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OVERVIEW
Combining years of research, teaching, and experience treating trauma survivors,
Dr. Jon G. Allen offers compassionate and practical guidance to understanding
trauma and its effects on the self and relationships. Coping With Trauma
is based on more than a decade of Dr. Allen's experience conducting educational
groups for persons struggling with psychiatric disorders stemming from trauma.
Written for a general audience, this book does not require a background in psychology.
Readers will gain essential knowledge to embark on the process of healing from
the complex wounds of trauma, along with a guide to current treatment approaches.
In this supportive and informative work, readers will be introduced to and
encouraged in the process of healing by an author who is both witness and guide.
This clearly written, insightful book not only teaches clinicians about trauma
but also, equally important, teaches clinicians how to educate their patients
about trauma.
Reshaped by recent developments in attachment theory, including the importance
of cumulative stress over a lifetime, this compelling work retains the author's
initial focus on attachment as he looks at trauma from two perspectives. From
the psychological perspective, the author discusses the impact of trauma on
emotion, memory, the self, and relationships, incorporating research from neuroscience
to argue that trauma is a physical illness. From the psychiatric perspective,
the author discusses various trauma-related disorders and symptoms: depression,
posttraumatic stress disorder, and dissociative disorders, along with a range
of self-destructive behaviors to which trauma can make a contribution.
Important updates include substantive and practical information on:
- Emotion and emotion regulation, prompted by extensive contemporary research
on emotion—which is becoming a science unto itself.
- Illness, based on current developments in the neurobiological understanding
of trauma.
- Depression, a pervasive trauma-related problem that poses a number of catch-22s
for recovery.
- Various forms of self-destructiveness—substance abuse, eating disorders,
and deliberate self-harm—all construed as coping strategies that backfire.
- Suicidal states and self-defeating aspects of personality disorders.
The author addresses the challenges of healing by reviewing strategies of
emotion regulation as well as a wide range of sound treatment approaches. He
concludes with a new chapter on the foundation of all healing: Maintaining
Hope.
This exceptionally comprehensive overview of a wide range of traumatic experiences,
written in nontechnical language with extensive references to both classic and
contemporary theoretical, clinical, and research literature, offers a uniquely
useful guide for victims of trauma, their family members, and mental health
care professionals alike.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part I: Foundations. Trauma. Attachment.
Part II: Effects of Trauma. Emotion. Memory. Self. Relationships.
Illness.
Part III: Trauma-Related Psychiatric Disorders. Depression.
Posttraumatic stress disorder. Dissociative disorders. Self-destructiveness.
Part IV: Healing. Emotion regulation. Treatment approaches.
Hope.
Glossary.
REVIEWS
“Dr. Allen's understanding of the causes and
effects of trauma, the detritus of the comorbid and ancillary difficulties that
lie in its wake, and the potential for healing based on current approaches and
new ones on the horizon make this volume a veritable treasure trove of state-of-the-art
information and clinical wisdom . . . . This brilliant and compelling book leaves
me feeling hopeful about the possibility for growth and generativity for those
who have sustained trauma-and inspired by what contemporary psychiatry also
offers to help them flourish.”
—From the Foreword by Kathryn J. Zerbe, M.D.
“This is a triumphant second edition for the
best introduction to one of the most important topics in mental health. Allen's
sophistication and grasp of an area of enormous complexity is matched only by
his ability to communicate the depth of his understanding in an incisive, economical,
and crystal clear way. The book is a remarkable feat of creative integration.
It is quite simply the best book for presenting current ideas on trauma to anyone,
from the intelligent lay reader to the student clinician to the most sophisticated
practitioner.”
—Peter Fonagy, Ph.D., F.B.A., Freud Memorial Professor of Psychoanalysis
and Director of the Sub-Department of Clinical Health Psychology at University
College London; Chief Executive of the Anna Freud Centre, London, England; and
Consultant to the Child and Family Program at the Menninger Department of Psychiatry
at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jon G. Allen, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Menninger Department
of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Baylor College of Medicine, and
Senior Staff Psychologist at The Menninger Clinic.
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