The Unexpected Gift of Trauma

A groundbreaking approach to healing from trauma and experiencing posttraumatic growth from a leading psychologist, featuring a powerful, five-stage framework to help readers not just recover, but thrive and transform. Trauma has always been part of the human experience, and traumatic events—both physical and emotional—can shake our very foundation and leave us forever changed. While we know more about the lasting neurological and physical effects of trauma than we did a decade ago, few people realize that experiencing trauma doesn’t have to sentence you to a lifetime of suffering and grief. In this first book of its kind, renowned clinical psychologist Dr. Edith Shiro shares a powerful, five-stage framework for posttraumatic growth, a transformational process that helps you not just recover, but achieve growth and expand consciousness in the face of trauma. Inspired by her grandparents, who were refugees and Holocaust survivors, Dr. Shiro has dedicated her life to the study of trauma and its aftereffects. Developed over more than three decades of research and practice, Dr. Shiro’s stages—Awareness, Awakening, Becoming, Being, and Transforming—outline how trauma can be a catalyst for positive, transformative change. Grounded in science and psychology, and filled with practical tools and takeaways, The Unexpected Gift of Trauma brings the power of posttraumatic growth to the forefront and reveals a groundbreaking new way to think about and heal from trauma.