Books are my lodestar. I read a lot. I mention or refer to the books I have read or read in my blog posts. Here you can read a short blurb on each book. When you purchase through my Amazon Affiliate links, you help support my work in the adult survivors of childhood abuse and trauma community.
The Secret Lives of Introverts: Inside Our Hidden World
Author: Jenn Granneman
I am an intrvoert’s introvert. I learned how much that statement is true when I read Jenn Granneman’s book, The Secret Lives of Introverts: Inside Our Hidden World.
Every day I am learning new ways how being an introvert influences how I interact with people and the world. From reading this book I learned that I was born an introvert. And I think that being an introvert may have saved my life growing up in an abusive home.
In this book, I learned the phrases “introvert hangover” and “introvert burrito.” The first phrase describes what it’s like after socializing to the point of overstimulation. And the second is what I need to do the next day to regulate my system.
You can read more about how this book has helped me by checking out the blog posts below:
Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself
Author: Nedra Glover Tawwab
As an adult survivor of childhood abuse and trauma, I do not understand boundaries. I have lived my life so far thinking that I somehow was a magnet for abusers and narcissists. It turns out I didn’t understand boundaries.
I lived my life boundary-less.
I was never taught about boundaries. Why would I have been? Since my parents were my abusers, teaching me about boundaries conflicted with what they were doing to me.
I learned from reading this book how detrimental that was to my life, especially my mental health and sobriety.
To say this book changed my life is an understatement.
You can read more about how this book has helped me by checking out the blog posts below:
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
Author: Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D.
Do you see all of those yellow sticky notes? That is how I often had to stop reading because of something new I learned or realized. There are A LOT of yellow stickies.
On the very first page, in the prologue, I highlighted several sentences. Mostly statistics, but they are statistics that everyone should realize:
– one in five Americans was sexually molested as a child.
– one in four children was beaten by their parent to the point of leaving a mark.
– one in three couples engages in physical violence.
It’s a lot, isn’t it? Most people don’t realize the prevalence of traumatic experiences.
This book changes my world every day. The Body Keeps the Score, has changed how I view how I respond to the world.
What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing
Authors: Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD
As an adult survivor of childhood abuse and trauma, I used to ask, in a very demeaning tone, “what is wrong with me?” I sensed that I was an “other.” I couldn’t figure out why I felt that way.
This book taught me that how I ask myself questions determines how I respond. And sometimes, even if I can find a response. Being mean to myself isn’t going to help me.
I also learned to give myself a break in my healing by reading this book. It isn’t going to happen overnight. And if I am triggered (which still happens), it doesn’t negate all my work.
Dr. Perry writes, “Each of us creates a unique worldview shaped by our life’s experiences.”
It was only when that worldview kept me from being the best me, the same one that kept me drinking, that I realized I needed to change my worldview. To do that, I have to resolve my trauma.