Trauma Soul Care • POSTS & BOOKS
Safe. Secure. Loved.
You are safe in the compassionate arms of God, secure in His unfailing love.
The fear, shame, and pain of our pasts can keep us feeling unwanted and unlovable. However, God sees, hears, knows, and loves us. We are always safe in God’s abundant love, no matter what.
Where God’s love is, there is no fear, because God’s perfect love drives out fear. (1 John 4:18)
“Hope is willing to leave unanswered questions unanswered and unknown futures unknown. Hope makes you see God’s guiding hand not only in the gentle and pleasant moments but also in the shadows of disappointment and darkness.” (Henri Nouwen)
BLOG POSTS
Sweet Breath
Have you ever, like me, found yourself turning away in shame or despair, believing that your lack defines your whole? What if our barrenness is in fact God’s good purpose? What if we deemed it not a punishment to flee from or an embarrassment to hide from, but rather a place to slow and savor more of His Presence...
Traumatic Loss • A Story of Survival
Facing traumatic loss is about keeping our sanity and taking care of those who depend on us, all the while deciding how we are going to face this new unwelcome reality. I learned at so many points that I had to look straight at the loss or I could not find comfort.
Books WE LOVE
Boundaries for Your Soul: How to Turn Your Overwhelming Thoughts and Feelings into Your Greatest Allies
You can turn your shame into joy, your anger into advocacy, and your inner critic into your biggest champion. Do your emotions control you, or do you control your emotions? Many people let guilt, anger, or self-criticism dominate their lives and negatively affect their relationships. Learn how to calm the chaos within.
Choosing Forgiveness: Moving from Hurt to Hope
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth
Perhaps you were deeply hurt by someone you trusted. And since then, your life has been put on hold, or maybe you feel indifferent and numb. Or it may be just the “stuff” of everyday life and relationships that has left you with a knot in your stomach and a dull ache in your heart. Discover biblical principles that can help you break free from bitterness and pain.
From Trauma to Transformation: A Path to Healing and Growth
Debra Laaser
We have all heard of post-traumatic stress, but few of us think about the possibility of post-traumatic growth – the positive ways in which we can be transformed by our trauma. Yet this is precisely what can happen when we face our hurts, struggle through the rubble of our broken relationships, and unearth the ways God wants to use our trials to refine and mature us.
Forgiving What You Can't Forget: Discover How to Move On, Make Peace with Painful Memories, and Create a Life That’s Beautiful Again
Lysa TerKeurst
Have you ever felt stuck in a cycle of unresolved pain, playing offenses over and over in your mind? You know you can’t go on like this, but you don’t know what to do next. Lysa has wrestled through this journey. But in surprising ways, she’s discovered how to let go of bound-up resentment and overcome the resistance to forgiving people who aren’t willing to make things right.
The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering
Vaneetha Rendall Risner
Twenty-one surgeries by age thirteen. Years in the hospital. Verbal and physical bullying from schoolmates. Multiple miscarriages as a young wife. The death of a child. A debilitating progressive disease. Riveting pain. Abandonment. Unwanted divorce. Vaneetha begged God for the grace to deliver her, but God offered something better: His sustaining grace.
Glorious Weakness: Discovering God in All We Lack
Alia Joy
Weakness does not disqualify us from inclusion in the kingdom of God. Instead, it is our very invitation to enter. Anyone who has struggled with feeling inadequate, disillu-sioned, or just too broken can find hope. This message is an antidote to despair, helping readers reclaim how God is good, even when life is anything but.
Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores
Diane Langberg
Do trauma and abuse have the last word? When someone suffers through trauma, can healing happen? If yes, how does it happen? There is no quick fix, but there is hope for healing through the love of God in Jesus Christ.
Valuable: Why Your Worth Is Not Defined by How Useful You Feel
Liz Carter
Do you feel weak and useless? Do you struggle to serve, feeling you’re not good enough for God or others?
We all want to be useful to God, but often we feel that we’re not. Sometimes, we feel useless, but Christianity isn’t about being useful. The Bible barely talks about God using people at all. Discover that our purpose isn’t about being useful but simply being known and loved by God.
The Whole Life: 52 Weeks of Biblical Self-Care
Eliza Huie and Esther Smith
Counselors Eliza Huie and Esther Smith know firsthand how important it is to attend to our whole life – the spiritual, emotional, and physical facets God created in each of us. This book gives Christians a biblical framework, encouragement, and practical ways to pace themselves for a lifetime of service and love.
You Are Worth the Work: Moving Forward from Trauma to Faith
Juni Felix
The heartache that you woke up with this morning – that pain in your soul that makes even the task of receiving hope for today exhausting – that heartache is not who you are. The abuses, losses, and betrayals you’ve experienced do not have to continue to cast a dark shadow over your life. Your journey is not over, and you are never alone. Your situation is not your destiny, and sorrow isn’t your permanent address.
Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World
Henri J.M. Nouwen
Initially written for a Jewish friend, Life of the Beloved has become Henri Nouwen’s greatest legacy to Christians worldwide. This sincere testimony of the power and invitation of Christ is indeed a great guide to a truly uplifting spiritual life in today’s world.
Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions
Lysa TerKeurst
Do you ever feel like your emotions are working against you? We may sometimes find ourselves stuffing down our emotions, exploding with emotions, or reacting in unhealthy ways – but it is possible to make our emotions work for us. The good news is that God gave us emotions to experience life, not destroy it. Learn to use our emotions for good.
You Gotta Keep Dancin': In the Midst of Life's Hurts, You Can Choose Joy!
Tim Hansel
Life can be tough. Stress, disappointment, heartache, and hurt are all part of the human condition. While pain is unavoidable, misery is optional! No matter what your circumstances, you can choose to be joyful. In Hansel’s powerful account of God’s working in one man’s physical and emotional suffering, he and we discover the real meaning of joy.
Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life
Richard Rohr
Most of us may think of the second half of life as about getting old, dealing with health issues, and letting go of life. In Falling Upward, Fr. Richard Rohr seeks to help readers understand the tasks of the two halves of life, showing that those who have fallen, failed, or “gone down” are the only ones who understand “up.”
Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely
Lysa TerKeurst
Do you ever feel left out, lonely, or “less than?”
Learn the secret of belonging, which will help you keep rejections in perspective and be better equipped to foster healthy connections. Uninvited reminds us we are destined for a love that can never be diminished, tarnished, shaken, or taken – a love that does not reject or uninvite.
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
Recommended Resource Books
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
Bessel van der Kolk
Discover scientific advances to show how trauma reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. The Body Keeps the Score explores innovative treatments (from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga) that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity.
Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents: Practical Tools to Establish Boundaries & Reclaim Your Emotional Autonomy
Lindsay C. Gibson
Growing up with emotionally immature (EI) parents can leave you feeling lonely and neglected. You may have trouble setting limits and expressing your feelings. How can you recover from their toxic behavior? In this book, the author gives doable exercises, tips, and suggestions for what to say and do to increase emotional autonomy and self-awareness.
Overcoming Guilt and Shame
Even the most emotionally healthy people today experience degrees of anguish brought on by shame and guilt. The heavy burden of shame and guilt can often keep us from connecting with others and enjoying the freedom of living in Christ.