Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman M.D.

[Guest guest]

This book was mentioned and discussed at another internet support group for the

adult children of bpd parents, and it sounds really good. I'm going to go see

if they have it at my local library.

Judith Herman is Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard

Medical School and Training Director of the Victims of Violence Program at The

Cambridge Hospital.

She's the one who coined the term " Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder " , her

theory is that there should be a distinction between ongoing, repetitive trauma

as opposed to a one-time traumatic incident, because the damage caused by

ongoing, repetitive trauma is more severe and difficult to heal and needs even

more specialized treatment.

This excerpt from chapter one is my philosophy almost verbatim. It makes me so

happy to know that someone who is so educated and experienced in the trauma and

aftermath of child abuse, has written such a well-regarded book about it. Its

like, I've been her disciple without even knowing it!

" To study psychological trauma is to come face to face both with human

vulnerability in the natural world and with the capacity for evil in human

nature. To study psychological trauma means bearing witness to horrible events.

When the events are natural disasters or " acts of God, " those who bear witness

sympathize readily with the victim. But when the traumatic events are of human

design, those who bear witness are caught in the conflict between victim and

perpetrator. It is morally impossible to remain neutral in this conflict.

It is very tempting to take the side of the perpetrator. All the perpetrator

asks is that the bystander do nothing. He appeals to the universal desire to

see, hear, and speak no evil. The victim, on the contrary, asks the bystander to

share the burden of the pain. The victim demands action, engagement, and

remembering. . . .

In order to escape accountability for his crimes, the perpetrator does

everything in his power to promote forgetting. Secrecy and silence are the

perpetrator's first line of defense. If secrecy fails, the perpetrator attacks

the credibility of his victim. If he cannot silence her absolutely, he tries to

make sure that no one listens. To this end, he marshals an impressive array of

arguments, from the most blatant denial to the most sophisticated and elegant

rationalization. After every atrocity one can expect to hear the same

predictable apologies: it never happened; the victim lies; the victim

exaggerates; the victim brought it on herself; and in any case it is time to

forget the past and move on. The more powerful the perpetrator, the greater is

his prerogative to name and define reality, and the more completely his

arguments prevail.

The perpetrator's arguments prove irresistible when the bystander faces them

in isolation. Without a supportive social environment, the bystander usually

succumbs to the temptation to look the other way. This is true even when the

victim is an idealized and valued member of society. Soldiers in every war, even

those who have been regarded as heroes, complain bitterly that no one wants to

know the real truth about war. When the victim is already devalued (a woman, a

child), she may find that the most traumatic events in her life take place

outside the realm of socially validated reality. Her experience becomes

unspeakable. . . .

To hold traumatic reality in consciousness requires a social context that

affirms and protects the victim and that joins the victim and witness in a

common alliance. For the individual victim, this social context is created by

relationships with friends, lovers, and family. For the larger society, the

social context is created by political movements that give voice to the

disempowered. . . . "

-Annie