More information about Toxic Stress and Trauma
Here’s a few resource suggestions for more information about toxic stress, trauma and complex trauma.
Sometimes we just want or need more information.
It can help shorten the path, support us to better understand, move us closer to acknowledging something significant or help us develop more motivation so that we can lean into addressing something in our lives.
Wherever you are in terms of thinking about toxic stress, trauma, and complex trauma or recovery, here is some more information.
As you make use of these resources, remember recovery is an inside job.
We are each responsible for:
- being open and curious while listening to ourselves.
- deciding what makes sense, taking what resonates and discarding the rest.
- doing the letting go and learning.
- taking action to create changes and accept the outcomes of our choices.
- reaching out to access what we need and recognizing when it is time to access a professional such as a trauma counsellor.
Blogs Posts About Stress and Trauma
Here are some posts that discuss toxic stress and trauma including complex trauma. They move beyond explaining these injuries and their impacts to exploring prevalence and the many reasons to engage in recovery. A few of them even talk a bit about what’s involved in recovery.
They are just some of the blogposts @ www.soulchange.com
The Painful (and Sacred) Reality of Profound Winters
The Unbelieveable and Probably Prevalence of Toxic Stress and Trauma
When Stress Turns Toxic and Takes Its Toll
The Most Consequential Ways of Categorizing Trauma
10 Reasons Recognizing Toxic Stress and Trauma is So Tricky
3 General Reasons to Recover from Toxic Stress and Trauma
Here’s a few of the better blogs written by experts in the field.
Gretchen Schmelzer (her book is recommended below).
Book Suggestions
Well-written books help us connect dots we didn’t have connected. They enable us to make sense of something that has eluded us or that we didn’t know we needed to make sense of.
They also relate us to others through stories so we know we are not alone.
Sometimes, they simplify things so we feel like we can take it in bit by bit. Other times they deal with complexity in a way that validates everything we have been struggling with in our specific circumstances.
At their best, they provide suggestions and strategies to help us get started with our desired change.
Here are some books to support a fuller understanding of toxic stress related conditions and trauma, their effects as well a sense of their recovery.
Burke Harris, N. (2018). The Deepest Well. Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity. NY: First Mariner Books.
Cori, J.L. (2008). Healing from Trauma. A Survivor’s Guide to Understanding Your Symptoms and Reclaiming Your Life. MA: Avalon Publishing.
Jackson Nakazawa, D. (2015). Childhood Disrupted. How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology, and How You Can Heal. NY: Atria Books.
Kain, K.L. & Terrel S.J. (2018). Nurturing Resilience. Helping Clients Move Forward from Developmental Trauma. CA: North Atlantic Books.
Karr-Morse, R. & Wiley, M. S. (2012). Scared Sick. The Role of Childhood Trauma in Adult Disease. NY: Basic Books.
Levine, P. & Kline, M. (2019). Trauma through a Child’s Eyes. Awakening the Ordinary Miracle of Healing- Infancy through Adolescence. CA: North Atlantic Books.
Levine, P. (1997). Waking the Tiger. Healing Trauma. CA: North Atlantic Books.
Maté, G. (2003). When the Body Says No. The Costs of Hidden Stress. Toronto: Knopf Canada.
Maté, G. (2008). In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. Close Encounters with Addiction. Toronto: Knopf Canada.
Maté, G. & Maté, D. (2022). The Myth of Normal. Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture. Toronto: Knopf Canada.
Naparstek, B. (2006). Invisible Heroes. Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal. NY: Bantam Books.
Palmer, C. (2022). Brain Energy. A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health- and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD and More. TX: Benballa Books.
Perry, B. & Winfrey, O. (2021). What Happened To You? Conversation on Trauma, Resilience and Healing. NY: Flatiron Books.
Schiraldi, G.R. (2021). The Adverse Childhood Experiences Recovery Workbook. Heal the Hidden Wounds from Childhood Affecting Your Adult Mental and Physical Health. CA: New Harbinger Publications.
Schmelzer, G.L. (2018). Journey through Trauma. A Trail Guide to the 5-Phase Cycle of Healing Repeated Trauma. NY: Avery Books.
van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score. Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma. NY: Penguin Books.