THE TRAUMA WE DON’T TALK ABOUT: Tools for Living and Life-Changing Stories of Preservation, Healing, Love and Advocacy of the SELF, Volume 1

Book Synopsis: NEW RELEASE. You are not alone in your trauma. We all share it. Discover the hidden truths about trauma, healing and self-discovery in "The Trauma We Don't Talk About" series. This relatable and life-changing collection of 197 reflections on experiencing trauma includes facts, true stories, satirical tales of coping, and poems about mental health that will leave you feeling validated and empowered. Written by a therapist with lived knowledge of PTSD, this first book in the series talks about the trauma experiences that few openly discuss. It covers subjects of abuse, neglect, poverty, wars, oppression and discrimination of the SELF. Ana Mael's intimate self-help memoir can help you embark on your trauma healing and self-improvement journey. What will you discover?

Unveiling the Hidden Truths: Discover the Power of Healing and Self-Discovery in “The Trauma We Don't Talk About" Volume 1:
1. You Are Not Alone: Discover solace in the shared experience.
2. 197 Essays: Will leave you feeling validated and empowered.
3. Source for Self Development: Bring relevant essay to your therapist, start conversation.
4. Tools for Living: Embark on a journey towards self-development and healing.

Read short excerpts:
" Trust Issues
PTSD and trauma create hardcore skeptics. Even if you have a decent and honest person standing beside you, you will still be skeptical about them because trauma taught you that no one is safe. Having someone who feels safe is alarming for the trauma body. In fact, it can be retraumatizing.
Your nervous system provokes anxiety to warn you to run and protect yourself, because safety feels new and different.
The new experience of safety means an uncertain outcome. You're well-versed in the outcomes of abusive behavior, but what does your brain know about normal life?"

" Continuous State of Negotiation
Being in a trauma means you're always in a state of negotiation with yourself. You are negotiating how to defend yourself and how to please others. You are negotiating how to say no, how to say what you need, and how to speak your truth. You are negotiating how to leave someone, how to belong, how to love, and how to socialize. You are negotiating how to face a new day. Internal negotiation is a constant state of a trauma mind; it is a place where we live and a place of constant effort. It is tremendously exhausting.
In trauma and PTSD mind, you'll even negotiate with yourself to make an effort to like or agree with something you don't like or agree with in the first place. "

"I Hope You Become Angry
Many have asked why they can't feel anger. When you lose the connection to your anger, it's because of the life-threatening environment in which you lived. It was an environment where expressing anger was an invitation for your abuser to hurt you more. Anger can only be expressed when we know we will not risk retaliation and rage in return. In a way, feeling anger and being able to express anger-from a trauma perspective-is a privilege. Many didn't have this option.
The only way to survive was to shut off your anger and move yourself into an appeasement response, one that was filled with dissociation, compliance, and obedience. Don't shame yourself for how you responded to someone hurting you. Your dignity and self-righteousness may make you wish you stood up and fought back, and you might create and rehearse scenarios of what you should have done. But, there was neither dignity nor some sort of Hollywood-movie sexiness in the way you survived; that is not reality. There was only the intelligence of your mind and body keeping you alive."