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This publication is without doubt the most far-reaching in depth analysis of research concerning the impact of early experience on individual development and the assessment and treatment of patients who have experienced trauma in the early years of life. The editors have taken a global perspective when selecting their 80 contributors, all respected researchers, theorists and clinicians working in the field of trauma. If I look with a sharply analytic and clinical focus some chapters resonate more powerfully for me than others; if I approach the book seeking an overview of the context in which much of our work is set then this book is without parallel.
This substantial volume will have significant influence in the study and treatment of trauma in the coming decades. It is divided into three sections
Early life trauma: impact on health and disease
Biological approaches to early life trauma
Clinical perspectives: assessment and treatment of trauma spectrum disorders
Each section has two subsections, each containing within it several papers; most of these are co- or group- authored and each is clearly the outcome of fruitful discussion amongst colleagues engaged in research or clinical work. Each subsection is followed by a synopsis, written by a senior scholar who reflects on the chapters in each section. These synopses alone offer food for thought for the analytic clinician who seeks, with Jung, to allow the best of contemporary science to inform their thought and practice.
Felitti, in his foreword, emphasizes that ‘time does not heal the wounds that occur in those earliest years; time conceals them. They are not lost; they are embodied’ (p. xiii), highlighting the appropriateness of the subtitle of the book: ‘The Hidden Epidemic’. He values such research from the field of neuroscience as yielding ‘remarkable insight into how we become what we are as individuals’. He warns that while there are dangers of misunderstanding and misapplying these insights, the greatest danger l