Phenomenal Book; Highly recomended by A V A T A R Books For Africa, in conjunction with the Institute of Self-Esteem for Africa:
Trauma and Recovery: From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror.
Judith Lewis Herman
Pandora: London , 1992.
Katherine's review
May 27, 10
This is an exhaustive and phenomenal study of trauma psychology written by a pioneer in the field. If I'm not mistaken, I believe Herman was one of the first to connect the dots between the experiences of combat veterans, rape victims, and people raised in abusive homes (a connection we tend to take for granted today) and put forth a clinical diagnosis of PTSD as well as a roadmap for its recovery. Dense yet readable and layperson-friendly, Trauma and Recovery is one of the best things you can read on the subject of either.
May 27, 10
This is an exhaustive and phenomenal study of trauma psychology written by a pioneer in the field. If I'm not mistaken, I believe Herman was one of the first to connect the dots between the experiences of combat veterans, rape victims, and people raised in abusive homes (a connection we tend to take for granted today) and put forth a clinical diagnosis of PTSD as well as a roadmap for its recovery. Dense yet readable and layperson-friendly, Trauma and Recovery is one of the best things you can read on the subject of either.
An Extract on the re-establishment of core Self-Esteem:
".... More important, survivors become comprehensible to themselves. when survivors recognise the origins of their psychological difficulties in an abusive childhood environment, they no longer need attribute them to an inherent defect in the self. Thus, the way is opened to the creation of new meaning in experience and a new, unstigmatised identity. " (pp. 127).
