by Peter A. Levine, PhD
Waking the Tiger offers a new and hopeful vision of trauma. It views the human animal as a unique being, endowed with an instinctual capacity. It asks and answers an intriguing question: why are animals in the wild, though threatened routinely, rarely traumatized? By understanding the dynamics that make wild animals virtually immune to traumatic symptoms, the mystery of human trauma is revealed.
Waking the Tiger normalizes the symptoms of trauma and the steps needed to heal them. People are often traumatized by seemingly ordinary experiences. The reader is taken on a guided tour of the subtle, yet powerful impulses that govern our responses to overwhelming life events. To do this, it employs a series of exercises that help us focus on bodily sensations. Through heightened awareness of these sensations trauma can be healed.
‘Every life contains difficulties we are not prepared for. Read, learn, and be prepared for life and healing.’– Bernard S. Siegal, M.D.Author of Love, Medicine & Miracles and Peace, Love, and Healing
‘Levine effectively argues that the body is healer and that psychological scars of trauma are reversible — but only if we listen to the voices of our body.’
— Stephen W. Porges, Ph.D.
Professor of Human Development and Psychology University of Maryland‘A vital contribution to the exciting emerging science of mind/body interaction in the treatment of disease.”
— Robert C. Scaer, M.D., Neurology
Medical Director Rehabilitation Services
Boulder Community Hospital
Mapleton Center
Boulder, CO