Best Books About Trauma / PTSD [Top 10] [Update 2024]

What are the best books on PTSD and trauma processing so that you can learn how to cope with a traumatic experience from a help guide? Let’s take a look at the top 10.

Discover the best books on trauma / PTSD

We’ve listed the best trauma / PTSD books for anyone interested in learning more about these topics. Whether you have personal experiences with it or are just curious, these books will help you take it a step further. We start our recommendations with the top 10 best books about Trauma / PTSD of all time. This list has been updated this year, including all the recent titles.

Best Books About Trauma / PTSD	Author
Mind-Body Workbook for PTSD: A 10-Week Program for Healing After Trauma	Carolyn Bryant Block and Stanley H. Block
Trauma, Ptsd, Grief & Loss	J Eric Gentry,
Loving Someone with PTSD	Aphrodite Matsakis
Trauma and Recovery The Aftermath of Violence	Judith Lewis Herman
Healing from Trauma	Jasmin Lee Cori
PTSD	Guillaume Singelin
HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Mental Toughness	Robert J Thomas
The Combat Trauma Healing Manual	Christopher Adsit
Self-Guided EMDR Therapy and Workbook	Katherine Andler
Free Yourself	Elena Miro

What kind of books are in this list of recommendations?

The books in this list discuss, among other things, the danger, the triggers and the consequences of untreated PTSD. This gives you more insight into what a (company) doctor does with someone who has PTSD. Various therapy methods are also discussed in these books, including EMDR for example.

Above all, these books focus on recovering from (complex) PTSD. These books are therefore useful additions to a process that naturally starts with your doctor.

The recently updated top 10 list: the best books about trauma

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Dr. Bessel van der Kolk has been working with people with trauma for over 30 years. What he has learned, he now shares with the big public. Trauma has a lasting effect on the body and the brain, but he also suggests possible treatments to heal the body.

Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology)

The exercises and other assignments in this book will be beneficial for patients with trauma-related disorders. This training manual could improve the lives of my people who have dealt with trauma and its possible consequences.

What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing

Asking yourself ‘why’ all the time means you are stuck in the moment and not moving forward. Blaming yourself and wondering what is wrong with you doesn’t help. Being asked ‘What happened to you?’ opens the door to conversation, instead of just blaming.

When the Past Won’t Let You Go: Find the Healing That Helps You Move On

If your emotions or pain are keeping you in the past, then it is hard to find a way to let these sensations go. According to Christian counselor H. Norman Wright your faith in God can help you take that first step (and then some more) in the right direction.

Trauma-Related Dissociation Two-Book Set (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology) 

Besides the number 2 on this top 10 list, this set also includes ‘Treating Trauma-Related Dissociation’ by author Suzette Boon, Kathy Steele and Onno van der Hart.

Addiction, Attachment, Trauma, and Recovery: The Power of Connection

We like this book, because its approach is not the traditional one. This book focuses the whole system that humans are part of, not just our brain or our genes. This reorientation might be just what the counseling world needs.

Psychotherapy with Infants and Young Children: Repairing the Effects of Stress and Trauma on Early Attachment

When the bond between a child and its parents is broken or damaged, those same parents can be involved in healing the trauma that the child has experienced. This book stresses that interventions in the form of play or guidance are a substantial part of recovery.

Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving: A Guide and Map for Recovering from Childhood Trauma

If you have experienced childhood trauma, then we think you might benefit from reading this book. It pictures the road you can take to do well later on in life and to leave the past behind.

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma 

Society is influenced by the negative impact of trauma every day. So many people suffer from some kind of trauma, that it is hard to balance life after that. This book explains the effect of trauma and what can be done to heal from it.

The PTSD Workbook: Simple, Effective Techniques for Overcoming Traumatic Stress Symptoms

This book is one of our favorites, because the emphasis is on learning techniques to get over how trauma manifests with you. When experts come together to write a workbook, good things happen, and ‘The PTSD Workbook’ is one that will sure come in handy.