You Are Not Your Trauma An ACT Guide for Healing from Within

It is a simple fact, and a powerful promise: You are not your trauma. Noted psychologists Robyn D. Walser and Darrah Westrup have devoted their careers to helping people move beyond the pain of trauma and reclaim their lives. This compassionate book harnesses the proven tools of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in an accessible self-help format. Readers learn new ways to build resilience, safely confront feared feelings and sensations, and detach from harmful thoughts and self-beliefs that keep them stuck. ACT highlights the importance of living meaningfully, and provides step-by-step strategies for doing so. Filled with exercises and guided practices, including audio tracks at the companion website, the book uses stories of diverse trauma survivors to illustrate the recovery journey. 

Robyn D. Walser, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, educator, and author of several influential books on ACT for professionals and general readers. She is Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and Director of Research at Bay Area Trauma Recovery Clinical Services. She is also on the staff of the National Center for PTSD at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. Internationally known for her compassionate, client-centered approach, Dr. Walser has been working in the field of trauma treatment since the 1990s.

Darrah Westrup, PhD, is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Durango, Colorado, where she specializes in helping clients find freedom from complex trauma and other challenging conditions. She has conducted ACT trainings and workshops worldwide since 2001 and is the author of acclaimed books on ACT for professionals and general readers. Dr. Westrup has served as Director of both the Women’s Mental Health Center and the Women’s Trauma Recovery Program at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System.

Introduction
Stage 1. Safety and Skills Building: Living More Fully in the Here and Now
1. What Is Trauma Fallout?
2. What Is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?
3. Identifying Your Values
4. Identifying Your Barriers
5. Opening to Emotional Experience
6. Cultivating Mindfulness and Present-Moment Awareness
7. Creating Distance from Traumatic Thoughts
8. Getting to Know Your Self
Stage 2. Planned Exposure to the Trauma: Facing Your Trauma to Regain Control of Your Life
9. Preparing for Exposure Work
10. Completing a Written Exposure
Stage 3. Reconnection to the Here and Now through Values: Building Resilience, Overcoming Obstacles, and Engaged Living
11. Taking Committed Action
12. Building Resilience
13. Overcoming Life’s Obstacles
14. Maintaining Long-Term Healing