Description
Traumatic experiences leave a “living legacy” of effects that often persist for years and decades after the events are over. Historically, it has always been assumed that re-telling the story of what happened would resolve these effects.
However, survivors report a different experience: Telling and re-telling the story of what happened to them often reactivates their trauma responses, overwhelming them rather than resolving the trauma. To transform traumatic experiences, survivors need to understand their symptoms and reactions as normal responses to abnormal events. They need ways to work with the symptoms that intrude on their daily activities, preventing a life beyond trauma.
Dr. Janina Fisher, international expert on trauma, has spent over 40 years working with survivors, helping them to navigate their journey. In Transforming the Living Legacy of Trauma, she shows how the legacy of symptoms helped them survive and offers:
- Step-by-step strategies that can be used on their own or in collaboration with a therapist
- Simple diagrams that make sense of the confusing feelings and physical reactions survivors experience
- Worksheets to practice the skills that bring relief and ultimately rejuvenation
Ouzola Customer (verified owner) –
As always, Janina Fisher delivers. This workbook is an expansion from her flip book. If you work with trauma clients, it will give you an excellent resource for working with them, including worksheets that can be given out and chapters that describe things in language that is easily understandable. Highly recommended; just wish there was a way to download electronic versions of the worksheets.
Denise U. Tordella (verified owner) –
Janina Fisher’s workbook is a wonderful resource for therapists working with people who have histories of trauma and for trauma survivors themselves. Dr. Fisher provides education for individuals about the reverberating effects of trauma and the adaptations people make to deal with them. She provides concrete strategies for people to recover and learn more adaptive coping skills that break the cycle. Deep gratitude to Dr. Fisher for generously sharing her wisdom and hope for healing. As a trauma therapist, this is a powerful tool to support individuals in their healing and to help them develop self-compassion.
みこものこころ (verified owner) –
『トラウマによる解離からの回復』の著者フィッシャー先生の最新刊です。非常に分かりやすい英語表現で書かれており、スラスラと読めます。
特に構造的解離モデルについては非常にコンパクトにそして分かりやすく説明されおり、個人的には前著より理解しやすかったです。
役立つシート（ダウンロード可）がふんだんに紹介されており、複雑性トラウマ患者の方々のセルフケア本としても、治療者がセラピーの一助として使う本としても、しっかり使えるようになっています。浅井先生あたりに翻訳していだだけたらありがたいのですが….。
治療者として最も大切なことは『Slower is faster』であるとのこと、今後忘れないようにしたいと思います。
※トラウマ関連の書籍については他にもレビューを書いて紹介していますので、よかったら参考にしてください。This is the latest publication by the author of “Recovery from trauma dissociation.” It is written in very easy to understand English and can be read sluggish.
There are plenty of sheets for psychology education that can be used as a self-care book for survivors of developmental trauma, or as a book used by healers to aid in therapy and so on.
I always wanted to remember the advice that the most important thing as a healer is “Slower is faster’.
Kapil Sakhuja (verified owner) –
I was waiting for this one for last few weeks. It was an easy to read book, engaging, filled with useful practical information, written with compassion and a lot of wisdom, experience.
KQ (verified owner) –
I have studied neuroscience-informed trauma healing modalities for several years as a licensed mental health practitioner. Janina’s approach to trauma healing is refreshing, non pathologizing, integrative and backed by research. I am grateful to learn from her and I can only imagine the safety, support and hope her clients feel while in sessions with her. This workbook is ideal for clients needing support with nervous system regulation in between sessions. If this workbook inspires you to learn more, Janina’s book on healing fragmented parts is very informative as well as her webinars and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy trainings. Thank you Janina! …you are appreciated by many of us in the counseling field.
Mary Ann Medeiros (verified owner) –
Awesome book ! Helpful diagrams to share with clients. Simply written and understandable for individuals who experienced trauma.
Veronika (verified owner) –
A very helpful book. Accessible & practical. But the quality of the paper is not great – it is not worth £20.
Jettwomen (verified owner) –
Incredible respurce for working with trauma/neglect issues with clients.
M (verified owner) –
I’m just a caretaker trying to help one of my adult children, who is a trauma survivor, navigate the process of healing. I’m not a therapist but we personally have found this book to be extremely helpful!! We live in an area where finding a good therapist has been extremely difficult. I really wish more therapists would use this method. It seems we are always treating the symptoms rather than the cause. Why can’t therapists get it that survivors don’t want to talk about what happened over and over again!? This oftentimes keeps people from seeking help ( my young adult child has worked with multiple therapists and refuses to try yet another one) because it really does do more harm than good. Janina Fisher truly understands what survivors really want. They want to learn to value themselves and the things that helped them survive. But they want to move on! However, they need the tools to retrain their brains and bodies to be able to (slowly and gently) do that. This book helps to begin that journey. It can be used without a therapist but, of course, ideally it would be best to have one. I think after working through this a survivor might be more inclined to try therapy again especially if they are trauma informed. I have made more progress communicating with my child in the past few weeks with this book alone than I have in 4 years (with multiple specialists) thanks to Janina Fisher and her work. Reviewers have mentioned that she uses the triune brain model which is outdated. She specifically states in the book that IT IS outdated however in order to simply the information for everyday people she uses it. I wasn’t interested in a science textbook and neither was my child so we personally are thankful that she kept it as simple as possible!!
Side note to caretakers —This book would be difficult for someone who is not reading at an average adult level. Since some of the worksheets the survivor fills out are personal it may be difficult for a caregiver to help someone work through this and maintain privacy.
Secondhalfer (verified owner) –
I appreciate this book. So much great and practical information for a small book. I highly recommend for anyone working thru trauma.
Ricacha Jimenez (verified owner) –
Love this book. I am using this in group work right now and they are soaking it up. I read each chapter, take notes and present it in a discussion format. I give the worksheets as homework assignments.
Kelley U (verified owner) –
I have been looking for a book that can help treatment of traumatized patient’s for a long time. This is it! Highly recommend for therapists and patients alike.
Daniel Shaw (verified owner) –
Janina Fisher successfully condenses her extraordinary insights about the inner world of the traumatized individual into an exceptionally readable, accessible format that works for therapists and clients alike. Using this book with some of the most dissociative and stuck clients has been an absolute game-changer for me as therapist and for the client. No one makes theory come alive in the way Fisher does, so that even the most frightened, mistrustful, defended clients open up and begin to make sense of their conflicted internal world. This book is and indispensable tool for any therapist working with trauma and dissociation.
Beth (verified owner) –
there is no one who understands trauma and can share their understanding as well as janina fisher. her warmth, compassion, helpful approach comes through in her writing, as well as her videos.
Terry G. (verified owner) –
great book for self help with trauma
Renata R Inigo (verified owner) –
This workbook offers a step by step lesson to support trauma treatment. I love it!!!
James C. Clark (verified owner) –
This is an excellent book for a therapist and a patient to use together in healing trauma The language is easy to understand the charts are very simple and also easy to understand and it’s An experiential learning tool.e
J. Hart (verified owner) –
For survivors of trauma, this book offers real, concrete help. The exercises and activities prove to be enlightening and insightful. Transforming the Living Legacy is therapeutic and supportive and, for me, facilitated personal growth.
Fran (verified owner) –
Fantastic book I can’t give it enough compliments.
Learning so much and it’s so gentle and reassuring I can feel the authors care and concern while reading it.
KD (verified owner) –
This book is a helpful addition to the trauma recovery field. It contains clear and concise information that is useful for both therapist and client.
Thank you Janina for your contribution to this evolving field.
Nancy Sowell (verified owner) –
This is an incredibly informative and easy to use book for therapists and clients alike. It’s full of wisdom, clear clinical experience, and guidance. Janina Fisher has taken a complicated subject and managed to break it down in a way that is clear, concise, and incredibly useful. I love the organization and the worksheets. Every therapist and person dealing with trauma needs the information contained in this succinct, user-friendly book.
51buys (verified owner) –
This book makes so much sense. I haven’t asked my clients to purchase it yet. I use the content in session and it has been helpful.
Casey (verified owner) –
Very easy read and good resource to share with clients.
Maya (verified owner) –
I’m not going to lie, I’ve done a lot of trauma related research as it is part of my degree and due to personal growth reasons while working with my therapist. I (arrogantly) thought this book would be elementary because of its length and the myriad of the diagrams. Boy, I was wrong. This book wonderfully highlighted how my body and behaviors protected me from my traumatic environment growing up. She wrote this book in an effort to “equalize” the power imbalance between therapist and client through education. I feel truly blessed to have read this workbook and use the exercises.
IceBreaker (verified owner) –
I like how they educate you about trauma and provide workbooks.
Amy Melgosa (verified owner) –
My therapist suggested I get this book to start working on/dealing with things that need dealt with. I love the way the book is written and the way the author interacts/corresponds with the reader. My suggestion is to use this book as a tool WITH A THERAPIST…it brings things up that you may not be ready to deal with without help/or that you don’t know how to deal with. Great tool…just use it wisely!
Dra. Aracely Ortiz Lopez (verified owner) –
Es un libro muy útil, fácil de leer y estructurado. Va a ser de gran ayuda, para toda aquella persona, que desee sanar. También para profesionales de la salud.
Isobel L. (verified owner) –
As a licensed clinician specializing in chronic complex PTSD and dissociative disorders with many years’ experience, this workbook is invaluable — I use it all the time with my own patients and I highly recommend it to my professional colleagues and I highly recommend it to survivors. Kudos to Dr. Fisher — with heartfelt thanks.
Julie Mills (verified owner) –
Fisher’s book IS well done! The pages ARE perfectly printed. AND she deals with the MOST current therapieis like, attunement skills, mindfullness, IFS. NOT for a layperson who does not have working knowledge of these therapies. AND NOT FOR HOMEWORK! These pages are Training Tools to be worked WITH TOGETHER! An experienced therapist WOULD taylor or guide their clients through each exercise FOR INTEGRATION = emotion centered coaching!
Indiana Kristin (verified owner) –
Easy to understand. Helps you to see clearly how your childhood has affected you as an adult. Helps you heal. You feel as if the author was a fly on the wall observing your childhood. She gets you. In a way that most or even none of your therapists did.
Steven c mortenen (verified owner) –
Taught me to really get what I have struggled with all my life. Finally, answers. And what to do about your trauma. Couldn’t be more grateful to the author and my therapist.
Emily Pritchett (verified owner) –
I am really enjoying this book. As a new clinician, it makes understanding trauma easy for me. I love the figures and worksheets. It’s an easy read, too, you don’t have to have a PhD to understand it!!
LBS (verified owner) –
This is a wonderful trauma resource.
Teresa Range-Eca (verified owner) –
Workbook has been very helpful was more than I expected excellent
Stephen (verified owner) –
Some background….This was helpful for me as a survivor of childhood dysfunction and abuse. I’m healing and absorbing as much information as I can along the way….
My thoughts? I love the pictures in this booklet. They helped me a ton to visualize concepts like structural dissociation and addiction cycles. The theories that she uses to frame treatment approach are helpful for understanding parts ESPECIALLY if you have complex ptsd or a dissociative disorder (or both).
I really think that among the heaps of trauma content out there, this booklet is worth your while.
Ouzola Customer (verified owner) –
The author is easy to understand, and her compassion is easy to sense from the book. I recommend this to friends. It certainly is helping me.
Jeff Shipman (verified owner) –
So glad to have been able to read this book! It was so helpful in understanding how trauma shows itself in our lives and how to work through healing of it. Thank you!
Ouzola Customer (verified owner) –
This book completely changed my life and the way in which I see trauma. It is an incredibly helpful guide which provided so much education to me, more than any other book I have read on trauma! It clearly explains the impacts, the behaviors that can result, and why trauma is truly a “living legacy.” I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Dr. Janina Fisher is a trauma therapist genius!
Noneyo Bizness (verified owner) –
Janina Fisher is the ONLY author I have ever found who knows what she’s talking about re: trauma. All the things that are happening to you that you don’t understand – she helps to explain it. I never understood where my rage came from, until I read her books. I started binge watching her YouTube videos too! I wish I had been able to read her books when I was assaulted in 2013… I was so lost then. Not understanding how to pick up the pieces of me that were scattered everywhere….
Amy (verified owner) –
This is such a great book she has written for everyone. I so appreciate this! I love everything about this book and cannot say enough. Yay! The font is larger than in her earlier books! This makes using this book so much better also. I wish she could be around for another 4 more decades for everyone!
JEM (verified owner) –
This workbook is very good. However I am upset you can download the worksheets. It doesn’t make sense to not be able to. I have the digital version. If I could download the worksheets I would be able to use it more effectively. How do we request this? Dr fishers website does not have a way to contact her..
Bart (verified owner) –
Janina Fisher is such a wise and truly compassionate woman, armed with tons of knowledge and experience, turned into a very practical workbook that you can use on your own or with a therapist. Truly a tremendous help. Intelligent and knowledgeable content that’s also usable, easy to understand and very pratically helpful to make sense of all the chaos and suffering and, yes, really, transform it. Thank you so much Ms. Fisher for your life’s work and this book.
CarmenSoulQuest (verified owner) –
The information is directly applicable for clients who are keen on reading so, in this way, it does apply to survivors. There are some useful worksheets to copy from workbook but no pdf version available. IMO, this book summarizes main themes succinctly for therapists but requires titration before delivering to client populations. It is excellent information but the amount of info makes this 107-paged book WAY, WAY to overpriced at $30 Canadian, in July 2022. It was described as a 120-page book, which is comparatively steep but still not accurately listed.
Samantha A (verified owner) –
As someone with severe panic/anxiety disorder, severe PTSD, OCD, and ADHD, I’m no stranger to trauma, clearly.
This book was very scary and intimidating at first, because in reality, no one wants to open the “do not open” files of their brain, but if I learned anything, it’s that sometimes we have to be uncomfortable to learn better about ourselves.
I’m only a few chapters in because I listened when it said to take breaks in between chapters, but so far it’s very educational.
I would recommend this book to anyone that’s experienced trauma and is now in the “why am I like this?” Part of their journey.
Marissa (verified owner) –
Lots of worksheets and resources to overcoming trauma(s), PTSD, and triggers. This can be used by self or along with the support of a therapist.
Sunbunny064 (verified owner) –
As a Trauma Specialist, I can say with confidence that this book, combined with the Living Legacy of Trauma are two of my most effective tools to use with my patients.
Alma (verified owner) –
Professional use
Paul Giordano (verified owner) –
Extremely eye opening
tamron lloyd (verified owner) –
Best book ever to help with trauma. I go over it with my therapist
Shara (verified owner) –
I have struggled with self-harm on and off throughout my life. This book helped me validate my experience, made me feel like it wasn’t all in my head and gave me a sense of dignity. I now have the vocabulary needed to explain what is going on when I’m triggered and how to come back to the here and now. I highly recommend that you go through this book with a train trauma-informed specialist.
Michelle (verified owner) –
Worked it with my psychologist, it’s simple to understand. It helped me a lot to really understand the depths of trauma. Amazing book.
vjf (verified owner) –
Recommend by my therapist.
Ouzola Customer (verified owner) –
This workbook is such a blessing to survivors and therapists dealing with trauma. It’s an all time favorite. I am a huge fan of the author after buying this and her other books on parts work.The author explains the WHY behind your feelings and how to turn it around on a physiological and psychological level. Very helpful. So many answers to understand yourself and how to heal.
SRFRGRL (verified owner) –
This workbook is a key to surviving trauma and was recommended to me by my domestic violence counselor. The exercises have allowed me to go inward and transverse the landscape of terror that I once lived so that I can move forward with my life. Thank you Janina Fisher, with all of my heart, for providing another stepping stone towards healing this vast and all-encompassing wound inside of me.
Jennykching (verified owner) –
Every therapist and trauma survivor should have this book. Very affordable, succinct, clear and easy to digest. This is what clients need and therefore what therapists need also to be able to explain the effects of trauma and the ways to rebuild a better life. Janina Fisher is a living legend.
Amy Phoenix (verified owner) –
Janina Fisher offers straightforward, clear information to help trauma survivors understand the impacts on their systems, along with ways to change these impacts in present time and moving forward for actual healing. Working in groups with women who’ve experienced multiple violations and often turn to substances, this resource is key for supporting them in taking their power back so they can choose to understand and take care of themselves differently.
Giving it 4 stars (rather than 5) for 4 reasons, and offer these suggestions:
Could be formatted to include more engaging graphics. Reads a bit dry at times, but the material is still helpful.
Mentioning that children masturbate to soothe themselves can be confusing and triggering for some, not sure it needed to be included to get the message across that humans self soothe. Can open up a whole discussion that takes away from the client’s situation.
Using the terms hyperarousal and hypoarousal can also be triggering, and some much prefer the terms hyperactivated and hypoactivated.
Could place the worksheets right next to the area where they’re recommended, rather than at end of the section.
Overall, very grateful for this resource.
kitkat123 (verified owner) –
This book speaks too me. It was the missing piece of the puzzle.
taaj (verified owner) –
Lots of workbooks are wordy and don’t get to the point in a succinct way. This one does! It makes it easy to impart a lot of information quickly and in a way that is immediately understandable. Love it.
Ryan Larson (verified owner) –
Transforming the Living Legacy of Trauma is a valuable resource for anyone seeking to understand and heal from the lasting effects of traumatic experiences. Written by Dr. Janina Fisher, an international expert on trauma, the book offers step-by-step strategies and practical worksheets to help survivors work with the symptoms that often persist for years after the events are over. One of the key insights in the book is the recognition that re-telling the story of what happened can often reactivate trauma responses, rather than resolving them. Instead, Dr. Fisher provides tools to help survivors understand their reactions as normal responses to abnormal events, and offers ways to work with these symptoms in a way that allows them to move beyond trauma and live a fulfilling life. Overall, I highly recommend Transforming the Living Legacy of Trauma to anyone seeking to heal from the impact of traumatic experiences.
Krystie (verified owner) –
Working through this book with my therapist and has been life changing
phoneluvbug (verified owner) –
My therapist recommended this and we are using this together. It has been very helpful.
Rose (verified owner) –
Easy to understand.
Esther (verified owner) –
Good and practical workbook for therapists. It is written in simple English for easy understanding and explaining to clients.
crystal lopez (verified owner) –
I was under the impression that this was the work boom for the patient to use it is not!