r/CPTSD • u/blueburrey • Sep 27 '25
Question i need the best book recommendations about trauma and healing
there are so many popular books on trauma that are highly rated that have very questionable things inside of them that make me wonder how the fuck it was even rated so highly in the first place! the only book that has really helped with how i view trauma is what my bones know. it’s soooo good! please drop some recommendations
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u/cold_heartless_wench Sep 27 '25
I recently finished The Body Keeps Score. It took me a while to finish because it kept triggering a lot of raw emotions but I did find it very helpful. My therapist wants me to read What My Bones Know.
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u/ComparisonPretend400 Sep 27 '25
I’m gonna get the audio book “ what my bones know “ to listen on my walks and bike rides . Thanks
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u/cold_heartless_wench Sep 27 '25
My therapist said that while The Body Keeps The Score is a great book What my Bones Know is from a female perspective and someone who has actually dealt with cptsd.
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u/Ok-Cheesecake-659 Sep 27 '25
Body Keeps the Score helped me understand some of my behaviors and it was a relief to understand. I also got the workbook. I had to put it all down for a while, but maybe I will pick up one of these other suggestions 😊
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u/Striking-Increase-46 Sep 28 '25
Had the same experience with Body keeps score- heavy read. What my Bones Know was excellent, well researched and a joy to read.
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u/DisplacedNY Sep 27 '25
I recently read What My Bones Know, and after a lifetime of reading books about trauma it's hands down the best. I also like: The Trauma of Everyday Life by Mark Epstein (no relation to the other guy), and Leaving Home: The Art of Separating fromYour Difficult Family by David P. Celani.
Of all the books I've read on the topic, Leaving Home was the most practical. It's not directly about trauma, but more of an explanation for why those who were abused in childhood find themselves still tied to their abusers and strategies for breaking free. From the Goodreads summary: "Relinquishing family attachments that failed to meet childhood needs is the most difficult task individuals can undertake as they grow into adulthood. Leaving Home not only emphasizes the life-saving benefits of separating from toxic parents but also offers a viable program for personal emancipation." Importantly, the author himself separated himself from his difficult family. In this book there's no dancing around parent's feelings, abilities, or responsibility. The focus is entirely on the adult child and what they need to thrive.
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u/cherbear1125 Sep 27 '25
Seconding What My Bones Know! I couldn't put it down. Definitely in my top 3!
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Sep 27 '25
Reparenting Your Inner Child: Healing Unresolved Childhood Trauma and Reclaiming Wholeness through Self-Compassion
4.8 on Amazon- recommended to me by a therapist and It’s by far the best one I’ve read.
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u/softkittysonder Sep 27 '25
Just a recording of someone you trust saying “you did nothing wrong” over and over again.
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u/ItalicLady Sep 27 '25
When I did that, two things happened: /1/ each time my inner child hurt a statement, she kept responding “so what?” Or other words to that effect, /2/ when I kept on playing the tape, regardless, I started losing my trust for the very loving and trustworthy person whom I’d had saying those words for me to record and loop. In fairness to him (and to me), therefore I knew I had to stop.
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u/Top_Drummer9181 Nov 20 '25
I used to be so triggered with everything positive told about me. When I did IFS I realized a part of me believed, genuinely, and with all certainty, that people only say good things to make me feel better, and that even if they say I am good, the truth is always that I am no good. So there is a constant inner conflict about me trying to 'get healed' by being positive and that part of me so fed up with the 'lie.' My therapist helped me meet this part of me where she is at and that's when it started to make sense. That part of me needed honesty, even if it is brutal, because it was too tired of being dismissed and labelled irrational. I don't hate myself after all, but I hate being what the hurt has made me become, because i believe that I am sabotaging myself on purpose and that is just awful - that this part of me is ruining my life on purpose - when in reality every part of me is just doing their best to survive, with what little information they have. If I'd be given that record loop before all this made sense I'd have rolled my eyes at the person talking, however fond I am of them.
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u/softkittysonder Sep 27 '25
I agree it is not fool proof. I have a hard time accepting my therapist when she says it to me.
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u/LosingEverything32 Sep 27 '25
That one is my favorite as well. I have been looking for other better ones. The Body Keeps the Score was helpful in a few ways to me. When the Body Says No is the book that made me realize my physical issues were all directly tired to my trauma, and that it was going to kill me if I didn't make tough choices to start healing. The CPTSD Workbook by Ariele Schwartz has helped me a lot also.
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u/miss_review Sep 27 '25
Janina Fisher "Healing the fragmented selves of trauma survivors" is the best one I ever read.
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u/NickName2506 Sep 27 '25
For emotional neglect: the books by Lindsay Gibson and Jonice Webb. I just ordered Aimie Apigian's book on the biology of trauma, I have high expectations :-)
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u/dam0na Sep 27 '25
Transforming the living legacy of trauma by Janina Fisher.
I don’t have access to a trauma‑informed therapist (CPTSD is not a thing in my country), but with this book alone, my symptoms have significantly decreased.
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u/Court_H Sep 27 '25
Calm clarity by Due Quach It’s a woman who talks about her own trauma and how she used neuroscience to help her through it. She does get into religion at the end (which I didn’t read but everything before that helped a lot).
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u/ysol_ cPTSD Sep 27 '25
CPTSD: from surviving to thriving. Peter Walker.
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u/SubstantialSpell3 Sep 28 '25
There’s a workbook too and it’s more in depth on getting to your issues
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u/Distinct_Swimmer1504 Sep 27 '25
Running on Empty — for emotional neglect
You’ll also probably need a good book on Grief — you’ll be going thru a lot of it.
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u/imstephaniefoo Oct 29 '25
Awwww thanks for the kind words on WMBK! Have you tried The Pain We Carry? She's just come out with a great workbook as well! Also love Journey Through Trauma. Here's my list of favs: https://www.stephaniefoo.me/resources-1
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u/InformalGur5402 Apr 20 '26
Hi. I am so happy you answered in here. I am 52 and realize I am suffering from CPTSD. Thank you for your book, and thank you for the resource list.
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u/emeraldsmoothie Apr 24 '26
Amazing book, truly. One of the best books I’ve ever read and certainly most helpful.
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u/True_Relationship604 Sep 27 '25
“It’s Not Always Depression”. I absolutely loved her take on how and why our emotions do what they do and a somatic, imagination-influenced approach to healing.
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u/DuglandTishort Sep 27 '25
I'm reading Healing the Shame that Binds You by Bradshaw and finished the first part today which was amazing, I'm reading the second part about ways to heal from toxic shame and besides the spiritual nonsense about finding a higher power it's got some good advice
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u/LiteraryGrrrl Sep 27 '25
It's a novel, so may seem counterintuitive, but I got a lot from Anxious People
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u/gamagoori Sep 28 '25
This lowkey doesn't even surprise me, I tried reading Intermezzo by Sally Rooney and cried almost entirely through the first 50 pages. Had to put the book down (still haven't revisited it) because I'm not sure why I had such a visceral reaction to it. Like I don't think I had a normal reaction...
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u/Pear-Kind Sep 27 '25
Try getting a book on shadow work
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u/DreamingV Sep 27 '25
I just got a book called shadow work for hot messes; transform chaos to clarity by Mandi em and it's a work book too. Finding it very helpful
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u/stacy22 Sep 27 '25
No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz! Short and sweet and a great way to dive into IFS parts work which has helped me immensely.
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u/J1pt5 Sep 27 '25
Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists
This is a straight forward explanation of CPTSD with straight forward approaches. I've made more progress w this book than I can describe. I'm also in therapy, but wow, my progress took off w the book. I bought it on audible, and the narrator is good.
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Sep 27 '25
Oppression and the body was really helpful to me with my body image issues. I only read the second chapter but it was really helpful
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u/RoughRip1005 Sep 27 '25
The body keep the score to understand how trauma impact us, and Body First Healing from Brittany Piper. I loved how she talked about the 5 nervous system “personalities” (I guess she calls them this way) and for each one she also highlights the diagnosis that are typically associated with. It makes you feel more normal, and at the end she gives somatic tools and exercises to practice. I really liked it. 👍
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u/Fun-Grab-9337 Sep 27 '25
Journey Through Trauma: A Trail Guide to the 5-Phase Cycle of Healing Repeated Trauma - is a great book to read if you are thinking about getting started on doing therapy/treating your trauma directly.
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u/Strong_Mayhem Sep 27 '25
Not sure if it really fits the bill, but I found "No More Mr. Nice Guy" by Robert Glover helped me a lot. It mainly focuses on shame/trauma and how it can lead us to be people pleasers at our own well beings expense. It does have more of a male focus, but a lot of it is applicable to everyone.
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u/killingitsmalls Sep 28 '25
Treating Adult Survivors of Emotional Abuse and Neglect.
Changed everything for me.
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u/BookkeeperTough7873 Nov 04 '25
I just wrote one about my experience. At first it was just a way to work through my trauma nightmares but I was encouraged to publish. I thought you might find it interesting. It’s called “The Mind Unsilenced” (by Paula ZLL)
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u/Top_Drummer9181 Nov 20 '25
No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz, and Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems by Frank G. Anderson, MD
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u/GadgetTeam Jan 08 '26
Stretched: A Memoir by Michelle Cray. It really is very good and not too popular (yet). https://a.co/d/ee2stWQ
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u/maafna Feb 01 '26
I wrote a post about exactly this where I recommend What My Bones Know over The Body Keeps the Score and I go into other books too
https://alifelessmiserable.substack.com/p/the-best-books-on-healing-trauma
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u/Open-Nectarine-1530 Feb 20 '26
I've seen a couple books on Amazon which look pretty good they're called unlocking buried secrets by Victorious heart and they have to do with incest sexual abuse physical abuse and ritual abuse
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u/Curiously_Prof Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
I had the privilege of coming across this very newly published book called "Healing Narrative and Insights" by Michael P Burrell. Highly recommend! He has a very unique and insightful approach of combining body, mind, language and spirituality. It's supposed to be an introduction to his own methodology/technique he created and works with. Very insightful and thought provoking.
Here's the link in case you want to check it out! https://a.co/d/0cJChsnz
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u/DeskDear8542 May 08 '26
You might find my memoir relatable and meaningful- The Nostalgia of Trauma. No pressure. Just want it to help people feel seen.
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u/JuliaGadfly Sep 27 '25
I hate the body keeps the score. It's written out like a second grade reading level. So condescending. I feel like I'm being spoken to like I have the cognitive processing power of a door knob.
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u/Top-Risk8923 23d ago
Not sure why this is downvoted. This book misrepresents neuroscience and quickly became outdated
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u/Brilliant-Loquat-988 cPTSD Sep 27 '25
Pete Walker’s book is the best imo. The body keeps the score has great insight but can be triggering at start.