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A review by kaelaceleste
Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker
5.0
I'm reading this book in a non linear way - bouncing back and forth, taking notes, highlighting, etc., so it's hard to track my progress, but I'm going to go ahead and mark it as read since this has taken up a massive amount of my attention span over the past month and a half. Not to get too vulnerable on Goodreads of all places but I will a little bit.
This book was recommended to me by my therapist. I was a bit put off by "PTSD" in the title - that to me has always been associated with people like veterans or just folks who have been through intense, violent trauma. But the "C" at the beginning was the real key here.
I cannot emphasize just how much this book has changed my mindset about my mental health and the experiences I've been through. I almost don't know how to put into words how it felt to read this and see some of my own life experiences on the page. The very first day I started reading the copy I borrowed from my therapist, I had to repeatedly put it down because I was so shocked at how much the content paralleled my own feelings and experiences. After a few days, I actually went and ordered a copy for myself so I could take notes in it and have it to reference back to. I have NEVER felt the urge to write in a book like that before. After a week, I went and ordered another copy for someone else in my life. I really cannot overstate how much of an impact reading this has had on how I process my own trauma and understand how it relates to my life now.
Even in the very first chapter, so many parts stood out to me and have stuck with me in and out of my therapy sessions. I love the exploration of the different trauma response styles, as well as the addition of the "fawn" response, which I felt fit so many of my experiences better than the better-known "fight or flight" responses. I also got a lot out of the explorations of the inner critic and emotional flashbacks and how they can affect every part of my daily life.
It feels hyperbolic to say this book changed my life but I have truly, never felt such a strong response like this before, especially within the lens of therapy tools. Not even every single thing in here applies to me 100%, or even at all - but the stuff that does just hit really, really hard. Not sure I'd recommend this to like....absolutely EVERYONE in the world but anyone dealing with trauma responses or emotional exploration or anything at all therapy-related might get something out of this.
This book was recommended to me by my therapist. I was a bit put off by "PTSD" in the title - that to me has always been associated with people like veterans or just folks who have been through intense, violent trauma. But the "C" at the beginning was the real key here.
I cannot emphasize just how much this book has changed my mindset about my mental health and the experiences I've been through. I almost don't know how to put into words how it felt to read this and see some of my own life experiences on the page. The very first day I started reading the copy I borrowed from my therapist, I had to repeatedly put it down because I was so shocked at how much the content paralleled my own feelings and experiences. After a few days, I actually went and ordered a copy for myself so I could take notes in it and have it to reference back to. I have NEVER felt the urge to write in a book like that before. After a week, I went and ordered another copy for someone else in my life. I really cannot overstate how much of an impact reading this has had on how I process my own trauma and understand how it relates to my life now.
Even in the very first chapter, so many parts stood out to me and have stuck with me in and out of my therapy sessions. I love the exploration of the different trauma response styles, as well as the addition of the "fawn" response, which I felt fit so many of my experiences better than the better-known "fight or flight" responses. I also got a lot out of the explorations of the inner critic and emotional flashbacks and how they can affect every part of my daily life.
It feels hyperbolic to say this book changed my life but I have truly, never felt such a strong response like this before, especially within the lens of therapy tools. Not even every single thing in here applies to me 100%, or even at all - but the stuff that does just hit really, really hard. Not sure I'd recommend this to like....absolutely EVERYONE in the world but anyone dealing with trauma responses or emotional exploration or anything at all therapy-related might get something out of this.