After Trauma

Lessons on Overcoming from a First Responder Turned Crisis Counselor

By: Ali W. Rothrock

Narrated by: Ali W. Rothrock

From a young age, Ali Rothrock fell head over heels in love with firefighting. But when she entered the fire service, she was ostracized by those who weren't willing to accept a girl into their ranks. Constant microaggressions, overt sexism, and instances of sexual violence wore her down until she no longer believed she could safely exist in the world. The trauma of her experiences eventually resulted in a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, and that diagnosis was a first step toward healing.

In the years since, Ali has worked as a domestic violence and sexual assault counselor, an advocate for abused children, an inspirational speaker, and a crisis counselor for first responders. On her journey of recovery, she has collected other people's stories of resilience. After Trauma explores the fallout from trauma, the ripples those experiences have on our lives, and finally, a path toward healing.

After Trauma is a story of adversity, grit, defiance, choice, and hope. Each chapter offers a lesson to help listeners overcome their own trauma, including concrete and actionable advice on how to re-story a life after adversity. We all have the ability to redefine ourselves, to feel hope about what lies ahead, and to choose our own way forward.

©2022 Ali W. Rothrock (P)2022 Tantor

Courage to stand up and fight. Don’t be afraid or ashamed to let people know that you have been violated.

Nothing. Great book. I will recommend to everybody I know who has ptsd and who are hiding from sex crimes done to them.

Amazing doesn't even begin to do it justice !

Since my incident I struggle to retain what I read. While wrapping up my shift in the fire station early this morning, I was able to listen to the audio book as I followed along in my signed hard copy. This allowed me to truly soak up the message. While Ali and I had drastically different experiences in the fire service her book has helped me to understand that we may all experience the same people, places and things differently and it is important that we approach eachothers truth with an open mind. The one thing that really brought a tear to my eye while reading is Chapter 3 when talking about her early relationship and being able to see just how significant this persons support really was. During the hardest times of my after I remember being so hard on myself and knowing that I would have never survived without the love and support of my amazing wife. Reading this book I was able to relive some of those moments in my own life while recognizing just how important these moments really were for my wife and I, as well as how it shaped where we are today. I personally love to read books I can relate too, books that challenge my thinking, and books that I can learn from. Fortunately for us all, Ali did an amazing job tying everything together for us with After Trauma !

That the author was, I’m not afraid to tell her truth. I’m so proud of her.

I like the entire book. I have ADHD so I have a hard time paying attention, but this book kept my attention the whole time. Definitely recommend.

Mind opening

As someone who hasn’t necessarily experienced significant trauma in their own life, but wants to better understand trauma and how you can walk beside those who have, After Trauma exceeded all my expectations. Now having a better understanding of the individual journey each person has after they experience trauma, I feel more capable of being an advocate and friend. I love that the author reinforced that there are no Trauma Olympics and your story doesn’t have to be tied up neatly with a pretty pink bow. Highly recommend!

Required Reading For Firefighters

One of the most tabbed and highlighted firefighter related books on my shelf. EVERY firefighter needs to read this book. It was an emotional rollercoaster. I almost quit reading several times, only to be drawn back in by hard hitting truths and a vision for the future of the fire service that is more resilient and growth oriented than we ever imagined. To me, Ali sums up her book by stating, “In our society, we hate truth tellers. We reject them, cancel them, ruin them. When we hear a truth, that’s ugly, a truth that might require action, a truth that could upset a system that works for many, but not all we can convince ourselves to hate the truth-teller instead of hating the truth.”