In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness Paperback – September 28, 2010

I first studied with Peter Levine in 1983 long before his Somatic Experiencing theory had been developed, and then again in 1988 as he was first developing it. After a twenty year stretch in which my life took a diversion I have come back and studied his work again, and have became certified as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. During this time Dr. Levine's work has become exquisitely refined and the theory has become teachable. In the early days we would watch him work and could not follow the subtleties but would always be amazed as almost miraculous healings would unfold before our eyes. In his first book, "Waking the Tiger" he was able to articulate his theory of healing trauma in a way that was readable and informative. In this book he has made the work fully approachable. With examples from his own life he shows us how we can go through life-threatening experiences and not only avoid being traumatized but actually come out of such experiences a healthier human being. This is by far his best book to date and I practically demand that all of my clients read it so they can understand many of the symptoms they are experiencing. For, it turns out that trauma is the great imposter. It can look like just about any medical or psychological disorder in the diagnostic books. Many people are not even aware that they are suffering from the hidden effects of trauma until they read this book and understand the mechanisms by which long forgotten traumas have crept back into their lives and even taken them over. In my marriage counseling business I see a lot of couples who are not actually incompatible but whose nervous systems have become stuck in fight or flight as a result of trauma and who therefore end up in an escalating cycle of fighting and resentment. As we work the trauma issues these relationships begin to fall into place and support the partners instead of activating and agitating them. This is the book that puts the jigsaw pieces together and makes the whole mystery begin to make sense.

Excellent writing which brings clarity on conceptualising trauma, and the approach to help with resolving it. I read the older Waking the Tiger book which has similar content.

"In an Unspoken Voice" is very good, and I would recommend it to both those who struggle to overcome past trauma and to therapists. I say this from the voice of experience. A few years back, I was diagnosed with PTSD--much to my surprise. I knew I had suffered trauma (there was never any doubt about that), but I never saw myself as suffering with an ongoing problem other than the sadness of memories that I mostly didn't like to think about. A whole lot of puzzle pieces that I didn't even see as pieces of a puzzle started to fall into place--"Oh, that's why I..."One thing that I didn't quite understand or even fully realize I had was a preoccupation with water imagery in my creative work, particularly hair under water and how beautiful it is. I did understand my body as having some sort of memory. If triggered, I tremble vigorously, noticably, especially if I'm in water and in perceived danger of not having my head above water, as well as my feet firmly planted on something solid. I have also had days, dating back to childhood, when I cry and cry for inexplicable reasons. It is as if my body remembers something that I do not fully comprehend.Recently I learned that this is a phenomena among trauma victims called somatic memory. I looked it up and came across "In An Unspoken Voice", by Peter Levine. I bought it and read it, and I can say that the book has helped me to understand what makes me tick. For example, I've always had a gift for seeing beauty everywhere. Now I realize that this was probably a childhood coping mechanism. I learned from Peter Levine in "In An Unspoken Voice" that you cannot focus on fear at the same time that you focus on some other sensation. Living in a climate of fear as a child, I realize now that that's why I see so much beauty everywhere. I must have focused on the beautiful to protect myself from the terror. My mother's hair under water, for example, as she rescued me (she described the event to me many years later), when my father tossed my toddler body overboard, into the depths of a lake, because he was annoyed by me.I also now realize that my occasional sense of being outside myself, of watching myself, is disassociation. Crazy not to have realized this before, but true. I now see how this coping mechanism, disassociation, may have led to me becoming passive at times when people hurt me or want to hurt me, because I become the watcher, not the victim. Knowing this can only empower me. Likewise, I've also realized that my inclination to love everyone and to accept people into my life in spite of red flags probably comes from having survived by muting myself and my reactions to the violence I saw and experienced as I grew up. Because only by staying calm and squelching all judgments of the perpetrator, my loved ones, would I be safe. In short, my understanding of myself grew.I sincerely hope that "In An Unspoken Voice" can do this for you. Read it all the way through or in bits and pieces as I did, but read it thoughtfully. It may help you to understand what makes trauma survivors--you or your patients--tick. To know thyself is to empower thyself.