When I write a book review, I try to step back and evaluate it as writing and as it fits for the intended audience. That entails a certain distance. With mending broken: a personal journey through the stages of trauma + recovery (Teresa B. Pasquale, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, December 2, 2012), I began to read with that in mind, but I was quickly enticed into devouring it (in less than 8 hours).
As a trauma survivor myself, I heard Ms. Pasquale telling my story as well as her own. As one who knows quite a bit about the recovery process (including how therapy helps or doesn't), as she shared her wisdom as a trauma survivor who is also a therapist specializing in working with trauma survivors, I heard her saying things I have thought for years, but have not heard others articulate.
"Many people (professionals included) still say trauma can't be mended and there is no recovery from PTSD. I am someone who came out the other side of impossible. There is a vacancy, it seems, of voices that have come out of darkness and can give the personal proof of healing....Considering many professionals and sufferers alike still thought--through a history of stigma and misunderstanding about the disorder--that there was no such thing as post-PTSD, it was no wonder no one was talking about what happened in this phase of recovery"
mending broken is a voice out of the darkness of the limitations that "they say" place on the recovery from trauma. Yes, it IS possible to reclaim your life after trauma, and Ms. Pasquale shows the way through a combination of her trauma story, her healing journey, and her life after PTSD stopped being the driving force in her life.
She is an extraordinary writer, as well. I have so many phrases and sentences underlined that I keep going back to (more than Band-Aid living is possible, obliteration therapy, magnets of codependency), such accurate descriptions of what I experienced that I laughed--and they convey images that I have not (yet) been able to articulate.
And she is a person of deep spirituality who shares how her relationship with God sustained her through brokenness, tremendous struggle, and the challenges of learning to live as a whole person.
This is a book I wish I had written! But so far beyond how I have been wanting to articulate, and yet so inspiring a voice "out of the darkness" that I think I will have to write a very different book to add to the witness that no one HAS to live in the prison of trauma, that the pain DOES have limits. It's very hard work, but Ms. Pasquale shows the way.
mending broken is an outstanding resource for those who care for trauma survivors, for therapists, ministers, spiritual directors, family members and friends. It is an amazing witness for trauma survivors ourselves. The only caveat I have is that this book should not be thrust at people who are still in the throes of the trauma cloud. Be discerning in how and when you, as caregivers, "require" reading this of those on the journey. For some trauma survivors who are just beginning to fight their way out, parts of this could be triggering. But for all who care for and walk along side survivors, this is a MUST READ--go get it immediately.
http://www.amazon.com/mending-broken-personal-journey-recovery/dp/1480292745
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