The Trauma Of Everyday Life By Mark Epstein M.D.

Genre

Psychology, Self-help

Format

Hardback

Title

The Trauma Of Everyday Life

A look at trauma’s role in life’s journey, opens the door to growth & healing Trauma is the bedrock of our psychology. Death & illness touch us all, & even everyday sufferings of loneliness & fear are traumatic. Western psychology teaches that if we understand the cause of trauma, we might move past it while many drawn to Eastern practices see meditation as a means of rising above, or distancing themselves from difficult emotions. Both fail to recognize trauma is a part of life & can be used as a lever for growth & deeper understanding of change. When we regard trauma with this perspective, understanding that suffering is universal & without logic, our pain connects us to the world on a more fundamental level. The way out of pain is through it. Epstein’s discovery begins in his analysis of the life of Buddha. The Buddha’s spiritual journey can be read as an expression of primitive agony grounded in childhood trauma. Yet the Buddha’s story is only one of many. Epstein looks to his own experience, that of his patients, & of the many fellow sojourners & teachers he encounters as a psychiatrist & Buddhist. They are alike only in that they share in trauma, large & small, as all of us do. Trauma, if it doesn’t destroy us, wakes us up to both our minds’ own capacity & to the suffering of others. It makes us more human, caring, & wise. It can be our greatest teacher, our freedom itself, & it is available to all of us. *Highlighting throughout chapters 1 & 2. No rips or other damage*