Moving Beyond Trauma

Moving through Trauma is a vitally important front runner of a book in educating people that the body needs treating for trauma as much, if not more than the mind. I'm well trained in CBT yet never managed to rid myself of trauma effects that were hard to verbalise. This book explains well what happens when we disengage from our bodies. The exercises are deceptively simple but effective over the longer term, some are not new but reset in a scientific context. Yet still, I'd pair this book with something about the polyvagal nerve.as, in my limited understanding I'd say that you can retrain your body to engage with the environment - and still be out of balance which causes anxiety, and health conditions. Still, a great foundational read.

In Moving Beyond Trauma, Somatic Experiencing practitioner Ilene Smith shares her own experience with trauma and both cognitive and somatic therapy, explains how trauma affects our nervous system, offers assessments to help readers better understand their own reactions to trauma, and suggests healing exercises. She accomplishes this in a friendly, easy to understand style accompanied by references to peer-reviewed journals and other professional literature.

I thought this book offered a particularly good discussion of nervous system dysregulation, and I appreciated all of the case studies the author presents. I was already familiar with most of the concepts discussed, and yet I felt like I gained a better understanding of how I have been affected by trauma and why I react the way I do at times.

Part of what sets this book apart are the research-based assessments, which were interesting and really helped me perceive where I am struggling most, as well as the areas that are more of a strength for me. My only disappointment is that the suggested exercises are a very small portion of the text and not connected to the assessment results as clearly as I might have hoped. I do like the exercises offered though; they were easy to understand, and I like that the author encourages readers to get curious, start slowly with small changes, and celebrate small victories.

The assessments can be taken online for free. I like this option because the scoring is done for you. However, you will be asked for your email address.

I think most people could benefit from reading this book. Even if you think you haven’t experienced trauma, you may learn that you have been affected by past events more than you realized. This book will also help you better understand why other people might behave the way they do.

I was provided an unproofed ARC through NetGalley that I volunteered to review, but I also purchased my own copy.