A review by iaproton
The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process: Transcend Your Toughest Times by David Berceli

dark reflective tense medium-paced

3.0

I wasn't expecting it to go into spirituality,or so casually talk about suicide in different cultures.

 I was looking for information on inducing the tremor,I've had no issues but a friend has.Thankfully this was included in the Plus catalogue,I'd be disappointed if I paid for it . I'm glad my 1st introduction to TRE 6 months ago was not this book but a free YouTube video and the Long term TRE community on Reddit,I've been practicing in micro doses,we're talking seconds increasing to one minute 6x a day or less for complex PTSD and it's been the best tool even if I am limited by what my nervous system can tolerate and process in a day. Don't let this book put you off and most of all do it safely in doses you can tolerate, there's a Youtube video on "sensitive clients" that covers starting TRE if you have Any trauma.Better to start too small and gradually increase than do too much and cause yourself additional suffering that will put you off for life.

The accompanying PDF is good, videos may be easier to follow on YouTube or Trecourse dot com which is free.

The war and other dark themes and stories of trauma may be triggering and disturbing for empathic trauma survivors ,so skipping to the part 2, last 2 chapters is probably best,if you want the content in audio format. Sadly the horrible stories are mixed in with some of the science of trauma,a rather stupid thing to do when most of their audience will be traumatised people looking to feel better, not worse. You don't need to know the science behind how it works for TRE to work and there are better books on the neuroscience of trauma that focus on the science over horror stories and disturbing anecdotes. 

Table of contents 

  • Acknowledgments     xiii
    Foreword   Robert Scaer, MD     xv
    Making Sense of Stress, Anxiety, and Trauma     1
    Life Is Traumatic     3
    A Really Different Approach     4
    Align Yourself with What Is     6
    When Life Turns Up the Heat     7
    Trauma Is Individual in Nature     8
    A Shock to the System     10
    Learning to "Suck It Up"     10
    Stress and Family Life     13
    Insight from Hurricane Katrina     15
    A Life Sentence?     17
    When a Professional Isn't Available     18
    A Window Opens     18
    "Help Me Heal Myself"     20
    Clues from an Ancient People     21
    A Cry for Help     22
    Designed to Handle Trauma     23
    Beyond "Talking It Out"     24
    When Life Doesn't Work Out the Way It's Supposed To     25
    Getting Inside Our Head     26
    How the Brain Processes Trauma     27
    Trauma Can Wreck Your Health     28
    How Illness Results from Trauma     29
    How Our Instant-on Button Gets Stuck     32
    A Protective System Gone Awry     33
    Stuck in thePast     34
    Resurrecting the Past     35
    Beyond the Therapist's Couch     37
    The Wisdom of the Body     39
    It Takes More Than Traditional Counseling     41
    Bringing the Body into the Picture     41
    Getting at the Muscles     42
    How the Body Copes with Trauma     44
    Trembling with Fright     45
    Tremoring Is Good for Us     46
    If You Tremble Are You Out of Control?     47
    Holding It in     48
    Testing the Theory     50
    All Tensed Up     52
    What Your Gut Instinct Is     54
    When Objectivity Is Impaired     55
    Three Musketeers     56
    Drowning in Trauma     59
    Heart-wrenching Effects     61
    Far-reaching Consequences     62
    Vicarious Trauma     63
    Wearing Us Down     64
    Am I Going Crazy?     65
    A Personal Experience     66
    Home from the Battlefront     67
    Clues to Trauma-induced Behavior     67
    Breaking the Silence     68
    The Women's Movement Opened Our Eyes     70
    Resolving Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder      71
    Overwhelming Stress     72
    "My Body Is Racing at 1000 RPM"     72
    The Opium Sensation     74
    A One-Two Punch     75
    Why We Sometimes Freeze Up     76
    Identifying Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder     78
    "Things Like That Don't Happen to Us"     79
    Flawed Assumptions     80
    Traumatized Children Become Traumatized Adults     81
    Reversing Generations of Neglect     83
    A Unique Band of People     84
    A Price We Can Afford     85
    Trauma in the Workplace     87
    Trust Is Essential     87
    Encoded Not to Trust     88
    Signs of Trauma in the Workplace     91
    Mending Strained Relationships     91
    Fostering Corporate Longevity     92
    Healing Our Division     95
    Reconnecting Alienated Parties     96
    "I Hated Everyone to the Point of Paranoia"     96
    How We Learn to Discriminate     97
    Stereotyping Is a Defense     98
    "God No Longer Existed for Me"     101
    A Shattering Experience     102
    A Spiritual Awakening     102
    Our Spiritual Self     104
    Solitude-a Key to Reinventing Ourselves     106
    Forgiving Life for Its "Failings"     108
    Forgiveness May Not Come Easily     109
    "I Was More Terrified and Angry Than My Family"     111
    Take Responsibility for Your Wellbeing     113
    Tough Times Can Make You Stronger     114
    Making Sense of Traumatic Times     115
    Mother Teresa Shines a Light     116
    Trauma As Our Teacher     118
    Trust in the Goodness of Life     118
    No Way But Forward     120
    A Soldier Shows the Way     121
    "Even Death Was Better Than This Inner Numbness"     122
    "I Am Still Alive!"     123
    Sleepwalking Through Life     124
    The Body and the Present Moment     127
    Tremors and the Body's History     128
    Spirituality Through the Body     128
    Tremors and the Body     129
    Tremors and Consciousness     132
    Tremors and Physics     132
    The Trauma Release Process (TRP)     135
    The Trauma Release Process     137
    How Often?     140
    Your Tension Is Unique to You     141
    A Word of Caution     142
    The Exercises      143
    Personnel Working in Trauma Environments     197
    The Labyrinth of Negotiation and Mediation     200
    A Vibrational Approach     204
    Endnotes     206
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