Philippa Smethurst has been a psychotherapist for 30 years and has a special interest in trauma.  She has worked in General Practice and has been a clinical supervisor for a number of charities. She trained at the Metanoia Institute in Integrative Psychotherapy and has also trained in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. She has also published several articles, particularly on working with asylum seekers and refugees, and a number of book chapters on the subject of trauma.

Trauma is a wound – one that we often hide from ourselves and others.

The subject has been a long-held fascination of mine. I began writing this book on trauma during the pandemic lockdown when many people were questioning their lives and making changes. Many others were overwhelmed. To me at that time, unpacking trauma seemed like an appropriate response to a challenge that faced our world.

How do we respond when life feels unbearable? How might we understand own own and others’ sometimes complex responses when life is too much?   I will consider trauma’s impact. For example, how trauma fragments – submerging within us powerful parts of us that can eclipse cognitive processing, dominate our ways of being and erode our quality of life. I will also consider the impact of these unprocessed and sometime unrecognised trauma parts on others, within families, organisations and societies.