Will I love In an Unspoken Voice?

Starting out with a dramatic account of his own trauma and recovery from a car accident, Levine quickly drew me into the fascinating realm of somatic experiencing, an exciting new paradigm for healing. Even though I have never gone through such a physical trauma myself, I could see many parallels to my own experience in Levine’s description of how past trauma gets blocked and stored in the body when our natural pattern of releasing stored-up defense energy can’t complete.

The very idea has helped me to solve some of the riddles of my own most puzzling behavior and find a… show more.

This was the first book I read that put into words my own experiences.

Though Levine does not discuss religious trauma, his explanation of complex and developmental trauma allowed me to easily draw parallels to what I experienced. Additionally, he is comprehensive in his education but makes it easy for the reader to understand.

This also, for me, led to a significant decrease in shame by simply being able to know what was happening in my body and recognize that there was not something wrong with me but rather, that my body and nervous system was doing exactly what it… show more.

Peter Levine’s earlier works examined animal studies on nervous systems under stress. His latest book In an Unspoken Voice serves as the bridge between the scientific research and the practical realm of medical clinicians and alternative healers who work with PTSD and other trauma-induced illnesses. It looks in detail at the freeze response (think: fight/flight/freeze) and the biological rewiring that happens in the human body as the result of trauma and chronic stress. If you like dense, intellectual discussion of biomechanical details, you’ll enjoy the read. If not, skim to the parts about his program of exercises and simple movements… show more.