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“A comprehensive, useful, and fascinating tour of the impact of trauma on the sensory systems of the brain and what we can do to support the journey to healing these deep developmental wounds. Our tour guides offer not only clear, in-depth, and cutting-edge scientific views into the eight senses that shape our experience of being alive, but also practical clinical steps any therapist can harness to catalyze deep and lasting change toward well-being.”

—from the Foreword by Daniel. J. Siegel, MD, Executive Director, Mindsight Institute


“This is an amazing book, one that has the potential to challenge and reconfigure central aspects of how we currently provide trauma therapy. Lanius and colleagues integrate their important findings on the dynamic neurobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder and their extensive fMRI research to develop an approach that focuses on critical sensory pathways as a way to facilitate reparative neuroplasticity. And, lest we become too distracted by the science of it all, each chapter includes a ‘Bridging to Practice’ section that allows the clinician to directly apply these insights to the real world of trauma psychotherapy. This is an ambitious, brilliant book that begs to be read, reread, and reflected upon. Very impressive.”

—John Briere, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Emeritus), Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California


“Reading this book is like downloading the mind of one of the greatest neuropsychiatrists of our age to learn about smarter, more effective trauma healing. This rich, revelatory, resonant book offers a profound new paradigm. It is packed with emerging, neuroscience-proven insights. The book explores how trauma slips into our psyches through our bodies and describes safe, accessible ways to harness those same pathways for recovery. The mental health field—and our world as a whole—has never needed Lanius's mind and heart more than we do right now.”

—Donna Jackson Nakazawa, author of Girls on the Brink and The Adverse Childhood Experiences Guided Journal


“With compassion and clarity, this powerful book reveals the ways trauma echoes through every sensory system in the brain and body—touch, sight, sound, smell, and beyond. Raw, moving accounts from survivors illuminate what trauma can truly feel like from the inside. Alongside these personal stories, the authors provide clinical insights into groundbreaking healing methods that are harnessing modern neuroscience to help survivors reclaim their lives. This book offers a new and hopeful understanding of how layers of trauma combine to shape the nervous system—and how they can be gently and effectively unwound.”

—Sebern F. Fisher, MS, BCN, author of Neurofeedback in the Treatment of Developmental Trauma

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Table of Contents

Foreword, Daniel J. Siegel

1. Introduction to the Senses and the Sections of the Brain

2. A Sensational Journey: How Sensory Information Travels through the Brain

3. Feeling Safe or under Threat: The Diverging Roads of Sensory Experience

4. The Defense Cascade: How Sensory Experience Informs the Line of Defense

5. Understanding the Vestibular System: Balance, Center of Gravity, and Seeking Safety after Trauma

6. Interoception and Visceral Sensations after Trauma: The War Within

7. Feeling the World Through the Senses: The Shattered Universe after Trauma

8. The Hijacked Self: Overcoming the Compulsion to Repeat the Trauma

9. Becoming Whole: Synchronizing the Mind, Brain, and Body

References

Index

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About the Authors

Ruth A. Lanius, MD, PhD, is Professor of Psychiatry and Harris–Woodman Chair at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada, where she is also director of the clinical research program for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She has worked with trauma-related disorders as a clinician and researcher since 2000, and established the Traumatic Stress Service at London Health Sciences Center. Dr. Lanius is particularly interested in the firsthand experience of traumatized individuals throughout treatment and how it relates to brain functioning. She has received numerous research and teaching awards, including the Banting Award for Military Health Research, and has published several books and over 200 research articles and book chapters focusing on brain adaptations to psychological trauma and novel adjunct treatments for PTSD. Dr. Lanius regularly lectures on the topic of psychological trauma, both nationally and internationally.

Sherain Harricharan, PhD, completed her doctoral degree in neuroscience at Western University, in Ontario, Canada, and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in clinical psychology at McMaster University. Dr. Harricharan’s research focuses on posttraumatic stress disorder, employing various neuroimaging approaches to study altered neural circuitry patterns among traumatized individuals. Her interests include how sensory processing pathways in the brain are altered as a function of trauma and dissociation, with an emphasis on the influence sensory input can have in shaping higher-order cognitive functioning in trauma, including emotion regulation, social cognition, and attentional processing. Dr. Harricharan has published peer-reviewed articles and presented her work at numerous international conferences.

Breanne E. Kearney, MS, MRes, is an occupational therapist and a doctoral candidate in neuroscience at Western University in Ontario, Canada. Ms. Kearney has over 10 years of experience working in a variety of settings with children and adolescents with sensory processing challenges, using a play- and relationship-based approach. She has received advanced training in sensorimotor-based interventions at the STAR Center in Denver, Colorado. Ms. Kearney’s doctoral work in Ruth Lanius's lab involves using neuroimaging to investigate the neurobiology of sensory processing and the efficacy of mind–body treatments in posttraumatic stress disorder. She is particularly interested in studying the relationship between sensory processing, attachment, and trauma-related symptoms.

Benjamin Pandev-Girard, MOT, is an occupational therapist in Montréal, Québec, Canada, with a focus on consulting to organizations and supporting individuals impacted by complex trauma and dissociation. He is passionate about bridging sensory processing research with practical interventions that meet diverse needs. Since 2021, Mr. Pandev-Girard has collaborated with Ruth Lanius and her trauma research team. He also works as a mentor, clinical supervisor, and consultant for schools, youth protection units, and early childhood centers; offers professional workshops on trauma, sensory processing, and mental health; and is a lecturer at Université de Sherbrooke. Mr. Pandev-Girard is a recipient of the Excellence in Clinical Supervision and Teaching award from the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists.

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Audience

Trauma specialists (psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, counselors, and psychiatric nurses); trauma researchers; expressive arts therapists; occupational therapists.

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Course Use

May serve as a supplemental text in graduate-level courses.