Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving: A GUIDE AND MAP FOR RECOVERING FROM CHILDHOOD TRAUMA

This book is a revelation and I’m so glad to have seen it recommended by another author. I honestly think its life changing; full of revelations, insight and practical steps to help you find your way back to your true self. Thank you Pete.

I cannot tell you how important this book is to me. I'd heard it recommended and stuck it onto my Kindle not expecting much after it came up as a 'recommended for you' pick. So it popped up as a 'new' read on a day when I was feeling absolutely dreadful emotionally and almost instantly it started to describe the feelings I've had for years that never quite fitted a diagnosis of depression or anxiety solely. I felt such a sense of relief having my life so accurately represented for once! I found the writing style a bit jarring to begin with as to me it needed a good editor and fewer invented sounding words, but the more I read I started to like the slightly unpolished genuine style written by someone who has really been there and knows how you are feeling. It felt kind and reassuring which is exactly what I needed from a book like this that really challenged and pushed me emotionally. I know the book has helped me hugely because it's given me words to describe my feelings after being speechless for 35 years. I now have little guidepoints to look out for around flashbacks and while I haven't stopped having them yet, they've been less frequent, less severe and more manageable because I understand them. I know I will read this book again to build on that and to take in what I missed first time round since there's a lot of info in there. If you've ever felt utterly bleak but like it doesn't fit the symptoms of depression properly, I urge you to read this book. And if you read your reviews Pete Walker, thank you so much for giving me a way to express myself and stop blaming myself. I cannot tell you what that means to me.

I have been struggling my whole life with life itself. At 36 and 5 years into therapy, I was still so far from functional and had so many physical problems too. Ever since my teens I have been unable to keep up with the rest of the world, suffering from lethargy and even narcolepsy. I have had an extreme pain in my neck that I have spent thousands on osteopaths for with no success and which would trigger up to 20 migraines a month. I have been depressed ever since I can remember, horrifically messy, and overweight from eating nothing but carbs. I have been in a string of bad relationships with narcissistic or highly damaged people. I had to quit university because I would fall asleep in EVERY class. And that is just some of my problems. Over the years I have worked so hard on myself, succeeding in stopping biting my nails (which I used to bite until they bled. My fingers looked like stumps) but would still fall back into it regularly. And that was pretty much the only tangible thing I had really achieved in the self improvement catalogue. Just a few weeks ago I was crying to my therapist that I only feel like I am running at 20% of my potential. This winter when my cat died, I hit a new low and slipped back into deep depression, smoking weed from morning til dusk, watching Netflix from morning til midnight, and eating nothing but takeaways. My flat was slowly turning into a garbage dump of empty containers. About a month ago, one of my twitter followers bought me this book from my wishlist (god even knows how it ended up on there. I have no recollection of adding it). I left it on my coffee table untouched. When I hit an all time low about 2 weeks ago, said follower messaged me to tell me to pick it up and read it. I was sitting on my kitchen floor, sobbing loudly, feeling like I hadn't advanced at all since my 20's. I started reading it and turned to the 13 steps for dealing with an emotional flashback, even though I had no idea what that is. But I was emotional so I figured it could help maybe. It instantly calmed me down. I then curled up on my sofa and proceeded to read the entire book over 2 days. After reading it, I felt like a weight had been lifted. It was like all the puzzle pieces I had been given in therapy over the years but didn't know what to do with or how to use now we're fitting neatly together. The next day, I was like a new person. It was unbelievable. The weight was gone. The tiredness was gone. The craving for carbs was gone. I suddenly found myself having a morning and an evening routine including brushing my teeth (something I have always struggled with), meditation, diary writing, physical self care... I have had the best 2 weeks of my life. I finally truly love myself and enjoy cleaning up after myself and cooking myself incredibly healthy meals!!! I am productive and living full days to the maximum every day! I have totally stopped watching TV and am on my 4th book in 2 weeks! I am gardening, weeding, making art!!!! Life is finally beautiful. And the best part? I am now daily in contact with my child part whom I tell how much I love all the time and even read a bedtime story to. My poor child part who was locked in the knot in my neck and suffering so much as I was trying to evict her. The pain in my neck and the knot are totally gone and instead I have a sweet little companion who is helping me rediscover the joy in life. Pete Walker, you have changed my life. I have since recommended this book to dozens of friends who I know had awful childhoods too and many have picked it up. Each one who does messages me to tell me how much they recognise themselves in the book and I can't wait for all of them to finish it too and find themselves finally living life to the fullest. I messaged the woman who bought me the book to tell her it was the single greatest gift anyone had ever given me. Give yourself the gift of a life lived to the fullest. Give yourself the gift of finally healing those wounds that hurt so much and make every day a struggle. You deserve it. And you deserve to love yourself and be loved.

This book is like a cool drink of delicious water after being in an emotional dessert for many years. It is outstanding. It is life changing. Pete Walker’s book has not only assisted me in understanding myself - something I have always tried but failed to do so many, many times - it has also helped me to understand and deal with the people in my life that have frequently left me bewildered in both their words and actions over the years. I had six-years of ‘therapy’ that almost left me worse than when I started, I also tried; hypnosis, acupuncture, cranial osteopathy, meditation, herbal remedies, homeopathy, faith healing and prayer, but despite my very best efforts, nothing really lasted in any meaningful way. I have also read probably hundreds of ‘Self Help’ books that ‘tried so hard’ to help me - but they never quite got to me in any lasting and meaningful way. Pete Walker has the ability to share his own intimate back-story in a meaningful and very moving way – but he also cleverly manages to guide the reader through his or her own very personal journey towards real, positive growth. My own analogy is that it is as if I have been fighting an endless lonely battle with some form of complex PTSD - without any real or proper support and then after reading this book, the Special Forces (or SAS in the UK) arrive with the approproate weapons and start sorting things out for me. If you have any form of complex PTSD or even think you may have, then please get this book, it will change the way you feel about yourself, and that is a promise from a fellow sufferer. Dennis Caxton

It's a heavy read occasionally but proved very helpful and illuminated some challenges in a way I'd never considered before. Expensive but a sound investment.

Amazing book. After starting my journey reading many self help books on self-love, relationships, followed by personality disorders and learning of the trauma dysfunctional families can impart on their children which can lead to many issues (depression, anxieties, OCD, addictions, bad choices in partners/friends etc) in adult life; this book was really the final piece in the puzzle for me. It is actually a relief in a way to know that an over anxious moment or depressive state is in fact a 'flashback' - and that you can take quite simple actions to overcome these moods, which over time will help lessen the effects of trauma e.g Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It amazing to me that conventional medicine doesn't look at sufferers of depression, anxiety etc etc more in this way - it is so clear to me now that expressing long standing anger and or sadness are the keys to moving through and beyond the trauma's of childhood therefore releasing you as an adult to live a life of calm, inner security and a joy for life. I would say anyone who suffers from any form of mental stress (which also often has a physical effect on the body) do read this book. It so simple but so powerful, it's mostly about not making you 'the sufferer' wrong. Once you understand how these mental patterns started you can start the work of letting yourself off the hook, killing the inner and outer critic, expressing your emotions knowing it will help hugely and essentially peel back the layers of sh*t that were applied to you (without your consent or ability to do anything about it) by your parent(s) or 'guardians'. One last note, be aware that because you may have been raised to think of your parent(s)/caregivers as always right and you're wrong, you inner critic (their voice) may even already have you on the defence feeling that you can't possibly feel angry at them or that it was their fault. That's probably one of the first hurdles here for some. If you're even questioning it/them, 99% chance it was them!

Like many other people who have left reviews on here, I had awful parenting, mental, physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Mental health problems since my early teens, many physical ailments etc and have spent ridiculous amounts of money over many years (I couldn't afford) in my desperation to find the cure or solution to my depression, anxiety, panic attacks and many ailments. I am 71 years old. I bought this book about 10 months ago when I self diagnosed myself after having a nervous breakdown, and then researched online for help and answers. It soon dawned on me especially with respect to the nervous system and dysregulation, that I had CPTSD. Though it was a game changer for me I then researched the help and resources out there. I did find a lady online called Irene Lyon who has some good information and helped me understand what role my nervous system played and how we hold trauma in our somatic bodies, and what to do to release it. Though it has helped, I felt cognitively I needed help, and have found it difficult to find a therapist with the knowledge around trauma or CPTSD. And, as I thought doing the somatic bodywork was the answer I neglected the cognitive help I needed because I thought it was all about the somatic bodywork and releasing the trauma. After having had a number of weeks feeling completely out of it, acknowledging the role of emotional Flashbacks, (overwhelmed by the enormity of it all) I turned to Pete Walkers book and by some miracle, fell on the exact part of the book I needed to read at that time, page 24 COGNITIVE HEALING. It was everything I was needing to know and going through, especially the importance of cognitive healing, and development arrest, and how the first level of recovery involves repairing the damage that CPTSD wreaks on our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves. Plus importantly, disidentifying from the self-hating critic. It's been like having my own counsellor as and when needed to give me the right guidance and answers and support.. God Bless you Pete Walker

Very insightful - the 4 F’s are and interesting read

Very low quality publishing. Returned.

Llego en buena forma al lugar de entrega, fue un regalo de navidad hacia un familiar y quedó encantado, lo recomiendo👏

This is the best book on childhood trauma I have ever read. For the first time in my life, I understand what is going on with me and why. This has brought me an immense sense of relief and self compassion. I now have the courage to see my past with clarity, understanding and wisdom. I don't feel broken or strange any more. I especially appreciated the author's authenticity and level of disclosure, as well as his kind and gentle approach. The book is full of practical tools to guide anyone interested to go beyond their current limitations and achieve a new level of freedom and growth. I highly recommend it!

Stop scrolling and listen up. Do not even purchase another CPTSD book until you have read this one. Trust me, I have spent THOUSANDS, yes, thousands, of dollars on trauma healing resources related to CPTSD and its hellish symptoms but this one is *BY FAR* the best. It's the kind of book where you highlight almost every single sentence on every single page. Here's why: 1.) Emergency Preparedness. Unfortunately, the way in which I learned about my CPTSD diagnosis was through a massive emotional flashback. In 2021 I decided to leave a marriage full of the same religious, psychological, emotional, and physical abuse that I was raised in. During this process, old trauma was triggered in a way I had never experienced before. For months I had been living in constant hyperarousal. I felt like a panicky and frantic child. The slightest sounds and movements would throw me into full blown panic attacks. I was insecure, anxious, impulsive, and afraid. I couldn't sleep or eat. I am only 5' and normally weigh 115 lbs and lost 20 lbs in 2 months. I was irritable, couldn't concentrate on my job, and felt constantly on guard. None of this was good considering I own my own six figure business and am a mom to three little kids. I kept digging and researching and everything I found was kind of similar but didn't really describe whatever it was I was experiencing. I had even bought another famous book on CPTSD looking for answers and it held none. But, 6 months later, I found this book. Pete Walker begins the book by saying something along the lines of, "if you are experiencing such-and-such symptoms, skip to page _____," so I did. My mind was blown, tears were falling down my face because I finally had a name to what it was I had been experiencing for 6 entire months now! It was an emotional flashback. Emotional flashback's are interesting because they do not have the visual element that is present in PTSD flashbacks and they can last for a long time. Mine ended up lasting 6 months and the only reason it stopped was because of this book. Sadly, until I read Pete's book, I had no idea what was happening. I just kept telling my friends who were helping me, "this isn't me. This isn't me. Something is wrong." I knew I wasn't myself, I just didn't know why. Now I'm here 8 months later trying to play catch up on all the areas of my life that suffered while I was in my emotional flashback. I wish I had found this book sooner. There is so much power in being able to name what you are experiencing and this book helped me do that. 2.) Path to healing. When you first find out you have CPTSD its overwhelming to know where to begin your healing journey. The first book about CPTSD that I bought was a workbook, it was okay, but it was NOTHING compared to this book. Had I found this book sooner, I wouldn't have even bought the other one. Other famous CPTSD authors lay out the the different options for CPTSD healing (CBT, DBT, EMDR, Somatic, Internal Family Systems, Inner Child work, etc.), but Pete takes it a step further and tells you exactly where to start. Which is a massive relief because the last thing you want to do when your CPTSD has been activated is spend hours attempting to research opinions from people who don't even know what it is you're going through. The best part is, if you're distrustful or curious like me, Pete even explains why he puts certain steps before others. . 3.) Lists. No one has time to read an entire chapter when their (or someone they love's) nervous system has been thrown into hypo- or hyper-arousal and they need to figure out what triggered them and why. Which is why Pete's easy to remember and easy to find checklists are literal lifesavers. 4.) Pete Walker knows his stuff because he is a survivor himself. As a child I was told that I was a punishment from God on my mother. This statement was only the beginning of a deep seeded core belief I had that I was innately, permanently broken. Pete's book and the memories and experiences he describes didn't feel triggering to me but healing. It felt like for the first time in my life I could acknowledge that I was normal. I wasn't broken. Nothing was wrong with me. This book is validating and enlightening. A true salve for the traumatized soul. There are a million other reasons as to why this book is the best of the best, but, I digress. Just trust me and the other 6,000 people leaving reviews here and BUY THIS BOOK NOW!

I never thought and understand whats wrong with me, even successful in many fields of life. Something was always missing, always go back to my lousy bad habits. Always go back to my abusive friends and family members but always defeated. Now i know, on my way to fight back this time with knowledge of self.