9 Healing Books About Trauma

We inherit more from our families than genetics, mannerisms or traditions; we can also inherit trauma. In It Didn’t Start With You, Wolynn looks at how trauma can continue to affect members of a family even if a traumatic incident occurred long before they were born, and puts forward ways that people can identify and start to heal this generational trauma.

Another excellent examination of how trauma can affect people across multiple generations, My Grandmother’s Hands looks specifically at how racist violence and the trauma that results from it impacts mental and physical health. Menakem’s book discusses how racialised trauma affects multiple communities and comes up with strategies for healing on both personal and community levels.

Harrowing but insightful, The Boy Who Was Raised As a Dog is based on child psychiatrist Bruce Perry’s experiences working with children who have been through horrific abuse. The book goes into the effects of trauma on the brain, but is ultimately hopeful, arguing that whatever horror someone has been through, healing is always possible.

In this memoir, Stephanie Foo discusses receiving her C-PTSD diagnosis after being abused by her parents throughout her childhood, culminating in their abandonment of her when she was a teenager. Combining her personal story with interviews with psychiatrists and therapists, Foo dives deep into Complex PTSD and generational trauma.

Trauma can occur for many different reasons, but one of the most common ones is a difficult, contentious, or abusive relationship with one’s parents. Gibson goes through several different types of emotionally immature parents, from passive parents who avoid uncomfortable situations to the detriment of their children, to “driven” parents who are overly busy and too focused on perfection. She reassures the reader that they are not to blame for their parents’ actions or attitudes, and teaches skills on how to cope with difficult family situations in the future.

Guilaine Kinoani draws on her many years of experience as a therapist and radical psychologist in Living While Black, a guide to how Black people can protect their mental health and wellbeing while living in the traumatic setting of a white supremacist world. With sections on setting psychological boundaries, dealing with conversations about racism, and protecting children from racist trauma, Living While Black is an essential read.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of psychotherapy that involves working through traumatic memories while making deliberate, specific eye movements. Developed by Shapiro, this process has had significant results for many patients. Getting Past Your Past details how you can use the technique to process past negative experiences, from day-to-day upsets to serious traumas, and helps the reader explore their past and their mindset in order to understand themselves better.

In this important book, Renee Linklater focuses on healing trauma in Indigenous communities. Taking a holistic approach, Linklater looks at the importance of ending racist discrimination and ensuring that healing occurs not only on an individual level, but as part of fixing institutions such as education, healthcare, and political systems. Drawing on the work of ten Indigenous healthcare practitioners, Decolonizing Trauma Work is an essential guide to countering trauma in Indigenous communities.

In this memoir, novelist Kiese Layman explores many traumatic parts of his past, including sexual assault in childhood, his struggles with anorexia and gambling, and his complicated relationships with both his mother and his grandmother. A deeply personal book, Heavy takes a frank and open look at one man’s trauma and survival.