After Trauma: Lessons on Overcoming from a First Responder Turned Crisis Counselor

by Ali W Rothrock

From a young age, Ali Rothrock fell head over heels in love with firefighting. But when she entered the fire service, she was ostracized by those who weren't willing to accept a girl into their ranks. Constant microaggressions, overt sexism, and instances of sexual violence wore her down until she no longer believed she could safely exist in the world. The trauma of her experiences eventually resulted in a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, and that diagnosis was a first step toward healing. In the years since, Ali has worked as a domestic violence and sexual assault counselor, an advocate for abused children, an inspirational speaker, and a crisis counselor for first responders. On her journey of recovery, she has collected other people's stories of resilience. After Trauma explores the fallout from trauma, the ripples those experiences have on our lives, and finally, a path toward healing. After Trauma is a story of adversity, grit, defiance, choice, and hope. Each chapter offers a lesson to help readers overcome their own trauma, including concrete and actionable advice on how to re-story a life after adversity. We all have the ability to re-define ourselves, to feel hope about what lies ahead, and to choose our own way forward.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mental Health

252 pages, Hardcover

Published April 12, 2022

Reviews

[Meg Kimball · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book. I think I was disappointed that it was more memoir and less self-help. Like, I was hoping that it would be filled with self-help techniques for dealing with trauma. Instead, it was a retelling of the author's life. Nothing wrong with that, nothing at all, so I gave it three stars to average out my disappointment; but the chapter titles led me to think the book would be different: "Forgive yourself for not seeing it coming," and "Don't play the trauma Olympics," for example, led me to think that this would be heavier on the self-help. But what the author does is share her story and throw those lessons into the narration. Like, "This is how I moved past that hurdle."

On those merits, I'd give it four- or five-stars if I hadn't been expecting self-help. But I can't help but wonder why it was so misleading. While I'm here, I also misread or misunderstood the part where the horrible firefighters gang-raped her. Well, I thought that was what happened when I read it, but later she makes it clear that they attempted it and didn't succeed (due to their drunken states). (I assumed when I read it that she was glossing over the actual rapes in order to hide the grit.) So either I misread it (quite possible--don't put it past me) or a beta reader should've caught that and pointed out to the author that it didn't read correctly (also possible), but I certainly don't think it was done deliberately by the author, or anything like that. I'm sure that wasn't the case. But you can never have too many good beta readers on hand. (As a self-published writer myself, I can't promote good beta readers enough.)

Also, there's nothing particularly atmospheric or enjoyable about the reading experience. However, I'm not a huge memoir reader, and I'm trying to take that into account. Also, I skipped around starting several chapters in and didn't read all of it. Like, I wanted to read about the trauma Olympics, but again... it was memoir.

The author must be an old soul, for darned sure, to have overcome so much and to have become so amazingly successful. Rockin'! She's an inspiration, for sure. And so, my overall rating is 3-stars.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book during a transition in my life where I was going from working as a dispatcher for the crisis/suicide hotline to becoming a crisis counselor and interventionist. I thought, “How perfect, how serendipitous.”
I thought this would be different. I wasn’t expecting a full-on memoir. I guess I was looking for something more like ICISF training, something that would help a first responder deal with the trauma that comes with the job. Helpers need help, too, and I don’t think reading about someone’s career transitions meets that mark. The short little “reflection and action” sections at the end of each chapter would be perfect in a workbook that’s backed by the research/reading that is briefly mentioned throughout.

[Kimberly Pinzon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's more 3.5 stars but Goodreads has YET TO ANSWER OUR REQUESTS.

Anyway, this is more of a memoir than a self-help book, which is what I thought it would be since I received it at a stress management training for first responders. That being said, it does offer guidance and encouragement to anyone who is struggling with traumatic issues. It can be rough to read if you've ever experienced anything that Ali has (I had to put the book down at times) but she writes in a way that is accessible and engaging.

I'd recommend it if you're going through a rough time and need to know that it's okay to struggle and things will get better.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Occasionally, when I'm speaking in front of a crowd these days, I talk about this realization and my voice starts coming out of me in waves. The appropriate emotion is present now, and it feels like the empowering antithesis of the shadow I shed. I shed the shadow by going back to the beginning, by going back to the place where I'd lost her, my younger self. It was the summer of 2014. I remember it being cool for late July.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

KSKS

[Assja Good · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, this was more of a biography than a typical self help books. But most self help books writes similar to a journal.

[Ania Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 🌟