IRB Media Summary of Peter A. Levine's Trauma and Memory

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Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 The role of traumatic memory in both pathology and healing is extremely complex. While this book is geared towards therapists who work with their clients' traumatic memories, it is also written for individuals who want to understand how their memories affect them and how they can come to an enduring peace with them.#2 While contemporary psychotherapies can help alleviate certain dysfunctions related to trauma, they are unable to reach its primal core. They do not sufficiently address the essential body and brain mechanisms that are impacted by trauma.#3 Therapists are often influenced by common misconceptions about the nature of memory. Traditionally, psychologists have studied what is called verbally accessible memory - the kind of memory that is accessible and rewarding in elementary, middle, and high school settings.#4 Memory is not something concrete, definitive, and reproducible like a video recording that can be retrieved at will. It is instead more ephemeral, ever-shifting in shape and meaning.