Amazon.com: Life After Trauma: A Workbook for Healing: Dena Rosenbloom, Mary Beth Williams PhD, Barbara E. Watkins, Mary Beth Williams: Books

Review
"Step by guided step, this workbook offers a careful, caring assist out of the emotional tangle that can result from trauma....Clear, comprehensive, well-grounded, and well-organized--real help for those in a vulnerable place." --Kirkus Reviews
-- Review

Review

"This is an important new self-help resource for trauma survivors. It constitutes a significant contribution to survivors of all types of trauma who seek information about how to cope with their reactions and symptoms and how to feel better. The authors use the knowledge they have gained from clinical practice to provide information and exercises in an accessible and user-friendly format. Traumatized individuals will be assisted in their recovery efforts and are sure to find the authors' guidance reassuring and empowering." --Christine Courtois, PhD, Clinical Director, The CENTER: Posttraumatic Disorder Program, The Psychiatric Institute of Washington, Author of Healing the Incest Wound, and Recollections of Sexual Abuse

"Life After Trauma presents a solid base that survivors can stand upon. It offers hope as well as specific tools for the process of healing....Drs. Dena Rosenbloom and Mary Beth Williams are clinical psychologists who have walked through the terror with survivor clients for a decade. Their combined research and clinical experience has provided them with an understanding of the many elements of recovery. Both have served as gentle guides to people in distress. Both have lent their hearts, heads, and hands to survivors who have walked through shame and fear in order to create a new reality that includes, but is not dominated by, a traumatic past....Readers will find many of their difficulties illuminated in these pages." --From the Foreword by Laurie Anne Pearlman, PhD, Traumatic Stress Institute/Center for Adult and Adolescent Psychotherapy, South Windsor, CT

"To date, there are very few self-help resources for trauma survivors. Far more about psychological trauma has been made available to researchers and clinicians than to lay readers. Life After Trauma presents a solid base that survivors can stand upon. It offers hope as well as specific tools for the process of healing....In my relationships with Dena Rosenbloom and Mary Beth Williams, I have been impressed by their commitment to survivors, their sensitivity to survivors' needs, and their understanding of the complexities of healing. I thank them for this workbook, which I believe will make a difference in the lives of the survivors who use it." --From the Foreword by Laurie Anne Pearlman, PhD, Traumatic Stress Institute/Center for Adult and Adolescent Psychotherapy, South Windsor, CT

"Comprehensive and thorough, Life After Trauma offers an array of useful exercises to guide both survivors and clinicians safely through the process of healing. Rosenbloom and Williams offer readers a kind-hearted and confident approach to resolving traumatic life events. An excellent resource for anyone coping with the effects of trauma." --Debra Whiting Alexander, PhD, LMFT, CTS, author of Children Changed by Trauma, Something Bad Happened, and the The Way I Feel series; Executive Director, Center for Community Counseling, Eugene, OR

"This book will help survivors of trauma process their experiences in a meaningful and safe way. The authors' experience working with trauma is evident in their step-by-step approach to empowering individuals to gain control of their lives. Useful and succinctly crafted exercises focus on helping readers access and utilize internal and external resources, restoring a sense of self-esteem, trust, power, and affiliation. Throughout, the authors convey hope and optimism for the healing journey." --Eliana Gil, PhD, Coordinator, Abused Children's Treatment Program, Inova Kellar Center, Fairfax, VA

"Traumatic experiences can feel overwhelming and terrifying. It is often hard to find the energy to go on from day to day, and harder still to know how to recover and regain strength. This book offers a careful and clear guide to reclaiming your life. It provides step-by-step suggestions for rebuilding your sense of self, trust, safety, power, control, and connection to others. The authors know how to help: They anticipate your problems and concerns and they address them. Most important, they have seen many others recover from painful experiences, and they convey hope, optimism, and support for your healing journey." --Eliana Gil, PhD, Coordinator, Abused Children's Treatment Program, Inova Kellar Center, Fairfax, VA

"A comprehensive guide for those working through the effects of a traumatic experience....In addition to the clarity with which their material is presented, the authors also effectively convey a sense of empathy throughout the text. These strengths, as well as others, make this a valuable tool when working with the relatives and friends of such persons. A key strength of this book lies in the authors' experience in working with those who have experienced trauma....The systematic and predictable organization of each chapter allows the reader to become familiar with the techniques used and the progression of work. This structure sets up a framework through which thoughts and beliefs may be generalized to other contexts of life....Both the informative discussion material and the exercises included in this book readily lend themselves to a collaborative process between client and therapist....With its concern for the individual and efforts to validate each reader's experiences, Life After Trauma: A Workbook for Healing is an ideal source of encouragement that extends beyond client-therapist relationship and is available at all times."--APA Division 42 Book Reviews

"Step by guided step, this workbook offers a careful, caring assist out of the emotional tangle that can result from trauma....Clear, comprehensive, well-grounded, and well-organized--real help for those in a vulnerable place." --Kirkus Reviews

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Product Details

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: The Guilford Press; 1st edition (April 19, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1572302399
ISBN-13: 978-1572302396
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.2 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,661 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

#12 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Mental Health > Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
#23 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Mental Health > Abuse & Self Defense > Sexual Abuse
#25 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Personal Health > Stress > Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
What makes an event traumatic? Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
baby steps list, lowest risk idea, actions support the belief, does this belief help, break from this work, lowest risk ways, following alternative meanings, hindering the belief, copyright page for details, evidence support this interpretation, list over time, evidence support this belief, evaluate the pros, change how you feel, sort out the facts

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
The Guilford Press, Accurate Inaccurate, Summarizing Your Work, New York, Belief Create, Changing the Way You Think, Identifying Beliefs, Least Feared Actions, Mind Over Mood, Perspective Will, Pinpointing Problem Areas, Rank Ideas, Taking Stock of Your Work, Trauma Survivors Speak, Carry Out Lowest Risk Ways, Choosing Beliefs, Identifying Your Beliefs, Work On Make, Extremely Extremely, Observations Most Feared Actions, Taking Stock Pause

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 37 books:

Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think by Dennis Greenberger on 5 pages
Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence--from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror by Judith Herman on page 17, and Back Matter
The Dance of Intimacy by Harriet Lerner on page 270, and Back Matter
Women Who Hurt Themselves: A Book of Hope and Understanding by Dusty Miller in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Powers of the Weak by Elizabeth Janeway on page 183, and Back Matter

See all 37 books this book cites

7 books cite this book:

Lesbian Couples: A Guide to Creating Healthy Relationships by D. Merilee Clunis in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Simple and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Strategies for Comprehensive Treatment in Clinical Practice by Mary Beth Williams on page 119, and page 133
The PTSD Workbook: Simple, Effective Techniques for Overcoming Traumatic Stress Symptoms by Mary Beth Williams on page 77, and Back Matter
The New Guide to Crisis & Trauma Counseling by H. Norman Wright on page 236, and Back Matter
The Treatment of Anxiety Disorders: Clinician Guides and Patient Manuals by Gavin Andrews on page 548

See all 7 books citing this book

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	68% buy the item featured on this page: Life After Trauma: A Workbook for Healing 4.9 out of 5 stars (8) $13.57
	12% buy The PTSD Workbook: Simple, Effective Techniques for Overcoming Traumatic Stress Symptoms 4.5 out of 5 stars (28) $14.93
	9% buy I Can't Get over It: A Handbook for Trauma Survivors 4.5 out of 5 stars (24) $16.47
	7% buy The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook: A Guide to Healing, Recovery, and Growth 4.8 out of 5 stars (26) $14.93

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

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4 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.9 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Healing, Helpful book, May 27, 2001

By	Patience H Mason (High Springs, FL United States) - See all my reviews

Dena Rosenbloom, Ph.D., and Mary Beth Williams Ph.D have written an extremely helpful book for trauma survivors. They work from the premise that: "Trauma affects us by undermining five basic human needs. These are: •The need to be safe •The need to trust •The need to feel some control over one’s life •The need to feel of value •The need to feel close to others." Life After Trauma is designed to help survivors learn to meet these needs. It can be used at home or in conjunction with therapy. The authors do not feel that every one needs therapy even though they are therapists trained in dealing with trauma. They believe, however, that trauma changes survivors’ basic beliefs, sometimes in ways of which they are not aware. This book is designed to increase a survivor’s awareness of core beliefs, to help survivors test their validity, and to help find more healing beliefs if the survivor so desires. Life After Trauma is about dealing with life today, not for working through the trauma. The prologue discusses how the workbook can help survivors. The authors stress finding support, learning self-care strategies, affirmations and soothing self-talk. They discuss when to set the workbook aside and coping with triggers. I found all these suggestions very helpful in dealing with some emotional upheavals I was having at the time. Chapter One, “After Trauma: Why you feel thrown for a loop,” discusses physical, mental, emotional and behavioral reactions to trauma and ways of checking in with yourself and learning to relax. The second chapter, “Ways of Coping After the Trauma,” contains several coping checklists and questions you can ask yourself for analyzing how you cope, followed by suggestions on how to cope more effectively. They even point out that dissociation can be an effective coping tool if you can evoke it as needed. Chapter Three, “Thinking Things Through,” discusses how to separate facts from reactions and meanings/interpretations, how these may change after trauma and a system for thinking them through. The next five chapters explore in detail how to meet the five needs, safety, trust, control, value and intimacy. Part of this is identifying beliefs, checking their validity, finding possible alternate explanations or interpretations, and so forth. There are also reminders of self care activities and relaxations exercises throughout the book. Here’s a quote "You can shift your physical and emotional state by, first, reminding yourself that you are in a different time and place from when you experienced trauma initially. You probably have greater choice and control now that you did then. Second, find ways to comfort and soothe yourself. We have provided ideas for doing this throughout the book, such as relaxation exercises. You may not think they can be much help, but consider this: It is not possible to be tense and completely relaxed at the same time. Learning to relax will directly relieve your tension and anxiety, even if for brief periods initially. Learning to relax can help you feel more in control as well as calmer. The feelings you learn to evoke through self-care and self-comforting exercises are, in many ways, the opposite of those evoked by the trauma. You can learn to use them to help counter and manage negative feelings that now seem out of your control." There is also a very good appendix on readings, one on finding good trauma therapy, and one for therapists who might want to use this book with clients. I can’t recommend this book too highly. It is healing, deals with the kind of daily problems that trauma survivors face in a sensible, thoughtful, and above all, hopeful way. Things can change one little step at a time. The book offers a lot of steps a survivor can take, always with an emphasis on safety and self care. This review first appeared in the Post-Traumatic Gazette, a newsletter with a healing perspective for all trauma survivors. ...This book has that healing perspective.

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23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Living in the Present, April 21, 2000

By A Customer

I was expecting this book to be about unraveling the past, understanding it, and generally spending a lot of time in territory I wasn't interested in revisiting... Thankfully, it is about being aware of feelings taking place in the present. This book is geared toward increasing self-awareness and self-knowledge, especially important for those who have disassociated in some way or don't feel like "themselves". What a great thing! The format and style are comfortable and easy to use, and I found myself gaining insight as the book went along, without adding more stress to my life! Thank you for this wonderful workbook.

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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The healing starts here, March 21, 2000

By	BCJ (USA) - See all my reviews

I wanted to read this book after a car crash resulted in general anxiety. When I began to read it, I felt as though the authors really undertood how I was feeling. I felt as though someone were holding my hand, letting me know that there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars great
I thought it was redundent, but when in actual use the client response was good.

Published 2 months ago by Melissa Davis

5.0 out of 5 stars LIFE AFTER TRAUMA
The PTSD Workbook: Simple, Effective Techniques for Overcoming Traumatic Stress SymptomsThis book is gently written without introducing painful memories. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Madhumala Madhavan

5.0 out of 5 stars Helped me a lot
A few months after a major medical situation in my life (several surgeries for brain aneurysm), I began having a very hard time emotionally. Read more

Published on February 7, 2007 by L. Chruma

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book on Coping With Trauma
I purchased this book only to later realize that Dr. Rosenbloom was local to me. After reading and using the book, I chose Dr. Rosenbloom as my personal therapist. Read more

Published on May 16, 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars When self-help really works
The authors have written an important book for people recovering from traumatic life experiences.Its outline and helpful guidelines set the stage for healing. Read more

Published on May 19, 1999

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