God will not waste your pain We have all heard of post traumatic stress, but few of us think about the possibility of post traumatic growth--the positive ways in which we can be transformed by our trauma. Yet this is precisely what can happen when we face our hurts, struggle through the rubble of our broken relationships, and unearth the ways God wants to use our trials to refine and mature us. With compassion born from personal experience and insights gathered from years of counseling others, licensed marriage and family therapist Debra Laaser helps you stop asking "Why me?" and start asking "Lord, what would you have me learn from this?" She offers tangible steps you can take to move beyond daily survival toward a future in which you can thrive. God does not waste our pain. With Laaser's expert guidance, you can experience positive life change not in spite of the hurt, loss, or betrayal you have undergone but because of it.

That personal growth often occurs in people who have experienced traumatic events is an acknowledged but under-researched phenomenon. This book fills the gap: the authors use a cognitive framework to explore this finding, focusing upon changes in belief systems reported by trauma survivors. Tedeschi and Calhoun weave together literature from fields as diverse as philosophy, religion and psychology, and incorporate major research findings into the effect of trauma. With case examples from the authors' research and clinical work, information is presented in a manner accessible to clinicians. In addition, one chapter is written specifically for trauma survivors.

Praise for RIVKA EDERY and TRAUMA AND TRANSFORMATION: A TWELVE STEP GUIDE.How does one formulate a recovery and treatment plan for the profound consequences of surviving trauma? Why should the survivor begin a process of healing with the admission of what happened to them? Is the role of spirituality in trauma recovery necessary in order to heal?In Trauma and Transformation: A Twelve Step Guide, clinical social worker Rivka Edery demystifies the misunderstood resource of spirituality, as it applies to healing from trauma. She provides a guide to a personal spiritual approach that can lead a survivor in a new and powerful direction, perhaps not previously considered. Combining the details of the survivor's inner reality with a step-by-step process of applying spiritual tools to each phase of recovery, Edery demonstrates how such a framework can be highly successful for survivors who seek to lessen their pain and confusion. Edery hypothesizes that for a treatment process to be truly effective, a survivor needs to have special skills in order to overcome their challenges. This is accomplished when a survivor embraces this process. Edery shows you how, step by step.Coming forward with a bold form of guidance, Edery includes specific directions to trauma survivors who wish to make amends for being abusers themselves. Trauma and Transformation: A Twelve Step Guide is the indispensable guide to thoroughly understanding the basic principles of The Twelve Steps as a spiritual program used to treat alcoholics and other individuals with a range of self destructive and addictive tendencies. Offering a chapter-by-chapter synopsis of each of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholic Anonymous, this book offers insight, and guidance for anyone genuinely concerned about how to heal the physical, mental and spiritual wounding caused by traumatic experiences. _______________________________________“Every addict lives a life of trauma. The concept is a natural fit, superb, effective, right on target.” -Ted Rado, L.C.S.W. – R, clinical director of a large residential drug treatment program.“This book is a clear and compelling resource that bridges the gap between Psychotherapy and 12-Step work. The wisdom of this experienced trauma specialist shines through on each page. Without question, it is an indispensable resource for both therapists and clients seeking a renewed model and an essential companion for healing.”-Susan J. Price, M.S.W., Author, The Female Ego

A world-recognized authority and acclaimed mind-body medicine pioneer presents the first evidence-based program to reverse the psychological and biological damage caused by trauma. Filled with practical tools to alleviate stress, anxiety, fear, and sleeplessness. In his role as the founder and executive director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM), Dr. Gordon has created and implemented what may well be the world’s largest and most effective program for healing population-wide psychological trauma. He and 130 international faculty have brought this program to populations as diverse as refugees from wars in the Balkans, the Middle East, and Africa; firefighters and U.S. military personnel and their families; student/parent/teacher school shooting survivors; and Native American children – as well as stressed out professionals, stay-at-home mothers, inner-city children, and people struggling with mental and physical disorders and end of life challenges. Dr. Gordon’s work is grounded in scientific evidence and timeless wisdom. Through his decades of first-hand experience, he understands that trauma will come to all of us sooner or later. That each of us has the capacity to understand and heal ourselves. And that the heartbreaking devastation that trauma causes can also open our hearts and minds to deeper understanding, enhanced meaning and purpose, and greater love. In the compassionate, compelling pages of The Transformation, he invites us on a step-by-step, evidence-based journey to heal the psychological and biological damage that trauma brings and to become the people whom we are meant to be.

A world-recognized authority and acclaimed mind-body medicine pioneer presents the first evidenced-based program to reverse the psychological and biological damage caused by trauma. In his role as the founder and director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM), the worlds largest and most effective program for healing population-wide trauma, Harvard-trained psychiatrist James Gordon has taught a curriculum that has alleviated trauma to populations as diverse as refugees and survivors of war in Bosnia, Kosovo, Israel, Gaza, and Syria, as well as Native Americans on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, New York city firefighters and their families, and members of the U. S. military. Dr. Gordon and his team have also used their work to help middle class professionals, stay-at-home mothers, inner city children of color, White House officials, medical students, and people struggling with severe emotional and physical illnesses. Transforming Trauma represents the culmination of Dr. Gordon’s fifty years as a mind-body medicine pioneer and an advocate of integrative approaches to overcoming psychological trauma and stress. Offering inspirational stories, eye-opening research, and innovative prescriptive support, Transforming Trauma makes accessible for the first time the methods that Dr. Gordon—with the help of his faculty of 160, and 6,000 trained clinicians, educators, and community leaders—has developed and used to relieve the suffering of hundreds of thousands of adults and children around the world.

This book expands on the idea of transformation after trauma through the concept of Resonance. Resonance is presented as the key to posttraumatic growth and transformation and provides practical guidance for accessing it. Resonance is defined as a moment of awakening, through personal stories, that creates an opportunity for transformational learning. This book presents an integrative, holistic and narrative development understanding to individual, organizational and social systems change and transformation after trauma. It proposes a Trauma-Informed Narrative Development Pathway for consideration at all levels of systems and institutions who support people post-trauma. Resonance is critical, timely, and relevant now more than ever. As we continue to work for a world of social justice where preventable sufferings are no longer normalized, a posttraumatic transformation lens allows us to take a developmental perspective to supporting ourselves and those among us touched by trauma to achieve transformational outcomes. In a world with ongoing suffering, the ability to return to core identity memories and access greater connection and love for humanity unleashes the desire to take actions to create a better world for all.

Are you feeling like life is swallowing you whole? After experiencing trauma, we often feel like the weight of the world is crashing down on us. This book will provide you with the tools to help break the chains that keep you anchored to the past where your pain and trauma lie. There are numerous different strategies for overcoming and transforming through trauma, and this book provides proven techniques. Transformation After Trauma will help you heal as you learn how to: Achieve all your goals by cutting them down into attainable pieces. Release old habits that keep you stuck in your trauma. Use exercise and yoga as a means of working through trauma to heal your mind and body. Utilize various forms of creativity to process your pain and let out emotions that may be holding you back. There is hope, and you can emerge from your trauma a stronger person than before.