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III. Trauma: Impact And Resolution

Since the early days of psychoanalysis, at least some psychotherapists have believed in the possibility of psychic trauma in the prenatal and perinatal stages of development. These traumas, although invisible, were memorialized in the fears and habits of their clients. Both theory and treatment of birth trauma has varied through the 20th century and practitioners have always been a small minority. That minority has grown steadily in the last twenty years, as these writings testify. Mothers and fathers can also be traumatized by events during the reproductive process including setbacks, complications, and unwanted outcomes.


Stanislav Grof (1985). Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Sondra Ray and Bob Mandel (1987). Birth and Relationships: How Your Birth Affects Your Relationships. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts. Temporarily out of print. Inquire at www.bobmandel.com.

Ken Magid and Carole A McKelvey (1990). High Risk: Children Without Conscience. New York: Bantam Books.

Arthur Janov (1991). The New Primal Scream: Primal Therapy 20 Years On. Wilmington, DE: Enterprise Publishing.

Alessandra Piontelli (1992). From Fetus to Child: An Observation and Psychoanalytic Study. London: Routledge.

Stanislav Grof (1993), The Holotropic Mind. New York: Harper-Collins.

Elizabeth Noble (1993). Primal Connections. New York: Simon & Schuster. Available from the author via email to: en@elizabethnoble.com or P. O. Box 11247, St. Thomas, VI 00801.

Nancy Verrier (1993). The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child. Baltimore: Gateway Press

David B. Cheek (1993). Hypnosis: The Application of Ideomotor Techniques. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

David B. Cheek and Ernest Rossi (1994). Mind-Body Therapy. New York: Norton.

Lynda Share (1994). If Someone Speaks, It Gets Lighter: Dreams and the Reconstruction of Infant Trauma. Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.

Paul Madaule (1994), When Listening Comes Alive: A Guide to Effective Learning and Communication.Norval, Noval (Ontario), Canada: Moulin Publishing.

Michael Gabriel (1995). Remembering Your Life Before Birth. Lower Lake, CA: Aslin.

Ronald Goldman (1997). Circumcision: The Hidden Trauma. Boston: Vanguard.

Aletha Solter (1997). Tears and Tantrums: What to Do When Babies and Children Cry. Goleta, CA: Shining Star Press.

Hannah Lothrop (1997). Help, Comfort and Hope After Losing Your Baby in Pregnancy or the First Year. Tucson, AZ: Fisher Books.

Stephen Maret (1997). The Prenatal Person: Frank Lake's Maternal-Fetal Distress Syndrome. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

Ludwig Janus (1997). The Enduring Effects of Prenatal Experience: Echoes from the Womb. Heidelberg, Germany: Mattes (journals@mattes.de).

Robin Karr-Morse and Meredith S. Wiley (1998). Ghosts From the Nursery: Tracing the Roots of Violence. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press.

Joann O'Leary, Lynnda Parker, and Clare Thornwick (1998). After Loss: Parenting in the Next Pregnancy. Minneapolis, MN: Allina Health System. Available from WomenCare Maternity Services, Abbott Northwestern Hospital - 14201, 800 E 28th St, Minneapolis, MN 55407-3799.

Julie Motz (1998). Hands of Life: An Energy Healer Reveals the Secrets of Using Your Body's Own Medicine for Healing, Recovery and Transformation. New York: Bantam Books.

Benig Mauger (1998). Songs From the Womb: Healing the Wounded Mother. Cork, Ireland: Dufour Editions, ISBN1898256543. Contact the author at benmau@iol.ie. In 2000 this book was republished in the US with the title Reclaiming the Spirituality of Birth: Healing Mothers and Babies.  Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press.

Sheila Linn, William Emerson, Dennis Linn and Matthew Linn (1999). Remembering Our Home: Healing Hurts and Receiving Gifts from Conception to Birth. Mahweh, NJ: Paulist Press.

Tiffany Field (2000). Touch Therapy. New York: Livingstone/Harcourt

Gerald Bongard (2000). The Near-Birth Experience: A Journey to the Center of Self. New York: Marlowe & Co.

Robert C. Scaer (2001). The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Medical Press.

Thomas Ritter & George Denniston (2002), Doctors Re-Examine Circumcision. Seattle: Millennium Publishing Co.

Benig Mauger (2004), Reclaiming Father. Dublin: Soul Connections.

Penny Simkin & Phyllis Klaus (2004), When Survivors Give Birth: Understanding and Healing the Effects of Early Sexual Abuse on Childbearing Women. Classic Day Publishing

Michael Kern (2005). Wisdom in the Body: The Craniosacral Approach to Essential Health.  Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

Myriam Szejer (2005). Babies are Talking: Healing with Words on a Maternity Ward. Boston: Beacon Press.

Jeffrey Von Glahn (2006). Jessica: The Autobiography of an Infant. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse.




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