Healing Violence

From the psychologist and author of Gaslighting comes a practical recovery plan outlining ten foundational steps to true healing. Surviving and escaping a toxic or abusive relationship can often only be part of the struggle. Long after, survivors often struggle to heal; your self‑esteem may be...

Have you endlessly searched online trying to make sense of their behaviour? Hoping to understand how they treat you. ‘Is it normal?’ ‘Why does it hurt so much?’ Or perhaps you feel conflicted because you think their behaviour is unacceptable, but you question your judgement. You ask yourself, ‘Is it me?’ ‘Am I too sensitive?’ ‘Am I crazy?’ Was It Even Abuse? was written by Emma Rose Byham, founder of The Personal Growth Project and Instagram community (@thepersonalgrowth.project) to support you in working through the chronic confusion and self-doubt experienced after ...

My life with Chad was rocky at best. His need for control extended to me and led to an abusive situation that ended in trauma and murder. This is the story of how I found courage and healing after being married to my abuser for several years.

“They’re gone,” I hear someone say. “Your mother, they all left. Did you know?” The door opens without resistance. They didn’t even bother to lock; they never did. Doors are never locked here, not in this apartment nor any other. Who would steal anything here? There is nothing to take. Born in a rural desert town to a family of Persian immigrants, Miriam was twelve years old the first time she had three meals in one day. The tenth daughter of twelve siblings, she was raised so far away from anyone who might care that there was no one around to see her endure the debilitating ...

Broken bones heal and bruises fade, but words can cut the soul. Do you believe that it’s your fault? Do you believe him or her when they say it's not bad enough to be abuse? Domestic violence manifests itself in different ways but most people who walk into the trap don’t recognize any of the signs. This is my deeply personal story sharing my journey of increasing mental and verbal abuse, my struggle to fix and control my life through binging and purging, and confronting the fear that he would make good on his promise to take our son or kill me if I tried to leave. Then there was a ...

In this classic work of developmental psychology, renowned psychiatrist and the coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestseller What Happened to You? reveals how trauma affects children—and outlines the path to recovery How does trauma affect a child's mind—and how can that mind recover? Child...

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...

The family court system is meant to protect domestic violence victims, yet too often, it becomes an endless labyrinth that traps them inside. Abusers weaponize our judicial system to instill their revenge, from long, drawn-out divorces and custody battles to forcing their victims to spend thousands of dollars and endless time in court. In her new book, Kaytee Gillis tells the story of those victims trying to defend themselves against the revenge of post-separation abuse while navigating that legal labyrinth. When our judicial system fails to protect victims from this abuse, they give ...

For readers seeking solutions to finally end the gun violence that kills tens of thousands of people each year in the United States— from a Harvard-trained trauma surgeon treating victims in Chicago If hope for ending gun violence can take hold in Chicago’s South Side, then it can take hold...

How far would you go to be free? Three generations of women forge a new path through an America torn by a mysterious wave of violence in this “chilling [and] dizzyingly effective” (The New York Times Book Review) novel of revenge, liberation, and triumph. “A compulsively readable fusion...

Author Talia Kendrix awakens an array of emotions with The House on Fairview, stirring up a hunger for our most basic need… the need to survive. We are immediately swept into young Talia’s life as she gives us the riveting details from her point of view, beginning with her parents’ divorce and progressing through a series of horrific events that are relatable and all too common. Used and abused in every way, Talia repeatedly gets knocked down by the harsh realities of life as she learns what it means to fight for hers. She grows up confused and rebellious, desperately yearning to be ...

Since Bailey Rae Rigby’s adoptive aunt Winnie passed, Bent Oak, South Carolina, doesn’t have much of a hold on her anymore. So it seems. Bailey Rae aims to settle the small estate and, armed with her aunt’s inspiring personal cookbook, buy a food truck with an ocean view in Myrtle Beach. Everything goes awry when a distraught young mother arrives in town clutching a copy of that same cookbook. Embedded inside is a code that promises a safe place in Bent Oak for desperate women on the run. For Bailey Rae it opens up a world of questions.

An essential tool for healers, therapists, activists, and survivors of trauma who are interested in a justice-centered approach to somatic transformation The Politics of Trauma offers somatics with a social analysis. This book is for therapists and social activists who understand that trauma...

You deserve respect. In this fully expanded and updated third edition of the bestselling classic, you learn why verbal abuse is more widespread than ever, and how you can deal with it. You'll get more of the answers you need to recognize abuse when it happens, respond to abusers safely and...

When you are healing from abuse the pressure rarely comes only from within. You may be told you’re stuck in the past. That you’re too sensitive. That you don’t make sense. That you should be more positive. Or you are to blame for your struggles. In Dear Survivor, Emma Rose Byham explores five false beliefs that survivors are frequently measured against while trying to rebuild their lives. Rather than focusing on self-blame, this book looks at the social and relational messages that shape how survivors are expected to heal, and the quiet harm those expectations can cause. These false ...

For survivors of PTSD and repeated, relational trauma -- and the people who love them. Gretchen Schmelzer watched too many people quit during treatment for trauma recovery. They found it too difficult or too frightening or just decided that for them it was too late. But as a therapist and trauma...

From one of America’s most influential psychiatrists, an essential manifesto for reimagining justice for survivors of sexual trauma. “An extraordinary book ...Beautiful, profound, and important.” —New York Times The #MeToo movement brought worldwide attention to sexual violence, but...

A community is like a garden. Bad things grow naturally. Good things have to be planted and tended to. But we all deserve a safe community where we can thrive and grow in relationship and in our uniqueness. Have you found or built a tribe where you can be authentic and vulnerable? Here’s the resource to get you started! If you’re like most people, much of the relational pain you may have experienced can be avoided if you have the tools to prevent and heal relationship breakdown. In fact, the right approach can create the type of community where you can develop your unique, God-given ...

A top expert on human trauma argues that we vastly overestimate how common PTSD is and fail to recognize how resilient people really are After 9/11, mental health professionals flocked to New York to handle what everyone assumed would be a flood of trauma cases. Oddly, the flood never came. In...

Told by a former high-level member of the Peoples Temple and Jonestown survivor, Seductive Poison is the "truly unforgettable" (Kirkus Review) story of how one woman was seduced by one of the most notorious cults in recent memory and how she found her way back to sanity. From Waco to Heaven's...