Many people ask me if the Self Mastery course work will help them heal their trauma issues. My answer is Yes, and, you will need to include other resources.  The awareness and skills you learn in the self mastery practices will help with your beliefs, emotions, and thoughts. You will also need to address changing the nervous system responses.  Specific modalities for changing your nervous system responses are Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, and EFT treatments.  Others such as movement exercise, dance, Feldenkrais bodywork, and yoga help also. It also depends on what you respond to.

These are the three best resources to get yourself educated on understanding and healing trauma that my clients have benefited from.

Waking the Tiger  by Peter Levine. He developed Somatic Experiencing which helps people release the memory trapped in the body.  It’s a good book to start with so you understand how trauma is created, held, and that it can be healed.

Three o    Or get the Audio Book 

Complex PTSD: from surviving to thriving by Pete Walker:  is written by a therapist that grew up in a trauma environment. He knows from first hand experience what someone is going through.  After reading this book, my clients response is often relief to the effect. ” I finally understand why my thoughts and emotions do what they do and why I haven’t been able to control them. Now I know I’m not broken. I’ve just had trauma.

—     Or get the Audio Book   

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk is considered the kind of bible. It’s a deeper study of the history of trauma, how it’s been ignored, misdiagnosed, and misunderstood. He outlines how approaches like talk therapy fail, and why. It is backed up by studies he references, but that doesn’t make the information or content boring. He spends the last part of the book describing his experience with multiple approaches that really help heal trauma, and their efficacy. If you just want to understand what you need to do personally right now for yourself, then get the two resources above. They will give more immediate help. If you want a larger lay of the land, and deeper guidance on what will help and what won’t, then move on to The Body Keeps the Score.

Or get the Audio book version

Another good resource for overcoming trauma issues is The Power of Attachment by Diane Poole Heller

Heller studied extensively with Peter Levine and the Somatic Experiencing work.  She combines that background to address insecure attachment issues through nervous system re-training.  I think her background and the exercises she applies are very helpful for developmental type trauma.