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Trauma and Recovery

The Aftermath of Violence - from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

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Trauma and Recovery

By: Judith Lewis Herman MD
Narrated by: Alison Mathews, Xe Sands
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The groundbreaking work on trauma that remains a “classic for our generation” (Bessel van der Kolk, MD, author of The Body Keeps the Score)

Trauma and Recovery is the foundational text on understanding trauma survivors. By placing individual experience in a political frame, psychiatrist Judith L. Herman argues that psychological trauma is inseparable from its social and political context. Drawing on her own research on incest, as well as a vast literature on combat veterans and victims of political terror, she shows surprising parallels between private horrors like child abuse and public horrors like war.

This edition includes a new epilogue by the author assessing what has—and hasn’t—changed in understanding and treating trauma over the last three decades.

Hailed by the New York Times as “one of the most important psychiatry works to be published since Freud,” Trauma and Recovery is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how we heal.

 Abuse Child Psychology Developmental Psychology Domestic Partner Abuse Dysfunctional Families Dysfunctional Relationships Mental Health Parenting & Families Personal Development Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Relationships Health Special need Survival
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Critic reviews

"One of the most important psychiatric works to be published since Freud."—New York Times
"A landmark."—Gloria Steinem
"A stunning achievement ... a classic for our generation."—Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., author of The Body Keeps the Score
"A book of luminous intelligence. You must read it as soon as possible."—Sophie Freud
"Astute, accessible, and beautifully documented. Bridging the worlds of war veterans, prisoners of war, battered women, and incest victims, Herman presents a compelling analysis of trauma and the process of healing. A triumph."—Laura Davis, coauthor of The Courage to Heal
"Brilliant."—Boston Globe
"This book will surely become a landmark work on the social impact of psychological trauma and on its treatments.... A magnificent gift to survivors."—Women's Review of Books
"Herman's brilliant insights into the nature of trauma and the process of healing shine through in every page of this rich and compassionate book."—Lenore Walker, ED.D., Director, Domestic Violence Institute, and author of Terrifying Love
"Herman links the public traumas of society to those of domestic life in this provocative work of psychiatric theory."—Publishers Weekly
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An excellent book but you have to be ready for it . Needs to be listened to several times

Excellent book

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Outside of extraordinary circumstances, in order to experience dissociation, men need only go to war; for a woman, it is part and parcel of life with men. Herman's thorough description of the effects of male aggression, graciously corrects this customary oversight. The reader is a tad robotic - mildly better than the Macat books. A minor annoyance was her pronunciation of 'dissociation' - a common error - when Herman clearly uses the correct term.

Great book. Monotone reader.

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This book holds within itself the origins of understanding of trauma, which arises from the family of origin, aka childhood trauma. It's a book Van der Kolk has quoted many times, as indeed it came many years prior to The Body Keeps the Score. It touches on much of the same material, although this one is a little bit more feminist and political, which is an interesting and different perspective.

Unfortunately, the voice reading it is very robotic. And the book is nearly 12 hours long, so it will be difficult to keep focus at times. I personally found that slowing it down allowed my mind to drift and then recenter fast enough so that I don't lose too much of the material, but I also fell asleep listening to it a few times.

I'd say - listen to The Body Keeps the Score for your orientation in this topic, and then if you are really hooked, listen to this. As an intro, the monotonic reading will bore your brain out. It's a great book on a very important topic, unfortunately hurt by poor voiceover.

Prequel to The Body Keeps the Score

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THANK YOU for an utterly inspirational, eloquent & perfectly timed guide, framework & reference book for me! The entire content & the synchronicity of this book arriving when it did, is nothing short of magic ☀️🌙✨ 🙏

10⭐ & without question or doubt... the MOST transformational for me, on my healing journey!

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I loved this book. Very informative and a must for anyone with an interest in trauma. Did not like the narration as it sound very robotic

Outstanding book

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