing Trauma Treatment is a call to redefine what it means to heal. It is a book that dares to challenge the notion that trauma must be exhumed to be exorcised, instead offering a vision of healing that is grounded in patience, wisdom, and the unwavering pursuit of safety. In Rothschild’s hands, trauma therapy is not an excavation but an act of restoration - a slow and deliberate process of rebuilding one’s inner world, brick by careful brick.

For therapists, this book is an essential guide to ethical, effective trauma treatment. For trauma survivors, it is a beacon of hope, a reassurance that healing is possible - not through suffering but through stability, not through re-experiencing pain but through reclaiming control. Rothschild’s work is not just about treating trauma; it is about transforming the way we understand recovery itself.

With its blend of scientific insight, clinical expertise, and deep human empathy, Revolutionizing Trauma Treatment is more than a book - it is a revolution.

[Eshaneh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a psychophysiologist. The chart on arousal states is not one I can endorse. I don’t think one can get more than a superficial understanding of arousal states without using equipment such as a HRV monitor or skin conductivity monitor or even finger temperature sensor. Without real data, it would be difficult to get a true read on what someone is experiencing in terms of arousal states. That being said, I liked the chapters that detailed resources and how to adapt mindfulness to people with PTSD.

[Lia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somehow, this packed more in 200 pages than almost any other trauma-related treatment book that I've read. It blended critique, theory, and practical concepts / ideas seamlessly and was ultimately SO readable that I found myself actually enjoying it as a book ( not as just a manual ).

[Lyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Packed with strategies, wisdom, diverse theory, and good old common sense. An absolute must for any therapist wanting to work safely and effectively with people that have experienced trauma. Yet again Rothschild manages to find that precise balance of writing in a clear and understandable way that is not at all patronizing but easy to digest.