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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Healing Collective Trauma summary
Thomas Hübl
A Process for Integrating Our Intergenerational and Cultural Wounds
21 mins
Brief summary
Healing Collective Trauma by Thomas Hübl explores the impact of collective trauma on society and offers practical tools and perspectives for healing and creating a more connected and compassionate world.
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Healing Collective Trauma
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Trauma impacts us mentally and physically
Humans are powerfully resilient. Think about it – in the millions of years since we’ve been walking the earth, as a group we’ve overcome countless traumas: earthquakes, famines, wars, plagues. But just because we’re survivors, that doesn’t mean these traumas don’t also take a significant toll. Contemporary research into trauma uncovers just how lasting and damaging the effects of trauma can be when they’re left unaddressed. So, let’s take a brief look at how trauma works.
After a traumatic event, we can become either hyperactive or hypoactive – in other words, we turn to the primal fight-flight response or we freeze. Following the event, our nervous systems will be impacted, distorting the ways we assimilate and process memories related to the event. What’s more, stimuli that mirror the event in any way – for example, flashing lights and loud noises recalling war zone conditions – can trigger mental and physical flashback. When traumatized individuals are allowed to process and heal from their traumas, they can successfully metabolize the traumatic events. When their trauma goes unacknowledged or untreated, they may experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.
People with PTSD can experience symptoms like anxiety, hypervigilance, and poor impulse control, and many others.
A type-1 trauma is a one-off event. A type-2, or “complex” trauma, is actually a series of ongoing traumatic events – a victim of chronic child abuse or domestic violence, for example, experiences complex trauma.
Trauma, and especially complex trauma, that occurs during childhood can have particularly severe effects. These traumas, that occur when the brain is still developing, can hinder healthy psychosocial development. Child victims of complex trauma may have difficulty forming healthy attachments, self-soothing, regulating their emotions, tolerating stress, and using their executive function, among a host of other potential difficulties.
Many of the debilitating symptoms trauma-sufferers experience actually have a valid evolutionary function. A soldier who experiences hyper-vigilance after active duty may find themselves irritable and depleted from the vast reserves of energy required to maintain this state of heightened alertness at all times. By the same token, on the battlefield, where every stray sound or flicker of movement represents a real threat, hypervigilance is crucial for survival. The body intends this hypervigilance to be a lifesaving strategy. So, while the negative symptoms of trauma are felt in the mind and the body, these symptoms derive from our hardwired drive to survive and overcome.
Trauma can’t be eradicated. It’s part of our universe. It’s part of us. The challenge isn’t to let the darkness of trauma consume our present and blot out our vision for the future, rather to learn to accept this darkness and synthesize it into a transformative force. We can begin by supplementing our scientific understanding of trauma with a more spiritual perspective which we’ll explore in the next section.
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What is Healing Collective Trauma about?
Healing Collective Trauma (2020) examines how trauma can be shared between individuals and across generations. Drawing on contemporary trauma research and ancient traditions of mysticism, it proposes a framework for recognizing and healing these collective traumas.
Healing Collective Trauma Review
Healing Collective Trauma (2021) delves into the profound impact of collective trauma on individuals and societies, offering a compassionate exploration of healing and transformation. Here's why this book is definitely worth a read:
- With insightful perspectives and practical tools, it empowers readers to navigate the complexities of collective trauma and contribute to healing in their communities.
- Combining personal stories, case studies, and research, the book offers a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of collective trauma and its potential for growth and resilience.
- Its nuanced examination of intergenerational trauma and the power of connection makes for an enriching and thought-provoking read, ensuring that the topic is anything but boring.
Who should read Healing Collective Trauma?
- Therapists and healers working with traumatized groups
- Community activists negotiating the effects of collective trauma in their work
- Anyone who has lived through or is trying to support someone through trauma
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Healing Collective Trauma FAQs
What is the main message of Healing Collective Trauma?
Healing Collective Trauma explores the impact of collective trauma and offers strategies for healing and transformation.
How long does it take to read Healing Collective Trauma?
Healing Collective Trauma can be read in several hours. The Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.
Is Healing Collective Trauma a good book? Is it worth reading?
Healing Collective Trauma is worth reading for its insightful exploration of collective trauma and practical techniques for healing and transformation.
Who is the author of Healing Collective Trauma?
The author of Healing Collective Trauma is Thomas Hübl.
What to read after Healing Collective Trauma?
If you're wondering what to read next after Healing Collective Trauma, here are some recommendations we suggest:
- The Borderline Personality Disorder Workbook by Daniel J. Fox
- The Myth of Normal by Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté
- The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
- It Didn't Start With You by Mark Wolynn
- Widen the Window by Elizabeth A. Stanley
- 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do by Amy Morin
- Waking the Tiger by Peter A. Levine with Ann Frederick
- Break the Cycle by Dr. Mariel Buqué
- Make Your Mark by Jocelyn K. Glei
- Emotional Intelligence Habits by Travis Bradberry