Unbroken – by Dr. MaryCatherine McDonald

We’ve reviewed books about trauma before, so what makes this one different? Mostly, it’s the different framing.

Dr. McDonald advocates for a neurobiological understanding of trauma, which really levels the playing field when it comes to different types of trauma that are often treated very differently, when the end result in the brain is more or less the same.

Does this mean she proposes a “one-size fits all” approach? Kind of!

Insofar as she offers a one-size fits all approach that is then personalized by the user, but most of her advices will go for most kinds of trauma in any case. This is particularly useful for any of us who’ve ever hit a wall with therapists when they expect a person to only be carrying one major trauma.

Instead, with Dr. McDonald’s approach, we can take her methods and use them for each one.

After an introduction and overview, each chapter contains a different set of relevant psychological science explored through a case study, and then at the end of the chapter, tools to use and try out.

The style is very light and readable, notwithstanding the weighty subject matter.

Bottom line: if you’ve been trying to deal with (or avoid dealing with) some kind(s) of trauma, this book will doubtlessly contain at least a few new tools for you. It did for this reviewer, who reads a lot!

Click here to check out Unbroken, because it’s never too late to heal!