Trauma and recovery : the aftermath of violence, from domestic abuse to political terror

337 Pages·2015·49.95 MB·English

by  Herman

Psychology H
W E “One of the most important psychiatric works to be published
hen Trauma and Recovery was first published in 1992, it was hailed as a R
groundbreaking work. In the intervening years, it has become the basic text for M since Freud.”—New York Ti mes
understanding trauma survivors. By placing individual experience in a broader A
political frame, Judith Herman argues that psychological trauma can be understood only in a N
Tr a u m a
social context. Drawing on her own research on incest, as well as on a vast literature on combat
veterans and victims of political terror, she shows surprising parallels between private horrors
like child abuse and public horrors like war. A new epilogue reviews what has changed—and
what has not changed—over two decades. Trauma and Recovery is essential reading for anyone T 3/17
a n d Re c ove r y
who seeks to understand how we heal and are healed.
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“A landmark.” —GLORIA STEINEM a
“A book of luminous intelligence. You must read it as soon as possible.” u 4/17
The Aftermath of Violence—
—SOPHIE FREUD
m
From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror
“Astute, accessible, and beautifully documented. Bridging the worlds of war veterans,
prisoners of war, battered women, and incest victims, Herman presents a compelling
a
analysis of trauma and the process of healing. A triumph.”

—LAURA DAVIS, coauthor of The Courage to Heal
a
“Brilliant.” —BOSTON GLOBE
n
“This book will surely become a landmark work on the social impact of psychological
d
trauma and on its treatments…. A magnifi cent gift to survivors.”
—WOMEN’S REVIEW OF BOOKS
R
“A stunning achievement … a classic for our generation.”
—BESSEL VAN DER KOLK, M.D., author of The Body Keeps the Score 5-/12 x 8-1/4
e
S: 27/32
JUDITH HERMAN, M.D., is professor of psychiatry, emerita, at Harvard c B: 21/32
Medical School. o Basic - PB
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Cover design by Chelsea Hunter
e Finish:
Cover image: Painting by Rosemary Marbach, from the exhibit
Gritty
“The Art of Healing” (Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1990) r
$17.99 US / $22.50 CAN
© Rosemary Marbach ISBN 978-0-465-06171-6 y
51799
J UD I T H H E R M A N , M . D.
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
www.basicbooks.com
9 780465 061716 With a new epilogue by the author
MORE PRAISE FOR TRAUMA AND RECOVERY
“Herman’s brilliant insights into the nature of trauma and
the process of healing shine through in every page of this
rich and compassionate book.”
—Lenore Walker, ED.D., Director, Domestic Violence
Institute and author of Terrifying Love
“Herman links the public traumas of society to those of
domestic life in this provocative work of psychiatric theory.”
—Publishers Weekly

TRAUMA
AND
RECOVERY
The Aftermath of Violence—
From Domestic Abuse
to Political Terror
Judith Herman, m.d.
With a New Epilogue by the Author
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
New York
Copyright © 1992, 1997 by Basic Books
Epilogue © 2015 by Basic Books
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Basic
Books, 250 West 57th Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10107.
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tion, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300
Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call [phone], ext. 5000, or
e-mail [email protected].
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Herman, Judith Lewis, 1942–
Trauma and recovery / Judith Lewis Herman.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Post-traumatic stress disorder. 2. Post-traumatic stress disorder—Treatment. I. Title.
RC552.P67H47 1992
616.85'21—dc29 91–45346
CIP
ISBN 978-0-465-06171-6 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-465-09873-6 (e-book)
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
C O N T E N T S
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
part i
Traumatic Disorders
Chapter 1 A Forgotten History 7
Chapter 2 Terror 33
Chapter 3 Disconnection 51
Chapter 4 Captivity 74
Chapter 5 Child Abuse 96
Chapter 6 A New Diagnosis 115
part ii
Stages of Recovery
Chapter 7 A Healing Relationship 133
Chapter 8 Safety 155
Chapter 9 Remembrance and Mourning 175
Chapter 10 Reconnection 196
Chapter 11 Commonality 214
Afterword The Dialectic of Trauma Continues 237
Epilogue to the 2015 Edition 248
Notes 277
Index 318
I had thought, before I began, that what I had on my
hands was an almost excessively masculine tale, a saga
of sexual rivalry, ambition, power, patronage, betrayal,
death, revenge. But the women seem to have taken
over; they marched in from the peripheries of the
story to demand the inclusion of their own tragedies,
histories, and comedies, obliging me to couch my
narrative in all manner of sinuous complexities, to
see my “male” plot refracted, so to speak, through the
prisms of its reverse and “female” side. It occurs to me
that the women who knew precisely what they were
up to—their stories explain, and even subsume, the
men’s. Repression is a seamless garment; a society which
is authoritarian in its social and sexual codes, which
crushes its women beneath the intolerable burdens of
honour and propriety, breeds repression of other kinds
as well. Contrariwise: dictators are always—or at least
in public, on other people’s behalf—puritanical. So it
turns out that my “male” and “female” plots are the
same story after all.
—Salman Rushdie, Shame, 1983

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