Trauma Bonded - by Sarah Westbrook (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

You never forget your first kiss, your first love...or your first trauma bond.

Emotionally battered and neglected by her personality disordered parents - and manipulated by Mormon beliefs - 16-year-old Sarah was convinced her boyfriend Michael would save her. When her parents discovered that they'd committed the sin of premarital sex, the aftermath left the teenagers irrevocably bonded.

Your trauma bond might feel like true love - or an obligation to repair or heal a relationship - but that toxic connection is a shackle, trapping you in the pain of your past. Break free and reclaim the happy, authentic life you deserve.

With humor, grace, and untamed honesty, therapist Sarah Westbrook shares a 25-year journey of navigating relationships impacted by abuse and trauma. Part confessional memoir, part self-help guide for survivors, Trauma Bonded pairs her extraordinary story of recovery with mental health insights for overcoming toxic relationships, healing from childhood trauma, and finding peace after complex post-traumatic stress disorder (c-PTSD).

You'll discover:

• A unique perspective of c-PTSD through adolescence, marriage, affairs, and motherhood.
• The role of chronic traumatic experiences in attachment styles and the neuroscience in the development of trauma bonds.
• Why trauma bonds drive self-destructive behavior-despite the cost to you and everyone else caught in the crossfire-and ways to break the cycle.
• How religious trauma from the Mormon church or other sects may skew your worldview and belief system.
• Tips for building healthy relationships based on respect, trust, and unconditional love (not shared trauma)!

It's time to leave your pain in the past - where it belongs. Break the manacles of your trauma bonds and finally find freedom with Trauma Bonded.

Review Quotes

"Westbrook's style of writing is engaging and sensitive. Therapists, counselors, and other mental health professionals will appreciate the knowledge gained here. Survivors will find Trauma Bonded to be poignant and thought provoking. It will give them hope and inspiration for recovery and healing."

-5 Star Reader Views review

"The power of Westbrook's vulnerability is breathtaking. It is a rare thing to go so deeply inside someone's personal experience of abuse and trauma. It is at once harrowing and profoundly cathartic."

-Aaron Toronto, Producer and Director of The Brilliant Darkness!

"Trauma Bonded is a book that can instill courage in you. It will teach you how to recognize and reconcile your own failures as well as those who have failed you. Sarah's story helps you know that you deserve the love that you are shown, even at your worst and that you can persevere and thrive, no matter what challenges life throws at you."

-Alex Vidales, Podcast producer and host of StageCraft on WERA-LP