Relational and Body-Centered Practices for Healing Trauma: Lifting the Burdens of the Past

"Relational and Body-Centered Practices for Healing Trauma is a remarkably compelling blend of interdisciplinary theory and applied case material. The science is accurate, and the clinical material is absorbing. Sharon Stanley’s integration of anthropological and cultural material with relational body techniques is unique. This book will have an indelible impact on the field."

Allan Schore, PhD, author of Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self and The Science of the Art of Psychotherapy

"Sharon Stanley has written a brilliant and comprehensive testament to the absolute necessity of including the somatic connection between the body and the brain in healing trauma. She explores the emerging literature linking the neurophysiology of the fight/flight limbic system, the autonomic nervous system, and the right-brain centers for procedural memory and modulation of arousal with techniques that re-regulate homeostasis. Detailed case studies provide a manual for specific body-based interventions. This book is a must read for therapists."

Robert Scaer, MD, author of The Trauma Spectrum and The Body Bears the Burden

"What a marvelous book! Relational and Body-Centered Practices for Healing Trauma is an amazing integration of developmental neuroscience and clinical psychotherapy. Well written and engaging, it provides plenty of examples to facilitate applied understanding in somatic healing. It will be an excellent resource for clinicians of all stripes, with step-by-step illustrations of therapeutic approaches."

Darcia Narvaez, PhD, author of Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture, and Wisdom

Sharon Stanley, PhD, is an educator and psychotherapist in private practice on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where she also develops and facilitates courses on Somatic Transformation, a two-year curriculum for healing trauma.