04/08/2024
Psychologist Levine (Waking the Tiger ) discusses in this stark if disjointed memoir how surviving sexual assault shaped his practice. “The writing of these pages was originally meant to serve as a private excavation of hidden and disowned parts of myself,” Levine begins, but after a vivid dream in which he scattered a stack of papers to the wind, he decided to publish this account. When Levine was 12, he was sexually assaulted by a Bronx gang with ties to the mafia in an attempt to dissuade his father from testifying against a mob boss. In the aftermath, he began having strange dreams that included abstract images and, most strikingly, encounters with Albert Einstein. Much of the book focuses on how the assault pointed Levine toward the development of an alternative therapy practice called somatic experiencing, in which subjects are encouraged to shore up positive feelings in the body before excavating past trauma. Interspersed among lengthy sections detailing the workings of somatic experiencing are anecdotes about Levine’s mother, his encounters with scientists including pioneering autism therapist Mira Rothenberg, and musings on his “visits” from Einstein. While there are brave disclosures in these pages, the project is pitched too uneasily between self-promotion and self-examination. This doesn’t quite cohere. (Apr.)
This book is a peek behind the curtain of one of the greatest leaders of our time in the fields of spirituality and psychology. An Autobiography of Trauma is a powerfully transparent, knowledge-drenched, and generous invitation into the personal world of a man who birthed one of the most impactful models of trauma healing of all time. I felt giddy beholding his story of emergence, persistence, resilience, and leadership. This book moved me to apply Peter’s awareness and perception to my own ongoing and deepening personal practice of returning to wholeness. Peter’s work fosters healing, cohesion, and a ‘coming home’ to who we were each born to be.
A brave, self-revealing memoir of a man and his journey into wholeness. Levine intimately recounts the traumas and experiences that helped shape his legacy.
author of It Didn’t Start with You Mark Wolynn
This intimate and authentic memoir by Peter Levine, the developer of Somatic Experiencing, may serve as inspiration for all of us in our healing journeys.
New York Times bestselling author of The State of Esther Perel
An inspiring journey of trauma and triumph. A uniting of science and shamanism in transforming trauma and restoring wholeness.
Compelling and revelatory, Peter Levine takes us with him in a journey through his own traumas toward healing, love, and service. Each page is gripping, intimate, and profound. Exploring dreams, neurobiology, psychedelics, clinical practice, shamanism, sexuality, and more, he shows us how to be in the world with all of its sorrows, while still finding inner freedom and joy.
Peter Levine’s vulnerable sharing of his own attachment and bodily assaults to well-being in this painful yet illuminating set of reflections reveals the inner workings of his psyche—soul, spirit, and mind—and a glimpse of the impact of both the inner and outer mentors that have guided him during various life stages. The raw human realities offered to us here may be triggering for some, yet they may also serve as an example of intellectual inspiration and courage. In these pages we see a journey to challenge dogma, to be open to the limitations of empirical linear science, and to see the liberations of a systems view of emergence and the importance of the body in healing. It is this openness to being a conduit of life’s truths that can empower us all to embrace the fullness of life even in its most difficult moments.
We always want to know who the man or woman is behind the model, but too often their memoirs are promo pieces. In contrast, in this remarkable book, Peter Levine courageously reveals his own severe childhood trauma history, his consequent struggles to find intimacy, and how much connecting to the divine influenced his work and life. Somatic Experiencing is a powerful approach to healing trauma, and I’m so glad Peter is sharing the fascinating backstory to its development and to his healing journey. I was particularly touched by the chapters on sexuality and expect they will help people be more honest and open with themselves and others about this delicate and tender topic.
I was so deeply touched by Peter Levine’s story of facing severe violence and trauma as a child and how he transformed these wounds, restoring psyche, body, and soul. I am moved by his grace and authenticity in how he used his own deep wounding to help countless people around the world to heal from their wounds. After the first page, I could not put the book down as I accompanied him, as Chiron the wounded healer, on his healing journey. What I also found fascinating was his ‘conversations’ with Albert Einstein as an inner ‘spirit guide,’ a virtual mentor on his quest for knowledge, wisdom, wholeness, and connection.
New York Times bestselling author of The Choice Dr. Edith Eva Eger
A valedictory ode to humanity penned by one of the seminal trauma pioneers and master healers of the past half century, this book is the account of a remarkable soul journey from searing pain to joy, from self-hatred to selflove. Its every page is infused with poetic eloquence, dramatic story-telling, unsparing honesty, and touching vulnerability. Prepare to be enchanted and to be instructed and, above all, prepare to be moved.
Peter Levine is a wise and kind pioneer of somatic therapies who has been a beacon for clinicians all over the world for understanding and dealing with the physical imprints of traumatic stress.
A kaleidoscopic personal quest for sexual healing. An Autobiography of Trauma is beautifully written with smooth transitions between a myriad of shifting facets. At times this book is heartbreakingly painful and personal. It’s also highly scientific, informative, and intellectual, highlighting the influence of Eros in letting go and ecstatic expansion while maintaining conscious awareness. Brilliant, breathtaking, and masterful.
Peter Levine’s autobiography explores the depths of his untold trauma story. The vulnerability he shares will help readers understand why he took the path toward being an accomplished healer. I believe his new book will inspire others to share their stories and find a place of wholeness.
This book is a powerful vehicle for a heroic narrative. True to the title, An Autobiography of Trauma , Levine provides the reader with an unfiltered glimpse into his personal traumas and his journey of healing. As the preeminent trauma therapist, it may not be surprising that his life was greatly influenced by adversity. Clearly his passion to reduce the burden of pain and suffering in others, and especially the consequences of childhood adversity, finds root in his own history. However, as Peter tells his story, we are privileged to see how he heroically repurposed the insights he gained through his own experiences to go well beyond a journey of self-healing to develop treatment models that are literally changing the world through their powerful positive impact on humanity. In this book we get to meet the bold, intuitive visionary who courageously convinced the mental health community of the important role that the body plays in experiencing the impact of trauma, both in expression and in serving as a welcoming, but often reluctant, partner in a journey of healing.
Brilliant, moving and wise. Honest and vulnerable enough to redeem your broken heart and then visionary enough to learn deeply from his intensely curious mind.
author of A Path with Heart Jack Kornfield
2024-04-24 The developer of somatic experiencing examines the series of events in his life that led to his understanding of trauma and healing.
Levine, a psychotherapist, declares the purpose of his memoir as twofold: to help others overcome their traumas and to finally be able to fully let go of his own. Throughout the narrative, the author explains how all of the significant moments of his life have led to his position as the “prophet” of somatic experiencing, a practice Levine describes as an “evolving healing method… named for the experience of the sensing, living body.” The practice is not, he states, an “exclusively formulaic or a codified protocol, but rather an unfolding organic process that involves basic principles and building blocks.” As such, it is difficult to teach and to study. Still, the author’s students have trained over 60,000 people to treat patients using the method. Levine connects the many traumatic aspects of his life, including physical and emotional abuse he experienced from his parents, to his discovery of precepts from Navajo and Buddhist traditions that he adapted to his work. (The book helpfully begins with a trigger warning, as Levine discusses personal trauma including sexual assault.) The writing is strongest in the connections the author makes between the physical and spiritual realms; Levine recalls a trip to Germany during which he experienced a vision of “red flowing down” on a certain street, only to find out later that it was the site of student revolutionaries’ executions during the Nazi regime. While the memoir’s narrative sections are strong, occasionally the transitions between ideas are less so, as when the author jumps from the story about Germany to an account of confronting his own racial biases. While the various segments are compelling and insightful, the connections between them could have been made clearer.
A personal and revealing (if slightly scattered) memoir from a trailblazing therapist.