A must read for anyone wanting to understand trauma and how we carry traumatic memories in our bodies. Van Der Kolk also models curiosity, compassion, and humility toward those who’ve experienced trauma in a way that invites hope for the possibility of healing.

Poet Pádraig Ó Tuama invites the reader into his own story of grief and trauma with an honesty and wisdom that both comforts and challenges the reader to embrace “here,” though here may be sorrow, confusion, or disappointment.

Trauma made me feel absolutely alone in the world, a world now overwhelmed with grief and shame, and I was desperate to know others had walked the road before me. Theologian Nicholas Wolterstorff’s grief resulted from different circumstances, there death of his son, but his willingness to allow others into his grief was profound for me. I grieved his loss and he modeled how I could grieve my own. His work is a painful gift.