Resources

Not-An-Exhaustive-List Of Resources For Trauma Related Disorder

Hi guys, as promised, I’ve put together an incomplete but continuing list of resources and materials that I have collected over the years of studying medicine and healing from literally every disorder in the book. I say that because I’m a non believer in the totality of diagnostic labels and understand that whatever my level of knowledge may be, even when I one day become the psychiatrist I aspire to be, I will always need the outside opinions of another doctor or professional to assess where my own health is at.

I share this knowledge with caution however. Much of this material can be maddeningly triggering to people who are in crisis, and I implore you to consume it slowly and deliberately with the support of a professional. This is not intended to be THE educational list to learn about trauma or other mental health problems. This is a list of what I myself have read and studied to bring you the material in this newsletter. I do my best to condense this information for you guys. I will write a small overview for each book, and if I have left one out it is because I am either still reading it, or have it in this list from trusted sources of recommendation.

I will continue to update this list, with a plan to include research papers and websites as well. I welcome suggestions, which you can leave in the comments section, or DM me to consider for inclusion into the list, as well as so I may continue to learn with you all. 

1. Philosophy, Consciousness, And Structure Of Mind

   1. Modern Man In Search Of A Soul- Carl Jung

      One of the oldest classics in the craft of mental healthcare, Carl Jung is considered by many to be the compassionate parental counterpart to Freud, as one of the OG writers of the theories of psychoanalytics. It is a great introduction to the field.

   2. Object Relations Theory And Clinical Psychoanalysis- Otto Kernberg

      Kernberg, as my psychiatrist calls him, may be a narcissist himself, which is why I curiously entertained his cold approach to the structure of our minds and how they develop. Once you get past his thick writing (psychiatry, why you do dis), it was a comprehensive look into personality structure.

   3. I Am A Strange Loop- Douglas Hofstadter

      Dr Hofstadter is a genius. He is one of the fathers of AI, and he is still alive! He can be sent fan mail! He is also one of the worlds leading cognitive scientists, and this book is one of the most compassionate yet mathematically and scientifically informed work that describes the fine lines that exist between our spiritual and physical bodies, consciousness. I have been unable to find anything comparing to this so far, and am immensely influenced and impressed.

   4. The Republic- Plato

      I have included this in this list because I wanted to emphasize how stunningly advanced humanity was in 375BC when this Socratic dialogue was written by the legendary philosopher. It adds a nice contrast to anything newer you can find on modern philosophy, and for me it held great meaning in explaining what the meaning of the term “dialectical” really is, when I was doing DBT.

   5. The Cognitive Neuroscience Of Working Memory- Naoyuki Osaka

      The science of working memory is absolutely one of the most commonly missed and overlooked dimensions of our waking conscious mind. It is essentially our body’s RAM. It’s how much your mind can chew on at any given time and sets parameters for what we really can and cant do with our minds.

2. Autism And Neurodiversity

   1. The Complete Guide To Asperger’s Syndrome- Tony Attwood

      Dr Tony Attwood is among the leading scientists not only researching but also treating autism out in the field. His approach is to normalize autism, and encourages autistic individuals to know their rights and to capitalize on their unique brains. The warm tone of the book is refreshing and I didn’t feel a pathologizing vibe from him.

   2. Your Rainforest Mind- Paula Prober

      I absolutely physically balked when my therapist recommended I learn about how I can be gifted having won the trauma lottery and gotten DID. I was in no place to appreciate this book, and indeed rebelled by reading a different book in this list first, The Drama Of The Gifted Child. But after I did read it, and came back to Your Rainforest Mind, I had appreciation and even gratitude for her having shared a compassionate piece of writing about how to make the most of a terrifying life. I can say its been one of the stepping stones to find myself here, writing this for you.

3. Trauma And Dissociation

   1. Personality Disordered Families

      1. Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed: Help and Hope for Adults in the Family Scapegoat Role- Rebecca C Mandeville LMFT CCTP

         This is a special book, for those survivors of family dynamics where they are being forced into a role called “the family scapegoat”. This at the top of the list here for all the black sheep to find. Rebecca has lived experience and is a licensed family therapist who has a Substack publication and YouTube channel of her own linked below. She coined the term “Family Scapegoating Abuse”.

         https://www.youtube.com/@beyondfamilyscapegoatingabuse

         Trapped In The Mirror- Elan Golomb

         Trapped In The Mirror is one of the most informative books I have read on the topic of narcissism and narcissistic family dynamics. It does a great job of focusing on the narcissism instead of the narcissist, helping us separate the behavior from a stigmatized label. It is however a viscous book.

      2. Adult Children Of Emotionally Immature Parents- Lindsay Gibson

         The easiest to read book about families suffering from generational trauma. It is important for both children of disordered parents and their parents themselves to read this essential book on recovering from family trauma.

      3. The Narcissistic Family- Stephanie Donaldson-Pressman

      4. Understanding The Borderline Mother- Christine Lawson

         Understanding The Borderline Mother is a wonderful book, written in easy to read story form, that is probably the most triggering article on this page. It was highly critical of men with borderline parents, relegating them to the prison systems as likely criminals, and this reflects the opinions of older therapists and practitioners who haven’t bothered to update their knowledge to the fact that they have been mistreating people with PTSD. It is however the one best description of what its like to have a borderline parent. I cant lie about that, and it was a eyes wide opener in my journey. It was actually the impetus that made me start saving myself.

      5. Borderline Personality Disorder- Alexander Chapman

   2. Understanding Fear And Trauma

      1. The Gift Of Fear- Gavin de Becker

         Gavin de Becker has been a celebrated security expert and consultant on a great many criminal and international incidents, including on terrorism and has access to actually go and meet the most twisted people alive. His knowledge of the abusers mindset and actions lay bare their behavior for all to see. If you struggle with severe trauma at the hands of criminal minds, this is one of the best places to learn how instincts should be trusted.

      2. The Betrayal Bond- Patrick Carnes

         The Betrayal Bond is an essential for everyone suffering from any kind of trauma. Betrayal is what creates the fault line in us as our world shakes and quakes around traumatic events. In my opinion, it is the actual mental injury at the heart of every assault, abuse, and crime. It creates within us a distrust that remains maligning our souls until we can identify it and accept that we have been deceived, most notably by people we trust.

      3. Complex PTSD: From Surviving To Thriving- Pete Walker

         Pete Walker is one of the authorities on trauma and PTSD in the field. His contribution to research and developing treatment strategies is unique because he speaks from personal experience. As a medical professional and patient, I have great respect for a person who speaks out on such a stage, and especially in the past where awareness was decidedly myopic. In my experience, people flit between this book and the Body Keeps The Score as their go to PTSD knowledge bibles.

      4. The Body Keeps The Score- Bessel Van Der Kolk

         The Body Keeps The Score is a must have. You can hate or love it, but in my personal opinion, I think it should be given a shot by anyone who suffers from PTSD. Van Der Kolk is another top tier name in the profession, and has served as president of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. His contributions to the healing and treatment of countless people with PTSD is undeniably one deserving of the highest recognition.

      5. The Pain We Carry- Natalie Gutierrez

         Natalie Gutierrez is a person of color who has PTSD, and a license to practice marriage and family therapy. She speaks from both personal and professional experience about life as a person of color in the world of trauma and healing from it. Her unique perspectives have been refreshing and extremely relatable to myself, as a person of color, and I highly recommend giving this book a shot if you have experienced trauma surrounding racism or the color of your skin. Any color.

      6. When Religion Hurts You- Laura E Anderson

         As an individual whose life was made more complicated by the inherent nature of sexual abuse as a spiritual injury, and the subsequent ostracization from the very community that I had always relied on for support, I felt very seen and understood reading this book by Laura who is a religious trauma expert and a licensed psychotherapist. No it doesn’t tell you to be irreligious, yes it does draw boundaries of comfort between what is appropriate and what is not. She herself has been a victim of religious trauma, which is not often spoken about.

      7. The Drama Of The Gifted Child- Alice Miller

         The Drama Of The Gifted child is a unique work of art. I have yet to read another such as this, where Alice Miller, another enormous personality in the trauma recovery world, talks about how the trauma that we have sustained “gifts” us the ability to be compassionate and understanding, which is a drive at the center of every healthcare professional, but most certainly for those healthcare professionals who have seen hardships. It speaks to the therapist inside of us, maybe one that was created when we were very little, how that can be damaging, and how recovering from that can be a powerful force to drive us to reclaim ourselves by helping others.

      8. Exposing Financial Abuse- Shannon Thomas

         It is my personal opinion, that all trauma is emotional trauma, and also financial trauma. At the end of the day, the criticisms we hear the most from people we relied on for trust and healing is “why can’t you just get a job?” while it is true that helping ourselves is important as ever, there are often times when our access to funds, whether to heal or live life are restricted. I feel that this is important to learn about as our trauma born behaviors and dynamics can influence how we even carry ourselves in a place of work, how we bargain fairly, and how we can be taken advantage of because of our PTSD, in cash.

      9. Victims No Longer- Mike Lew

         Victims no longer is the only book in this list that was written specifically with men in mind. There are millions of us, as mentioned above in other books, that are abandoned by the health care system for having become broken and we are labeled unfixable. I assure you dear reader, this is not the case. No one is unfixable. They just don’t want to spend the funds on it. Is cheaper to lock you in a cage. Empower yourselves, don’t fall prey to the patriarchal bullshit. It hurts us first, and everyone else second. Learn from other men who have beaten the system of being shoved into boxes and valued in only currency.

   3. Trauma Related Dissociation

      1. Dissociation And The Dissociative Disorders | Past, Present, Future- Dorahy, Gold, O’ Neil

         The latest and greatest in Trauma and Dissociation research. This is the current bible of PTSD and Dissociative disorder healing technology. Its an enormous professional manual, and reads like the textbook it is, and that makes it one of the first of its kind, encompassing historical and cutting edge modern research. It does however spew medical jargon and neurology because it is intended for health care practitioners.

      2. The Haunted Self- Onno van der Hart

         The haunted self is a great into to dissociation and the dissociative disorders. It outlines the theory of structural dissociation, which is one dimension of the theory surrounding the illness. It is heavy, and triggering, so please care for yourself as you read. Onno Van Der Hart is also a past serving president of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

      3. The Divided Self- R D Laing

         BBC describes this brilliant gift to mankind as “The psychiatrist who wanted to make madness normal”. This psychiatrist-patient was hospitalized for schizophrenia and eventually become one of the most celebrated “anti-psychiatrists” of the 60’s, at the same hospital. I share his work here with caution as his controversial approach towards “insanity” was as he said “a perfectly rational response to an insane world”. I have included him here because even though his hospital couldn’t survive the public criticism he received for experimental treatments, his work pushed the narrative for future psychiatrists to take a less pathologizing approach to mental health, essentially stating that madness was the result of external stimulus, not inherent defect.

      4. Intensive Psychotherapy For Persistent Dissociative Processes- Richard Chefetz

      5. Dissociation Made Simple- Jamie Marich

         Dr Jamie Marich is one of the biggest names in the DID community, and a psychotherapist pioneering EMDR techniques for individuals struggling with traumatic dissociation. She is an advocate and an activist for individuals who suffer from dissociative identity disorder, and one of the loudest voices for our dignity and rights. She has written this book to combat the inaccessibility to simplified information for people with these problems.

   4. Workbooks

      1. Coping With Trauma Related Dissociation- Suzette Boon, Kathy Steele, Onno Van Der Hart

         With an all-star crew of authors, this is the book I myself used to help me heal in the worst of my days. I diligently did the exercises, and read and read despite the myriad of flashbacks and seizures I was having, and also being caused by the book as I was coming to terms with what was happening to me. I’m not religious, but I literally pray for these individuals.

      2. The Finding Solid Ground Program Workbook- Hugo Schielke, Bethany Brand

         Also an all-star crew of authors, I purchased this book and its associated clinician manual, but I haven’t been through much of it as the previous item on this list worked so well for me. But that is not to say there aren’t other options, and at a glance, I definitely liked its newer and better informed language and explanations. It was born of one of the most extensive studies on DID ever performed, and claims to be a one-of-a-kind project in terms of how limited the research has been on treatment outcomes for people with dissociative disorders.

      3. The Complex PTSD Workbook- Arielle Schwartz

   5. Memoirs and Other Resources

      1. First Person Plural- Cameron West

         The most informative experience of OSDD/DID I have been able to find about the matter for men. Dr West details his journey of getting diagnosed and treated for DID, later earning a doctorate in psychology to further his understanding and to up his activism game. He has appeared on Oprah.

      2. The Third Person- Emma Grove

         The Third Person is my personal favorite, a well written comic book, and was recommended to me by a dear friend who could see that the gender war within me was wearing me down. I believe this to be an essential read for individuals with DID who are struggling with one of the elements of the disease, having the experience of different gendered alters.

      3. The Sum Of My Parts- Olga Trujillo 

         Olga has outlined her heartbreaking early life experiences that caused her to develop DID. She worked for the Department of Justice and is a lawyer, advocate, and activist in the area of dissociative disorders, disability, and wrongful incarceration. She is Director of Leadership Development, Visibility and Collective Healing at Activating Change, a non-profit organization with the same goals.

      4. All Of Me- Kim Noble

      5. System Speak Podcast- Emma Sunshaw

         Emma is a friend, and the author of her memoire “If Tears Were Prayers”. Her podcast covers literally every aspect of life living with DID, and she has interviewed leading scientists, and other individuals with DID. Her community is one of the safest havens for individuals who have suffered abuse and are living with traumatic dissociation.

4. LGBTQIA+ Resources

   1. In The Works 🙂

5. Relevant Research Papers

   1. In The Works 🙂