Unchained Memories: True Stories of Traumatic Memories Lost and Found – Leonore Terr

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Lenore Terr is a strong advocate for the theories of repression and dissociation of trauma and she is often cited by the recovered memory advocates.  She believes that repressed memories, once retrieved, are highly detailed and accurate, although there may be some minor mistakes in what is recalled.  She sees repressed memories as different from those that are dissociated.  According to Terr, in repression, the individual unconsciously and energetically defends against remembering, whereas in dissociation the traumatic memories are set aside from normal consciousness during the event itself.  Therefore, compared to the sharp and accurate details of retrieved repressed memories, those that are dissociated are likely to remain fuzzy, unclear, and filled with holes.  Dissociated memories, according to Terr, rarely come back clear and complete.

This book contains 7 artfully told stories of the often-astonishing discovery of memories of traumatic childhood events. Within As the stories are told, the author intersperses appropriate psychological theory concerning repression, denial, fugue states, and kindred subjects, This proves to enriches the  narrative making it far more …
More than just story-telling.

The first and longest account concerns Eileen Lipsker, who suddenly and vividly recalled seeing her father kill her childhood playmate 20 years earlier (Terr came to know Lipsker when appearing as an expert witness for the prosecution in the murder trial of Lipsker’s father). In two other accounts, Terr was a witness for the defense, explaining old-fashioned psychological amnesia to one jury and false memories to another. In the first, the defendant had suffered episodes of amnesia since seeing her mother burn to death, and in the second, a young girl had falsely accused her doctors of sexual abuse. This inclusion of a case of false memories evens out the book, showing evidence from both sides of the debate rather than simlply ignoring contradictive evidence.

One story, entitled, “The Silver at the Surface of the Water,” is particularly good. Overall this is a very good, interesting and well written book.

 

Beyond Trauma: Conversations on Traumatic Incident Reduction – Victor, R. Volkman

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This book introduces the Trauma Incident Reduction (TIR) model of treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This book describes techniques of the TIR model and presents the psychological foundations of TIR It provides examples of the usefulness of the model with combat veterans; those who have experienced the loss of a loved one; victims of crime and perpetrators; victims of terrorism; accident victims and with children. It describes how to integrate TIR with other therapeutic models, particularly the cognitive behavioral models and discusses its relation to spiritual and metaphysical issues.

Each chapter is self-contained, making …
More it easy to find information relating to a particular situation without having to read the book from cover to cover. Each chapter has its own reference list, making it easy to find further reading for each particular subject within this book. The book is comprised of the experiences of a number of people with experience with TIR, so the reader is given quite an array of opinions on the subject. The book neatly wraps up with four appendixes, including a well thought out “Frequently Asked Questions” section.

It does read a bit like a textbook, which could be intimidating to the average reader.

 

The Price of Love – Nikola T. James

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This is the story of the authr who was sexually assaulted and raped as a girl, her disturbed behaviour and emotional cries for help were ignored by the adults around her. With her self esteem at rock bottom, she fell prey to a frightening stranger, a man who would turn her life into a living nightmare. He was handsome and charming and she was too young to see the warning signs. She married him while in her teens. The abuse started on the first night of their honeymoon. Over the next few years she was kept a prisoner, sexually abused, subject to horrific beatings, tormented by her husband who insisted he was only doing this because he loved her. And again, those who should have helped her refused to believe that she was telling the truth.

Eventually her husband tells her that he is going to kill her, only at this point does she feel able to run away and escape the abuse.

This book is very well written, giving a very honest and open look into the world of domestic abuse. And showing that a person can escape this life and turn their life around.

 

Confronting the Victim Role – Barry McCarthy, Emily McCarthy

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This book attackes the traditional approach to childhood abuse, to deny and minimize. The last decade has seen a spate of books that glorify the victim role and encourage people to identify themselves as adult children of alcoholics, incest, violence, or dysfunctional families. Confronting the Victim Role offers information, guidelines, exercises, and case examples to help the adult be a survivor, not a victim. There is also a fairly good appendix with suggestions and information on how to choose a therapist and/or self-help group and how best to use these sources of support to promote the change process.

Overall this is a good book, but probably best read once a person is well into the recovery process.

 

Getting Through the Day:Stratagies for Adults Hurt As Children – Nancy J. Napier

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For people who were emotionally and physically wounded as children, the journey from childhood to adulthood is a constant struggle with shame, self-criticism, and fear. This book shows these adult children of dysfunctional families how to use self-hypnosis to resolve the effects of abuse, to build a healing relationship with the child within and an inspiring one with the future self, and to give back “hand-me-downs” that are causing pain. The author’s stories and hypnotic strategies emphasize self-acceptance, healing old wounds, and getting on with life

Getting Through the Day enables adults who were traumatized as children to learn new strategies to meet the demands of daily living. Counselor Nancy Napier presents dozens of exercises helpful to anyone who finds that unresolved childhood feelings are blocking life’s path

There is a particularly good chapter covering how to find a therapist and what the therapist-client relationship should be, something which is often either missed out or merely skimmed over in other books

 

A Fractured Mind: My Life with Multiple Personality Disorder – Robert B. Oxnam

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Oxnam’s novel, although overwhelming at times because of the different points of view, is a very concrete and real account of living with, and getting help for DID. The prose is clear, intelligent, and profound.

It must be understood that this book does not attempt to provide a thorough medical explanation of the causes, cures, and tribulations of D.I.D. On the contrary, the author wants to provide the reader with a glimpse of what it means to have D.I.D., as well as to how this disease can camouflage itself in the individual to the extent that neither s/he nor a mental care provider can detect its presence. Oxnam’s assimilation of the idea that he has D.I.D is a process which he shares with the reader from the time he is diagnosed until the end of the book. This form of intimacy allows the reader to empathize with Oxnam, and mesmerizes the reader to the extent that s/he is unable to put the book down.

Oxnam’s ability to convey ideas in such a way that reaches into the reader’s subjectivity and arouses intimate emotions within him/her is, for lack of a better term, admirable. I strongly recommend this book

 

Trauma and Recovery: From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror – Judith Lewis Herman

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This book  looks at restoring connections: between the public and private worlds; between individuals and communities; and between men and women. The author makes the link between the “heroic” suffering of men in war and political struggle, and the degraded suffering of women through rape, incest and domestic violence. She identifies a fresh diagnostic category for those suffering from “hidden” traumas, and proposes a recovery programme which favours a process of reintegration.

It is very good in terms of the objective view, and helping people gain an insight into their own subjective view.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part I   Traumatic Disorders

Chapter   1    A Forgotten History

Chapter   2    Terror

Chapter   3    Disconnection

Chapter   4    Captivity

Chapter   5    Child Abuse

Chapter   6    A New Diagnosis

Part II   Stages of Recovery

Chapter   7    A Healing Relationship

Chapter   8    Safety

Chapter   9    Remembrance and Mourning

Chapter  10   Reconnection

Chapter  11   Commonality