Trauma informed books we highly recommend

 Through wide-ranging, and often deeply personal conversation, Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Perry explore how what happens to us in early childhood – both good and bad - influences the people we become. They challenge us to shift from focusing on, “What’s wrong with you?” or “Why are you behaving that way?,” to asking, “What happened to you?” This simple change in perspective can open up a new and hopeful understanding for millions about why we do the things we do, why we are the way we are, providing a road map for repairing relationships, overcoming what seems insurmountable, and ultimately living better and more fulfilling lives. 

 A pioneering physician reveals how childhood stress can lead to lifelong health problems and shows us what we can do to break the cycle.  Two-thirds of us have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience, or ACE, such as abuse, neglect, parental substance dependence, or mental illness. Even though these events may have occurred long ago, they have the power to haunt us long into adulthood, and now we have found that they may even contribute to lifelong illness. 

 Building the Bonds of Attachment is the third edition of a critically acclaimed book for social workers, therapists, and parents who strive to assist children with reactive attachment disorder. Building the Bonds of Attachment focuses on both the specialized psychotherapy and parenting that is often necessary in facilitating a child's psychological development and attachment security. It develops a model for intervention by blending attachment theory and research, trauma theory, and the general principles of parenting, together with child and family therapy. This book is a practical guide for the adult - whether professional or parent - who endeavors to help such children.  

 Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent more than three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments - from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga - that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal - and offers new hope for reclaiming lives. 

 The authors explain—and make accessible—the new science of how a child’s brain is wired and how it matures. The “upstairs brain,” which makes decisions and balances emotions, is under construction until the mid-twenties. And especially in young children, the right brain and its emotions tend to rule over the logic of the left brain. No wonder kids throw tantrums, fight, or sulk in silence. By applying these discoveries to everyday parenting, you can turn any outburst, argument, or fear into a chance to integrate your child’s brain and foster vital growth.

Complete with age-appropriate strategies for dealing with day-to-day struggles, The Whole-Brain Child shows you how to cultivate healthy emotional and intellectual development so that your children can lead balanced, meaningful, and connected lives.

 Today’s busier, faster society is waging an undeclared war on childhood. With too much stuff, too many choices, and too little time, children can become anxious, have trouble with friends and school, or even be diagnosed with behavioral problems. Now internationally renowned family consultant Kim John Payne helps parents reclaim for their children the space and freedom that all kids need for their attention to deepen and their individuality to flourish. Simplicity Parenting offers inspiration, ideas, and a blueprint for change:   Streamline your home environment.  Establish rhythms and rituals.  Schedule a break in the schedule. Establish intervals of calm and connection in your child’s daily torrent of constant doing.
• Scale back on media and parental involvement. Manage your children’s “screen time” to limit the endless deluge of information and stimulation.  

The adoption of a child is always a joyous moment in the life of a family. Some adoptions, though, present unique challenges. Welcoming these children into your family - and addressing their special needs - requires care, consideration, and compassion.

Written by two research psychologists specializing in adoption and attachment, The Connected Child will help you:

• Build bonds of affection and trust with your adopted child
• Effectively deal with any learning or behavioral disorders
• Discipline your child with love without making him or her feel threatened

 Parenting under the best of circumstances can be difficult. And raising children who have come to your home from “hard places,” who have their own set of unique needs, brings even more challenges. You may have discovered that the techniques that worked with your birth children are not working with your adopted or foster child.

Renowned child-development expert Dr. Karyn Purvis gives you practical advice and powerful tools you can use to encourage secure attachment in your family. You will benefit from Karyn’s decades of clinical research and real-world experience. Coauthor Lisa Qualls demonstrates how you can successfully implement these strategies in your home, just as she did in hers.

 This groundbreaking book examines the cultural norms that impede resilience in America, especially our collective tendency to disconnect stress from its potentially extreme consequences and override our need to recover. It explains the science of how to direct our attention to perform under stress and recover from trauma, exploring how our survival brain and thinking brain react to traumatic situations differently. 

 This book is a guide to parenting emotionally disturbed children back to health! This method was honed on the toughest kids in the US and has proven very successful in helping them to become respectful, responsible and fun to be with. A clear focused plan for guiding angry, defiant, destructive kids back to emotional health and happiness is all here. If you want to make a difference in the life of a child, this method will do it! 

 Designed for preschool and beyond, this helpful and practical psychology-based parenting method is an invaluable guide for all parents! Teach your children healthy responsibility and encourage their character growth from a young age. Learn to establish healthy boundaries with your children through easy-to-implement steps without anger, threats, nagging, or power struggles. 

 I Love You Rituals offers more than seventy delightful rhymes and games that send the message of unconditional love and enhance children's social, emotional, and school success.Winner of a 1999 Parent's Guide Children's Media Award, these positive nursery rhymes, interactive finger plays, soothing games, and physically active can be played with children from infancy through age eight. In only minutes a day, these powerful rituals.

 The first of its kind, this long-awaited handbook compiled by the Creative Arts Therapy team at Mount Saint Vincent, offers therapists, caregivers, parents and educators practical, creative art activities organized by the four broad domains of functioning derived from the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT), developed by Dr. Bruce Perry and his colleagues at the ChildTrauma Academy. Mount Saint Vincent, one of few treatment facilities in the world to hold the prestigious NMT Flagship Program designation from The ChildTrauma Academy, applies a developmentally sensitive approach to trauma treatment for children ages 5–13. This handbook represents hundreds of hours of application and feedback by clinicians, direct care professionals and educators. We hope that it is as valuable a resource for anyone seeking practical trauma-informed tools as it is for us. 

 Over four decades of clinical experience, Maté has come to recognize the prevailing understanding of “normal” as false, neglecting the roles that trauma and stress, and the pressures of modern-day living, exert on our bodies and our minds at the expense of good health. For all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance. Now Maté brings his perspective to the great untangling of common myths about what makes us sick, connects the dots between the maladies of individuals and the declining soundness of society—and offers a compassionate guide for health and healing.

Through the lens of moving personal stories, medical doctor and best-selling author Dr. Gabor Maté shows how emotion and psychological stress play a powerful role in the onset of chronic illness, cancer, and many other serious illnesses.

Drawing on scientific research and the author's decades of experience as a practicing physician, this book provides answers to important questions about the effect of the mind-body link on illness and health and the role that chronic stress and one's individual emotional makeup play in an array of common diseases.

• Explore the role of the mind-body link in conditions and diseases such as arthritis, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, IBS, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune conditions, and more

 he teenage years are an exciting yet ever-changing period of your life. New challenges and tasks seem to pop up almost daily—not to mention all the transitions your body is going through.

As you get older and take on more responsibilities, you have probably wondered how to do many of the adult tasks your parents or older siblings seem to breeze through daily. Everyday challenges like how to tell if the chicken in the fridge has gone bad to how to get rid of dandruff has likely crossed your mind. As you learn and experience new things, questions about basic life skills will arise. This book is here to help you solve the daily problems adults take for granted.

While the internet provides a wealth of knowledge, it can be overwhelming to navigate at times. I mean, which of the thirteen articles about budgeting and saving money is actually accurate? And yes, you can ask your parents or other trusted adults in your life to teach you specific skills, but sometimes you just want to figure it out on your own. That’s where this guide comes into play. 

 With the help of this guide, kids can learn foundation skills such as the basics in cooking, handling emergencies, communication skills, setting goals, running appliances, and so much more! Complete with cute illustrations heading each chapter, this book is sure to help your loved ones master necessary life skills!

Life Skills for Kids covers a lot of topics including:

• Self-regulation
• Decision making strategies
• Basic navigation skills
• Age-appropriate ways to make and save money
• Calling 911 and keeping calm during emergencies
• The importance of chores
• How to use appliances safely
• Ways to start building independence in the kitchen
• And much more!

With our current fast paced, technological society, it is more important than ever to make sure our children learn the basic life skills that are often neglected in our convenience driven era. 

 The tween years are an important time to learn and discover the world and shape who you will be in it.

While these are exciting times, they can also be tricky. Preteens are dealing with big emotions and physical changes that they may not feel equipped to handle.

They may feel unsure of how to behave or what to do in certain situations. They may be worried about making friends or dealing with increased responsibilities and stress.

The great news is that they're not alone.

Packed with tips, illustrations, and real-life examples, the book covers the essential life skills every preteen should know to become a brilliant teenager. From managing money and cooking a meal to staying happy and finding things you're good at, this book covers it all!

In Life Skills for Tweens, you'll learn how to:

• Make friends and build relationships
• Deal with strong emotions
• Cook a delicious meal
• Stay safe online
• Deal with emergencies
• Budget & spend money responsibly
• Build dens & be an outdoor adventurer
• And 70+ more practical skills

Life Skills for Tweens is an essential guide to learning the skills to become a brilliant teenager.