The Tao of Trauma

A Practitioner's Guide for Integrating Five Element Theory and Trauma Treatment

By: Alaine D. Duncan, Kathy L. Kain, Michael Hollifield - introduction M.D.

Narrated by: Diana Gardiner

Explains trauma using a combination of the Five Elements (from Traditional Chinese Medicine) and a touch perspective; for practitioners of a variety of modalities, including acupuncturists, somatic therapists, massage therapists, and mental health providers.

Combining Eastern and Western trauma physiology, clinician-educators Alaine Duncan and Kathy Kain introduce a new map for acupuncturists, medical practitioners, mental health providers, and body-oriented clinicians to help restore balance in their patients. Using concepts from Acupuncture and Asian Medicine (AAM), alongside descriptions of the threat response from Western bio-behavioral science, they describe common physical symptoms, emotional presentations, and paths for healing for five survivor "types" detailed by the authors and correlated to the Five Elements of AAM. This ancient/modern integrative lens illuminates the diverse manifestations of traumatic stress in its survivors--chronic pain, autoimmune illness, insomnia, metabolic problems, and mental health disorders--and brings new hope to survivors of trauma and those who treat them.

I can't believe I'm reading this

If this book makes you angry at the beginning take a break from it and come back, don't give up on it. If it triggers you, stop and come back, don't give up on it. This may be extremely difficult for me because 3 years abuse by the hands of a doctor and 6 traumas directly following that abuse plus one trauma that the attacker was a doctor that left me in pain for over a year every day (still going on) that only happened because another doctor coerced me into it threatening torturing me if I didn't go to the doctor that did malpractice... oh and 18 years of childhood abuse. My doctors are out of ideas how to help me. they're recommending the stuff in this book to me and they probably can lose their job for recommending this book to me but they're that out of ideas. It honestly doesn't matter if this book works or not it's one of my only hopes. I'm in a rare situation as a Westerner where I can say a medical professional recommended this to me. one more thing to note when reading: it's poetic, think of it like poetry and the science makes more sense, just trust me on that one. I'm not saying I recommend this book, I'm saying what do you have to lose if nothing else works?