An Autobiography of Trauma
A Healing Journey
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- USD 12.99
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- USD 12.99
Descripción editorial
• Shares the author’s personal journey to heal his severe childhood trauma as well as his breakthroughs on the path to create Somatic Experiencing
• Explores how he came to view Einstein as his personal spirit guide and mentor, only to discover a profound real-life connection to him through his mother
• Explains how the SE method is derived from the author’s studies of animals in their natural environments, neurobiology, and 50 years of clinical observations
In this intimate memoir, renowned developer of Somatic Experiencing, Peter A. Levine—the man who changed the way psychologists, doctors, and healers understand and treat the wounds of trauma and abuse—shares his personal journey to heal his own severe childhood trauma and offers profound insights into the evolution of his innovative healing method.
Casting himself as a modern-day Chiron, the wounded healer of Greek mythology, Levine describes, in graphic detail, the violence of his childhood juxtaposed with specific happy memories and how being guided through Somatic Experiencing (SE) allowed him to illuminate and untangle his traumatic wounds. He also shares the mysterious and unexpected dreams and visions that have guided him through his life’s work, including his dreamlike visitations from Albert Einstein, whom he views as his personal spirit guide and mentor.
Explaining how he helped thousands of others before resolving his own trauma, he details how the SE method is derived from his studies of wild animals in their natural environments, neurobiology, and more than 50 years of clinical observations. Levine teaches us that anyone suffering from trauma has a valuable story to tell, and that by telling our stories, we can catalyze the return of hope, dignity, and wholeness.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Psychologist Levine (Waking the Tiger) discusses in this stark if disjointed memoir how surviving sexual assault shaped his practice. "The writing of these pages was originally meant to serve as a private excavation of hidden and disowned parts of myself," Levine begins, but after a vivid dream in which he scattered a stack of papers to the wind, he decided to publish this account. When Levine was 12, he was sexually assaulted by a Bronx gang with ties to the mafia in an attempt to dissuade his father from testifying against a mob boss. In the aftermath, he began having strange dreams that included abstract images and, most strikingly, encounters with Albert Einstein. Much of the book focuses on how the assault pointed Levine toward the development of an alternative therapy practice called somatic experiencing, in which subjects are encouraged to shore up positive feelings in the body before excavating past trauma. Interspersed among lengthy sections detailing the workings of somatic experiencing are anecdotes about Levine's mother, his encounters with scientists including pioneering autism therapist Mira Rothenberg, and musings on his "visits" from Einstein. While there are brave disclosures in these pages, the project is pitched too uneasily between self-promotion and self-examination. This doesn't quite cohere.
