For a book that was written a while ago, so much information in here is still relevant. The afterword had some good updates, and I think it could benefit from incorporating more inclusive research in a future revision. Also get Bessel van der Kolk out of here.

One of the definitive tomes relating to trauma. It is a difficult read in the first half, which deals with trauma as indicated by the title, with other challenging, though more encouraging, passages in the second half, recovery. Herman details the history of trauma diagnoses from hysteria to shell shock to what we now see as PTSD, and then goes on to describe the conditions under which one develops a trauma-related disorder as well as accompanying symptoms. She writes with a lot of care and sympathy, and rightful indignation as well, but there's also a predictably clinical tone, as she is a psychologist.

I'd have to say my main hangup with this book is how it lacks an intersectional lens and doesn't actually challenge the status quo as a result. She claims that the only way we will be able to grant legitimacy to trauma and accountability to perpetrators is with a social movement, yet oddly enough she makes sweeping generalizations about women, who are all certainly not in the same boat depending on their race and socioeconomic status, for example. She mentions the feminist movement which gave face to women in abusive relationships and who were raped/sexually assaulted, but we also have to remember how that same feminist movement has caused so much harm to trans women and contributed to their own trauma within that movement.

There's also the fact that certain groups of people are pretty much guaranteed to undergo trauma simply due to who they are and what they look like: LGBT people, Black people, other people of color... It is true that a social movement is needed to address trauma and how it affects these people's livelihoods and outcomes but she kind of falls short of that mark.

And then of course... we have to consider how many people are unable to access a lot of the treatment options detailed in the recovery section. How many decent trauma-focused therapists are there, and then how are they accessible in terms of location and price? With trauma as a social movement, it also needs to include accessibility, as well as sensitive care especially for Black and other people of color. The movement needs to address racism, homophobia, transphobia, capitalism, etc. if it is to truly succeed in taking a stand against trauma.

A very heavy book, but a very foundational one. This helped me understand certain people in my life better. I just wish that there had been greater understanding/reference to the racial and ethnic dimensions of trauma, especially related to war and to sexual violence. The only real mention of this that I saw was a passing mention in the Afterword. Still, this makes me interested to continue learning about this subject.