How Early Trauma Affects Self-Regulation - and the Capacity for Relationship

Of all the books on trauma and developmental trauma that I have read, this is clearly the best.

When I finished reading, I had a much deeper awareness of the challenge of healing developmental trauma and many insights about the most effective healing approaches to help others in recovering the lost possibilities for their lives.

Thanks to Laurence Heller, PhD and Aline LaPierre, PsyD for their years of research and treatment, and for the outstanding case studies contained in the book -- which truly made it come alive.

It's the best!

Heller treats a complex matter with great clarity, even simplicity. His NARM construct is the most sensible treatise explaining mental disorders I have ever read. Not for every person but spot on for so many

This book is written for professional therapists. It is one long commercial for a certain type of treatment, called "NARM", NeuroAffective Relational Model. It was a long and involved read and I needed to look up a few words. It didn't really help me understand Complex PTSD anymore than I had.

The book not only gives a well structured explanation, but as well guides you through the healing process. The case-examples make this work of the therapist tangible. The tables give a good overview and make it easy to find information. The author seems to have a lot of experience which he he is capable of transmitting.

Attachment theory has great stuff in it, "Becoming Attached" is classic. There is a real need for addressing attachment disorders... and this book barely addresses it.

Very little factual information is presented, the speculation given in its place doesn't resonate as accurate during the first 150 or so pages, and the well known disorders and attachment types... are ignored, in place of them... somewhat nebulous stuff the author collectively calls NARM.

This is like a long, poor sales brochure for NARM seminars, training and certification. Bowlby is mentioned in one sentence... then dismissed, so don't expect a lot of classic attachment information.

If you substitute "we think" for NARM.. and "people with trouble" for each of the made up style names... the later material is bearable enough to be kind of interesting. The book has about a chapter's worth of good information... could have been a great pamphlet. I think the authors may be good clinicians, and perhaps should have had someone observe and write for them... the combination of self promoting of NARM, with over a 100 pages of vague assertions make it tough to even make it to the later chapters where there is some decent material.

If you get it read from about pg150 to end, then earlier chapters.. its far more readable that way.

Realized what I was looking for was "what to do about your attachment problem".. and that is addressed well in Daring Greatly by Brene Brown.. it is fantastic.

Healing Developmental Trauma is a compelling view into the inter-connectedness of body and mind and how the healing of trauma can alter the course of a lifetime. It is a multi-dimensional work, brilliantly conceived and clearly written. The authors' intention is truly compassionate, guiding the reader to real insight into how trauma is held, and also pointing out specific channels of access to a deep unfolding of one's potentiality. It provides a way of entry into the network of inner dams, set in place by the survival instinct and held in place by fear, that stifle the flow of vital energies in the body/mind. It offers hope together with a pragmatic path toward the natural re-integration of basic instinctual forces in the service of one's sense of flow and wholeness.

I started this book and am deeply disappointed. Not one damn peer reviewed reference to support any of the suppositions. That a PhD and PsyD would be so academically lazy is beyond belief. Perhaps I should follow suit and write a trauma book based purely on arm-chair speculation. Hey it worked for these two....

It turns out when I got into this book, it is based on the Reichian Character styles which Barbara Brennan uses in her energy medicine program. That is a horrible model to use! It does not work and leads you into some psychologically damaging areas. If the book were based on the Enneagram it could be very useful, but as it is, I have no use for it.

I really wanted to love this book. It's got great information that I've never found anywhere else on how trauma affects self regulation. My problem is that I find the book incredibly hard to read. Sequences of word are repeated over and over. It feels distant, as if a robot wrote it. This makes it hard for me to believe that their therapy works.

They put down transference. Which means they take living being of the therapist out of the therapeutic relationship. Yet, they talk about the importance of human connection. That makes it sound as if their therapy is as cold as this book.

What I also find objectionable is how much time they take to describe and indirectly put down other therapeutic approaches. They also want their cake and eat it too. I get it, you guys are different. But, tell me what you do actually believe. Here's an example of how abstract they can be, "Initially, it may not be possible for traumatized individuals to access their somatic awareness; in such cases any experience of self-reference can serve as a starting point." What kind of experience of self-reference?

They say the past is not important, yet they say the past is where all this started. Which is it?

If you write a new edition with a heart, let me know.

I really like the book, very helpful, BUT there are a variety of important figures that do not render on the Kindle. It's frustrating because the Figures are referred to constantly in the text. This image is a summary of the entire book. It's not much help.

Briefly put, this is not an academic enquiry into trauma. To give you an idea, one effect of trauma is to become sensitive to "sound, polution, electromagnetic waves" p39. Unsurprisingly the book does not contain academic references and I do not consider this a serious addition to the trauma / therapy literature.

So I only read the preview so far and am unsure about buying the book. The authors are doing a good job at describing the therapeutic model they are proposing, and also at linking it with the latest neuroscience findings. The problem is that they keep referring to NARM, I guess the name they are giving to their "invention". Well first, what they are describing is nothing new, I have experienced and am studying this kind of therapy. Exactly the same? No because every therapy has his own style. But here, it feels like I am reading a marketing pamphlet and it's clear that the authors have ambitions, are trying to build a legacy either for business purposes or else to leave their name in history. Maybe they want to be famous and remembered like the Freud or Jung of our time, but it's not how it works. So my first problem is all this pollution of terms, they go as far as copyrighting combination of words! Wouldn't it be funny to see a copyright sign next to the word "archetype"? Well, it looks like that's what the authors are aiming for. My second problem is deeper. If I am correct, than the authors have an agenda. And every good therapist knows that having an agenda for a therapist is a big no no.
It's too bad because the authors clearly put a lot of work and time to write this book. It may not bother most though, but for me, I just don't like to be lectured and manipulated to fit someone else's agenda.

I came across this book through a friend of mine, and the title caught my eye, since trauma that occurs during the critical developmental years leaves a significant scar(s). What impresses me the most is the direct approach that the author takes in addressing what are the needs of the child, what happens when they are not met, and the tragic face of developmental trauma. The importance of addressing self-image, affect regulation, and the capacity for relationship, lies in the basic nature of a human being, and what one needs in order to flourish in life. Without a stable self-image, sufficient capacity for affect regulation, and reasonably healthy capacity for relationships, the trauma survivor is left isolated, and too fearful of people. Yet they still crave for connection and fulfilling love. To live a life mired by this pain and isolation, is one of the greatest losses that childhood trauma perpetuates. The author brilliantly weaves the problem, solution, and a plethora of rich information, into a sensitively designed tapestry for the survivor of childhood trauma, seeking understanding and recovery.

In my book: "Trauma and Transformation: A 12-Step Guide", I fully explore the spiritual side-effects of trauma, and how the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is a powerful systematic approach for the trauma survivor seeking a spiritual solution.

-Rivka Edery, L.M.S.W
Website: [...]
Author of: "Trauma and Transformation: A 12-Step Guide".
Available from: TRAUMA AND TRANSFORMATION 12 Step Guide

I downloaded a sample of the book first and boy am I glad I did or I would have wasted money in a New Age pseudo scientific book. If facts and science are relevant to you this is not the book for you. Life force? Really? I was taken advantage of enough by my parents, I'll be darned if I'll fall prey of quckery.

This book is cutting edge material regarding post traumatic stress disorder. PTSD is a condition that has been belatedly recognized as a medical condition. Therefore funding for research is available and much attention is beiby given. This gave me some much hope for my own daughter who is a victim of incest by her father. It was stopped before she was 4 years old but our case never left family court after a 6-year battle. This was 25 years ago. She is doing well in life, but she suffers. I wish this book had been available to her therapist back then! One more way Audible has literally saved my life!

I have a better understanding of PTSD caused by developmental trauma after reading this wonderful book. My practice is mind-body-spirit; I hold degrees in natural medicine and psychology. Most research into PTSD does not address adults who suffered early childhood trauma, especially chronic child abuse. Dr Heller's NeuroAffective Relational Model™ (NARM) is a way to heal mind & body. I like how NARM re-regulates the nervous system. Since I do energy work I've been looking for something this effective. It also helps the client to 'rewire' the old programming in the powerful present. Heller addresses dissociation, identity distortion,hyper sensitivity, hypervigilence, anxiety, etc. Very useful tool. Recommended reading for all therapists and natural docs. It might be a bit dense for laypersons without a psych background. You can go to his website or look him up on YouTube if you want to know more.