Healing, Trauma, and Friendship

Today I'm discussing a passage from Allies in Healing: When the Person You love Was Sexually Abused as a Child, a 30 year old book by Laura Davis. This is a wonderful book. If you are frightened to read a book about trauma because you are scared it will trigger you, this is the book to start with. Here's why I love it.

1) It's written to our partners, so it gives a survivor a chance to read about trauma with a little psychological distance.

2) The title is it's own validation that everyone is effected by childhood trauma and that you, a survivor, are worthy of help, support, and understanding. 

3) This is not a book you have to read cover to cover, it isn't a story. It's written in question and answer format, with answers usually one or two pages long. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Well that's weirdly how you heal trauma, so this book is digestible in it's bite sized question tad-bits. 

4. It's conversational. and conversational is relatable.