Recommended reading

Some survivors of childhood trauma and child abuse who we have supported have found the following books helpful.

Some sexual abuse survivors have found the following books helpful:

Ellen Bass & Laura Davis: The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (20th Anniversary edition)
Mike Lew: Victims No Longer: The Classic Guide for Men Recovering from Sexual Child Abuse
Daniel Siegel & Marion Solomon: Healing Trauma: Attachment, Mind, Body and Brain
Soaring Above the Ashes: Thriving Beyond Childhood Sexual Abuse Emily Samuelson, Otter Bay Books, 2018 (includes clinical information as well as interviews)

Helpful links for survivors

Videos

A Survivor Story (Marilyn Van Derbur)

It’s Time to Talk about Psychological and Verbal Abuse (Lizzy Glazer)

The Courage to Leave (Norah Casey)

Being an Abandoned Child (Brendan Maguire)

Breaking the Silence about Childhood Trauma

Trauma is irreversible. How it shapes us is our choice (Sasha Joseph Neulinger)

Can Abuse Feel Good? (on the traps which maintain abusive relationships)

`Working with the Neurobiological Legacy of Developmental Trauma’ (Janina Fisher on how childhood stress sculpts the brain and the need for repair)

CPTSD: Four Discoveries That Are Revolutionizing Treatment

Childhood PTSD and Loneliness — How to Begin Healing

Why Therapy Works: a talk by Robin Shapiro (focuses on complex interpersonal trauma)

Articles and readings

Me: Breaking the Chains of Abuse (Nicole Patton, 2019)

Don’t Expect Me to Cry: Refusing to Let Childhood Sexual Abuse Steal My Life (Janet Bentley, Spotlight Publishing, 2018)

Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology, and How You Can Heal, Donna Jackson Nakazawa (Atria, New York, 2016)

Educated: A Memoir (Tara Westover, Random House, 2018)

`The Silence: The Legacy of Childhood Trauma’ (Junot Diaz, 2018)

Ms America By Day
`The pain of childhood sexual abuse ends…I promise’ Video and resources from one of the first American survivors with celebrity status to speak publicly of her experience

BOOKS FOR SUPPORTERS, PARTNERS & CARERS

Understanding trauma

Bessel van der Kolk – The Body Keeps the Score (2014)
Babette Rothschild – 8 Keys to Safe Trauma Recovery (2010)
Peter A. Levine – Healing Trauma (2019)
Peter A. Levine – In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness (2010)

Supporting relationships & partners