BOOKS
The Body Keeps the Score. By Bessel van der Kolk. (2014). Bessel van der Kolk is considered one of the foremost leaders in the field of trauma. His book provides an excellent overview of the last 25 years of trauma research and the future of clinical practice. Surprisingly, it is also quite a compelling read and easily accessible for a wide audience - those who have trauma experience, their friends and families, professionals and the general public, alike. If there is one book that I would make required reading for all novice clinicians, this would be it.
The Complex PTSD Workbook: A Mind-Body Approach to Regaining Emotional Control and Becoming Whole. By Arielle Schwartz, Ph.D. (2016). This workbook strikes a good balance between being educational and being supportive and practical. The goal of the workbook is to assist the individual who has experienced trauma in understanding their experience and beginning to make informed decisions about how they would like to proceed. It is intended to function as a supplement to therapy.
VIDEOS
How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across A Lifetime. A TED Talk by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris. September 2014. This 16 minute video provides an excellent summary of the ACES study.
Nature's Lessons in Healing Trauma: An Introduction to Somatic Experiencing. Dr. Peter Levine (2014). In this video, Dr. Levine provides an understanding of how we are biologically wired to recover from trauma and explains how this concept became the foundation for his Somatic Experiencing approach.
Somatic Experiencing - Ray's Story. Dr. Peter Levine (2014). In this video, Dr. Levine works with Ray, a war veteran with PTSD, demonstrating the Somatic Experiencing (SE) approach. Though each SE session will look different, this example demonstrates many characteristics of the SE approach - the gentleness, the full engagement of the practitioner and the use of the body's own wisdom about how to heal.
ARTICLES
Dissociation and C-PTSD: The Role of Detachment in Complex Trauma. November 6, 2017. GoodTherapy.org. https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/dissociation-c-ptsd-role-of-detachment-in-complex-trauma-1106174
How to Recognize and Reconnect with Split-Off Parts of Yourself. October 30, 2017. GoodTherapy.org. https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/how-to-recognize-reconnect-with-split-off-parts-of-yourself-1030175
How Perseverance and Resilience Relate to the Window of Tolerance. October 26, 2017. https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/how-perseverance-resilience-relate-to-window-of-tolerance-1026175
Emotional Hijacking: How Connecting to Old Hurts Heals Us. October 22, 2015. GoodTherapy.org. https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/emotional-hijacking-how-connecting-to-old-hurts-heals-us-1022155
When Trauma Follows You into Your Nightmare. July 8, 2014. GoodTherapy.org. https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/when-trauma-follows-you-into-your-nightmares-0708144
PEER SUPPORT READINGS, VIDEOS AND RESOURCES
The Mighty blog. A great blog written by people with lived experience for people with lived experience. You can read the variety of stories at the main site (http://themighty.com) or you can subscribe to routine emails for specific mental health or physical health conditions such as Depression, FIbromyalgia, Borderline Personality Disorder, Chronic Pain, Anxiety or Chrohn's Disease, just to name a few.
