The End of Trauma:

How the New Science of Resilience is Changing How We Think About PTSD

In this long awaited new book, internationally renown psychologist George Bonanno blends gripping first-person accounts and decades of research to provide an accessible, and much-needed, new look at the psychology of trauma and resilience.

“This gorgeously written book will make you appreciate your own mind’s flexibility and how to capitalize on it to become a more resilient person.” Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness

“George Bonanno has done groundbreaking research on the psychology of resilience. I can’t think of a better time for his insights.”—Adam Grant, author, Think Again and Option B

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Brief summary

When the worst things imaginable happen to us--violent or life-threatening events or other kinds of serious adversity--we usually expect that we will be traumatized and probably develop PTSD. But what is the actual likelihood of that happening? Are some people resilience to trauma? If so, how do they do it?

In The End of Trauma, renown trauma researcher George Bonanno answers these questions and more. For starters, PTSD is not nearly as prevalent as most people assume. In fact, most people are overwhelmingly resilient to adversity.

What we often interpret as PTSD symptoms are for most people actually signs of a natural process of learning how to deal with a specific situation. We can cope far more effectively if we understand how this process works. Drawing on three decades of research and compelling stories of real-life trauma, Professor Bonanno explains what makes us resilient, why we sometimes aren’t, and how we can better handle traumatic stress.

The book introduces a new model of the coping process called the flexibility sequence, a series of steps we take in order to understand how to best meet the challenges of specific situations. Flexibility is not an innate ability or personality trait but a natural feature of the human mind. By learning how it works, we can better understand the roots of trauma, and ultimately learn how to make ourselves more resilient in the future.

Hopeful and humane, The End of Trauma overturns everything we thought we knew about how people respond to hardship.

Praise for The End of Trauma

"An important course-correction to what is now received wisdom about trauma and how to treat it.”―Wall Street Journal

"A fresh perspective… Bonanno adeptly succeeds in capturing the profound lived experience of trauma and in balancing these accounts with cutting edge findings from psychology and neuroscience."―Science

"Everything you know about trauma -- about how human beings deal with the worst things that can possibly happen to them – is probably wrong. One book can fix that, and this is the one. The world's expert on human resilience has written a powerful, important, and fascinating book that explains how ordinary people take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them."—Daniel Gilbert, Harvard University, author, Stumbling on Happiness

“George Bonanno has hit a home run. With a blend of page-turning stories, illuminating examples, and cutting-edge science, reading this gorgeously written book will make you appreciate your own mind’s flexibility and how to capitalize on it to become a more resilient person.”—Sonja Lyubomirsky, author The How of Happiness

“George Bonanno has done groundbreaking research on the psychology of resilience. I can’t think of a better time for his insights.”—Adam Grant, author, Think Again and Option B

“Bonanno is a master storyteller. The End of Trauma turns common sense on its head with impeccable science and a narrative like a suspense novel.”—Lisa Feldman Barrett, author, How Emotions Are Made and Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain

"A remarkable book. With the narrative drive of a gifted novelist, Bonanno tells the dramatic, inspiring stories of survivors of accidents, war, and terrorism who triumphed over trauma."―Richard J. McNally, Harvard University

"George Bonanno is a leading thinker about trauma and resilience. And in his new book, The End of Trauma, he argues that much of what you think you know about trauma is wrong."―Joseph LeDoux, author, The Deep History of Ourselves

“George Bonanno is a rare scientist-researcher who knows how to systematically and deeply explore whatever he’s attempting to understand, while also being able to translate it into clear, easy to follow guidance. The End of Trauma was four decades in the making, and it was worth the wait.”—Patricia Watson, National Center for PTSD

"The End of Trauma by George Bonanno is one of the most interesting, well-written, and clinically relevant books that I have read in recent years. A truly great book for everyone."―Robert L.Leahy, Director, American Institute for Cognitive Therapy

"Bonanno proposes a new way to look at trauma in this hopeful examination . . [and] . . masterfully conveys his extensive research. Bold and accessible, this offers much to consider" --Publishers Weekly.

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