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miklosha's review
3.0
Peter Levine discusses both the theory and practice of using nature to "heal trauma". First, he documents the role of acute and chronic stress in the animal kingdom and importantly how animals can "shake off" the physiological impact of a lethal near miss. How he explains this is through a "discharge of energy", something he cannot explain further nor chooses to. Levine also invokes the "wisdom" of hunter gatherers and indigenous peoples in use of ritual. While this is certainly interesting, I get the sense that much of it needs to be clarified (due to how old the book is).
The application of said findings come together in his treatment of Somatic Experiencing, a therapy invoking physical movement and a focus on sensations to "read" how trauma has impacted someone physiologically. Astoundingly, he is not particularly interested in the content of the trauma but rather the impact of it on the individual. Somatic Experiencing appears to be an interesting application of how to "close the circuit" on trauma affected behavior that would otherwise be "stuck" in a particular mode. Again, interesting but vague terminology doesn't help.
Levine's work is interesting, but this was not a great format to understand it in. I've been recommended it multiple times and am not very sure why. He would do to publish a new edition with updated findings (nothing is cited in this book) and clinical case studies.
The application of said findings come together in his treatment of Somatic Experiencing, a therapy invoking physical movement and a focus on sensations to "read" how trauma has impacted someone physiologically. Astoundingly, he is not particularly interested in the content of the trauma but rather the impact of it on the individual. Somatic Experiencing appears to be an interesting application of how to "close the circuit" on trauma affected behavior that would otherwise be "stuck" in a particular mode. Again, interesting but vague terminology doesn't help.
Levine's work is interesting, but this was not a great format to understand it in. I've been recommended it multiple times and am not very sure why. He would do to publish a new edition with updated findings (nothing is cited in this book) and clinical case studies.
gg_xo's review
4.0
Good, but the author uses a woody Allen quote to open a chapter… in a book about trauma…
agapideli's review
3.0
I didn't like the parts with God or when he said he didn't believe it was not a coincidence that she was in the same place when the airplane fell. But I like the part about the body etc
sarah_c9's review
4.0
Negative points: often repetitive, I'm not fully convinced of his method SE purely based on the book.
Positive points: making the topic of trauma accessible to everyone, his view on trauma and the effects of it on individual and on mass scale. Interesting book.
Positive points: making the topic of trauma accessible to everyone, his view on trauma and the effects of it on individual and on mass scale. Interesting book.
carissadruann's review
3.0
Interesting book and I learned many new things about our brains and especially are bodies and how they process trauma. Interesting take on what the body goes through and how our body holds onto the "energy" left from trauma that doesn't get expelled. Exercises in the book were different than anything I had ever tried or read about. 3 stars because a lot of the information was redundant. And at times I felt the author downplayed the mind (thoughts) and its role in trauma and the need to talk about traumatic experiences. Also, the author doesn't clearly explain the process of releasing this energy, just beats around the bush in each chapter. The topics were still fascinating to me and I plan to read more about somatic experiencing.