Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic: How Trauma Works and How We Can Heal from It
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Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic: How Trauma Works and How We Can Heal from It Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Paul Conti (Author), Tim Fannon (Narrator), Recorded Books (Publisher)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 576 ratings
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Join Dr. Paul Conti for a journey toward understanding, active treatment, and societal prevention of trauma.

Imagine, if you will, a disease - one that has only subtle outward symptoms but can hijack your entire body without notice; one that transfers easily between parent and child; one that can last a lifetime if untreated. According to Dr. Paul Conti, this is exactly how society should conceptualize trauma: as an out-of-control epidemic with a potentially fatal prognosis.

In Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic, Dr. Conti examines the most recent research, clinical best practices, and dozens of real-life stories to present a deeper, richer, and more urgent view of trauma. Not only does Dr. Conti explain how trauma affects the body and mind, he also demonstrates that trauma is transmissible among close family and friends, as well as across generations and within vast demographic groups.

With all this in mind, Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic proposes a course of treatment for the seemingly untreatable. Here, Dr. Conti traces a step-by-step series of concrete changes that we can make both as individuals and as a society to alleviate trauma’s effects and prevent further traumatization in the future.

It’s only when we understand how a disease spreads and is sustained that we are able to create its ultimate cure. With Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic, Dr. Conti reveals that what we once considered a lifelong, unbeatable mental illness is both treatable and preventable.

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  1. Listening Length
    6 hours and 9 minutes
  2. Author
    Paul Conti
  3. Narrator
    Tim Fannon
  4. Audible release date
    October 5, 2021
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Recorded Books
  7. ASIN
    B0971QV725
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 6 hours and 9 minutes
Author Paul Conti
Narrator Tim Fannon
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date October 05, 2021
Publisher Recorded Books
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0971QV725
Best Sellers Rank #39,903 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#72 in PTSD
#98 in Medical Neuropsychology
#462 in Popular Psychology Pathologies

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
576 global ratings
Great book
5 Stars
Great book
Combined with EMDR and therapy, this book has been a great helpful tool to work on overcoming my own trauma. 100% recommended.
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Top reviews from the United States

Lisa F.
5.0 out of 5 stars Conti is doing the hard work of shedding the ills of mental health care.
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2022
Verified Purchase
Marked by a lack of accessibility and tremendous inequities, our system of mental healthcare is at a breaking point and unable to meet our exponentially growing need.

Its medicalized methods aren't sustainable either. They can be stigmatizing and traumatizing, a dehumanizing process for both patient and practitioner in which mental and emotional states are taken as signifiers of something “wrong” that needs to be “cured,” where diagnostic language objectifies the patient and asserts practitioner authority.

Treatment also routinely serves as a form of punishment, and several methods deserve critique as deliberate or unconscious strategies to press individuals to conform, for their lack of attention to developmental and relational or physiological needs. The therapist's office can also become the holding tank for patients with treatment-resistant physical suffering who have been slapped with a psychiatric diagnosis instead…

From a bird’s eye view, the system of care can look like a labyrinth of chutes by which individuals can effortlessly internalize the failures, disconnects, ills and evils happening around them, and by which they can further isolate and numb or fail to get traction in their lives. With pharmaceuticals facilitating throughput and the management of heavy caseloads, the hatch on the deeper realities and festering wounds gets heavier and heavier to lift.

Rather than railing against the system, Conti offers a model for stepping in as individuals to right the ship—to set a course for honoring the human condition, where both healthy boundaries and relational exchange can coexist.

He has divested himself of the hierarchical language and positionality of the medical field, and his own subjectivity is woven throughout the book. Writing as both human and healer, he shines a soft and gentle light into recesses of shame and traces suffering within an expanded context of culture, community, family history, economics, national politics, historical events, and inevitably occurring life experiences. Even as the failures of the mental health care complex come into exponentially greater dimension through his lens, he holds steady, delivering the wisdom of experience and a well spring of humanity. There’s no splitting or blaming, but an invitation, a call to provide care and a demonstration of the breadth of the need.

If you are in deep distress, this might not be the book to start with but it could serve as an essential corollary and supplement to your healing process. Going deep into the nature of one’s own suffering requires multiple layers of support, and what is needed for the nervous system doesn’t come solely in the cognitive and solitary space of reading a book. But for those situations when we are in a position to provide care, this is a critically important book to take to heart. It is likewise a great model if you are committed to sustainability, integration or systems change.
21 people found this helpful
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Michael A. Saatkamp DC
5.0 out of 5 stars A clear, wise, and compassionate voice .
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2023
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed the honesty Dr. Conti presents, and his concise explanations of trauma ( not an easy accomplishment). I have recommended
“Trauma: The invisible Epidemic” to all my patients. and I’ll be re-reading it many times.
2 people found this helpful
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JK62
4.0 out of 5 stars Great book on trauma
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2022
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This book was informative and I learned a lot from it. I could have gone without some of the authors political views being tossed in. Overall I found this book highly informative about trauma, how it occurs and how we can begin to heal from it.
12 people found this helpful
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Evan Mestman
5.0 out of 5 stars stories worth reading
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2024
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Dr. Paul Conti provides a wonderful explanation of how our human existence experiences trauma for a reason. He also provides a roadmap on how to navigate past the trauma and stop listening to the lies we create to keep us safe. Great read.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Trauma
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2024
Verified Purchase
This book helped me understand how the brain processes trauma,and how we can heal from that.
Also I was moved by some of the real life experiences told in the book.
2 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Great book, terrible print.
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2023
Verified Purchase
This an extremely insightful book. Conti is an interesting character. He is extremely knowledgeable of mainstream science but utilizes an extremely esoteric approach to explaining and treating trauma. What was surprising about this was how helpful and effective it was for me. There are many trauma doctor "gurus" that publish popular theories that are then discredited by peer-reviewed studies – which are much less popular than the books, and therefore simply spread misinformation. Conti doesn't do that, he clearly applies modern understanding of trauma with a solid scientific foundation while utilizing language that opens up a humanistic component that is helpful. I can't give it five stars because I do find Conti's prose convoluted, he's not great at summarizing or clarifying points, yet that is one of his charms. I do invite those curious to give it a shot, as his style does open something up for some people. It definitely did for me. Finally, what I do have to beg them is to publish this with a bigger type. The spacing between lines is very narrow and the type size very small, it is hard to read, because it is hard to see... and I'm in my 20s!
12 people found this helpful
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Chris Wilkinson
5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging, understandable, actionable
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2023
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I loved this book so much I sent one to literally every adult in my family - we’ve all experienced trauma including the very sad “Fight of the Red and Blue” that has cut the family into 2 factions…and played out on baseball caps and T-shirts at almost every event I attend. I think about my life and me as an actor in others’ lives very differently than I did before I read the first page. Definitely had a convo with that abrasive and judgmental voice in my head! Here’s to a truly UNITED States of America again…read the book and add some compassion and humility to the mix :)
8 people found this helpful
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Jan Becker
5.0 out of 5 stars Good and clear overview about the nature of mental trauma
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2023
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I like the way he explains trauma and it’s consequences.
It is one of the better books out there.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Jessica
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and very relevant
Reviewed in Canada on January 16, 2024
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This book was excellent. Dr Conti writes clearly about the effects of trauma and offers antidotes that the reader can easily follow and apply to their day to day life. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone going through a tough time. It’s a beacon of hope and empowerment.
One person found this helpful
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Stefany
4.0 out of 5 stars Ótimo
Reviewed in Brazil on June 23, 2023
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livro simpático e didático sobre um tema sensível. Muito exemplificativo e acolhedor. Gostei muito de ler e me despertou para vários aspectos dos traumas e dos impactos destes na sociedade.
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Neasa MacErlean
4.0 out of 5 stars A clinical expert on happiness who also talks about trauma and shame
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 24, 2024
Verified Purchase
Dr Paul Conti is such an impressive person, with fascinating insights into the components of our personalities and his ideas on the two main ingredients for in our capacity for happiness. (These are gratitude and the 'generative drive', which is about being curious about the world around us and wanting to generate a contribution to it). This book is more about the negative side of life, trauma. Some of the ideas are very interesting — the societal trauma we are creating as we trash our democracies and insult one another in public; and the physical causes we each suffer through trauma (including depleted immune systems, and the multiple consuquences of stress-related inflammation). But I think his real gifts like on the more positive side. See his interviews on YouTube with Andrew Huberman, for instance.
One person found this helpful
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Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Una maravilla
Reviewed in Spain on December 22, 2023
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Explicaciones muy simples y claras
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Vickie Lanthier
5.0 out of 5 stars A digestible, tangible and thought provoking book.
Reviewed in Canada on January 18, 2023
Verified Purchase
Trauma The Invisible Epidemic is an incredibly digestible, tangible and thought provoking book. My copy is now highlighted, underlined, and dog-eared. Highly recommend this book, regardless if you believe trauma effects your life or not. It's simply that good. What I enjoyed most was the patient stories (and Uncle Rango tugged at my veteran heartstrings), the section on 'clear communication', and the break down on what to look for in a therapist. It is chalk full of reflection questions (prompting a lot of re-thinking) and recommended antidotes (doable exercises).
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Vickie Lanthier
5.0 out of 5 stars A digestible, tangible and thought provoking book.
Reviewed in Canada on January 18, 2023
Trauma The Invisible Epidemic is an incredibly digestible, tangible and thought provoking book. My copy is now highlighted, underlined, and dog-eared. Highly recommend this book, regardless if you believe trauma effects your life or not. It's simply that good. What I enjoyed most was the patient stories (and Uncle Rango tugged at my veteran heartstrings), the section on 'clear communication', and the break down on what to look for in a therapist. It is chalk full of reflection questions (prompting a lot of re-thinking) and recommended antidotes (doable exercises).
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3 people found this helpful
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