Trauma reorganizes the nervous system. One’s brain, body and behaviors can be altered tremendously from external factors. Thousands of research studies show that brain chemistry changes, the immune system is compromised, and overtime physical and psychological health is impacted greatly by traumatic experiences, especially without the right forms of healing. Whether you are helping your child or you yourself have experienced trauma or PTSD, these books are excellent and highly recommended to help you understand and heal the impact of trauma on the brain and body.

Healing Trauma: 16 Excellent Books & Resources

Traumatic experiences can take many forms—a car accident, childhood abuse or neglect, or losing a loved one, to name a few. “Trauma causes the body to be frozen in a state of fear, terror, and hypervigilance,” says Dr. Bessel A. van der Kolk, a clinical psychiatrist and founder of the Trauma Center in Brookline, Massachusetts and a leader in the field of posttraumatic stress. “So fundamentally, the effect of trauma is in relationship to one’s body. One’s body gives the signal that it’s not safe, and your body keeps fighting an existing enemy.”

The books below are by trauma experts; they will help you, your family and anyone you know who has experienced or is suffering from trauma. Use these books as excellent resources on healing and understanding.

In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness

Trauma Through a Child’s Eyes: Awakening the Ordinary Miracle of Healing

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Healing Trauma: Attachment, Mind, Body and Brain (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology)

Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology)

When Love Is Not Enough: A Guide to Parenting With RAD-Reactive Attachment Disorder

Brain-Based Parenting: The Neuroscience of Caregiving for Healthy Attachment

The Developing Mind, Second Edition: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are

Parenting from the Inside Out 10th Anniversary edition: How a Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive

The Connected Child: Bring Hope and Healing to Your Adoptive Family

Beyond Consequences, Logic, and Control: A Love-Based Approach to Helping Attachment-Challenged Children With Severe Behaviors

Trauma-Proofing Your Kids: A Parents’ Guide for Instilling Confidence, Joy and Resilience

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Trauma and Attachment (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology)

The Body Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment (Norton Professional Book)

Healing Developmental Trauma: How Early Trauma Affects Self-Regulation, Self-Image, and the Capacity for Relationship

Building the Bonds of Attachment: Awakening Love in Deeply Troubled Children

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Emily Roberts MA, LPC is the clinical therapist for the Neurogistics Children’s Program. She has worked with Neurogistics for over a decade. Emily is also an award-winning author of Express Yourself: A Teen Girls Guide to Speaking Up and Becoming Who You Are, Psychotherapist, TV & Media Contributor, educational speaker and parenting consultant.  Express Yourself is available at bookstores nationwide and on Amazon. To learn more about Emily click here.

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