Life After Trauma: A Workbook for Healing

Wed, 17 Sep 2014 18:22:12 GMT

Book Being Reviewed:
Rosenbloom, D., Williams, M. B., & Watkins, B. E. (1999). Life after trauma: A workbook for healing. New York, NY: Guilford.

Reviewer:
Julia Forman

Genre:
Clinical Issues, Trauma

Subject Headings:
Trauma, Workbook, Coping Skills

Review:
During my Master’s program, I worked as an intern at a local sexual assault crisis agency. When I asked my clinical supervisor what I could do to prepare for my time at the agency, the response was to read Life after Trauma. I was extremely pleased as I read through it. The book is meant for persons who have survived trauma, and is arranged as a guided workbook that helps the reader understand the aftereffects of the incident. Coping skills, definitions of trauma, thought tracking work pages, and discussions of control, intimacy, safety, and trust issues are all important pieces that make up the fabric of this work. I especially appreciated that the prologue covered self-care and support systems before the book covered any trauma content.

Personally, I have found the book to be invaluable when working with sexual violence survivors. I often utilized the exercises as a guide for my work with clients, particularly the ones based around self-esteem. For example, the self-esteem exercise asks clients to list five favorite qualities about themselves and to name things that they believe they do well physically and mentally. I also found the chapter exercises pertaining to trust and control especially helpful, and the exploratory questions on these topics were of great value. As a workbook for clients, and as a guide for clinicians, Life After Trauma excels at pulling together many aspects of the aftereffects of trauma and promoting exploration and growth. - See more at: http://csi.affiniscape.com/forumviewmessage.cfm?forumnbr=5840&topicnbr=11195&discussionnbr=619076#sthash.1zTL986I.dpuf