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What My Bones Know
What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma | Stephanie Foo
17 posts | 18 read | 26 to read
A searing memoir of reckoning and healing by acclaimed journalist Stephanie Foo, investigating the little-understood science behind complex PTSD and how it has shaped her life Every cell in my body is filled with the code of generations of trauma, of death, of birth, of migration, of history that I cannot understand. . . . I want to have words for what my bones know. By age thirty, Stephanie Foo was successful on paper: She had her dream job as an award-winning radio producer at This American Life and a loving boyfriend. But behind her office door, she was having panic attacks and sobbing at her desk every morning. After years of questioning what was wrong with herself, she was diagnosed with complex PTSDa condition that occurs when trauma happens continuously, over the course of years. Both of Foos parents abandoned her when she was a teenager, after years of physical and verbal abuse and neglect. She thought shed moved on, but her new diagnosis illuminated the way her past continued to threaten her health, relationships, and career. She found limited resources to help her, so Foo set out to heal herself, and to map her experiences onto the scarce literature about C-PTSD. In this deeply personal and thoroughly researched account, Foo interviews scientists and psychologists and tries a variety of innovative therapies. She returns to her hometown of San Jose, California, to investigate the effects of immigrant trauma on the community, and she uncovers family secrets in the country of her birth, Malaysia, to learn how trauma can be inherited through generations. Ultimately, she discovers that you dont move on from traumabut you can learn to move with it. Powerful, enlightening, and hopeful, What My Bones Know is a brave narrative that reckons with the hold of the past over the present, the mind over the bodyand examines one womans ability to reclaim agency from her trauma.
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HeatherBookNerd
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Foo grew up abused and neglected, eventually abandoned by her parents as a teen. She recounts her struggles in her 20s, culminating with a diagnosis of Complex PTSD. She tells how she explored her diagnosis and delved into both personal and generational trauma in her family. Foo is candid about her feelings as she learns to better manage her emotional, psychological, and physical needs while living with C-PTSD. Helpful, and in the end, hopeful.

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TheBookHippie
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So far I am underlining it all. I too have cPTSD from decades of abuse and it is interesting to read another story and journey- although I have skimmed a bit of it- I do so appreciate the mantra of living with it as opposed to you get over it, you can heal, yes, but your body - it never forgets. Darkness can descend on occasion or for a season, but it will get light again, I promise. Hang on.

AnnCrystal ❤️‍🩹🫂💝. 6mo
dabbe #hugsandhearts 🤗💙🤗💙🤗 6mo
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slategreyskies I have cPTSD as well. I think I‘ll pick up a copy of this one. Love to you, friend. 🤍 6mo
TheBookHippie @slategreyskies I find it always interesting to read another‘s experience. Some tough bits in it I skimmed but overall it was good for me to read. Love to you as well. ♥️ 6mo
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Kitta
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Excellent memoir about child abuse and resultant cPTSD. Very informative, it has references to other books and articles throughout, but reads like a story of her healing journey.

The first part was hard to read. The abuse she suffered may not have been the worst ever, but it was still horrific. I went through emotional abuse not physical, and have the same diagnosis so it was an interesting read! Would highly recommend.

#cPTSD #MentalIllness

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Kitta
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Very powerful book. I think I‘ve been doing this my whole life and I‘m just beginning to be able to feel emotions again. #cptsd #mentalillness

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DaniJ
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Sad tale with lots of psycho jargon and a layman‘s look at trauma and the brain.

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Kitta
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Discount on a book I really want to read? Thanks kindle!

I have complex PTSD, essentially, I have not one trauma but many and it‘s taken a lot of therapy to unravel everything and make life bearable. It‘s mainly diagnosed in abused children.

I have been making my way through books about it (there‘s surprisingly few). I was excited when this came out last year and wanted to pick it up immediately but held back because of mount TBR. $3 is a steal!

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Chelsea.Poole
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Things were cozy, finishing up this (mostly audiobook-listened) read today. Stephanie had a horrible childhood and as a result deals with complex post traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), a rare diagnosis that she was forced to find what few resources she could about the disorder and come to terms with what it means for her life. Foo is a producer for NPR, and sounds so authentic in this memoir. I‘m a sucker for “therapy” books and the audio ⬇️

Chelsea.Poole of the book (read by the author 🙌) actually includes audio recordings of her therapy sessions. I learned so much but also enjoyed her personal tone and moments of brevity through the hard-hitting sections featuring child abuse. 1y
Cinfhen I really can‘t read too many books with child abuse…. It just wrecks me. I was curious about this memoir but I might put it aside for now. Thanks for the insightful review. 1y
TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 1y
Kitta Just finished this and as a cPTSD sufferer I am so glad to see memoirs like this coming out. It‘s hard to find books like this about the condition. Most are very dense and meant for a scientific or therapeutic audience. 9mo
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Librarybelle
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June was an amazing reading month, with a few titles that were so good I cannot choose! Hence, bonus selections for #12BooksOf2022 !

The tagged was a 5-star reading. Foo writes about the complex trauma she lived with growing up - it‘s brutal and hard to read. This is her journey coming to terms with her complications from the trauma.

Unsinkable is a title I‘ve been recommending to readers - I loved the audio! It‘s full of laughter and sorrow…⬇️

Librarybelle …and features an indie rockstar, which was a fun character to follow. Little did I know that familial loss would become a reality for my family this fall, so the introspection of grief and coping with loss were very timely for me. 1y
Librarybelle And, Anne Bronte‘s novel was perfection! I loved, loved, loved it and was so glad to read it with #PemberLittens . Anne is often overlooked, overshadowed by Charlotte and Emily, but she writes such a captivating book (albeit in the wonderful way 19th century writers compose their works). I‘m anxious to read Agnes Grey at some point to compare her works! 1y
Andrew65 Brilliant choices. 1y
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MysticFaerie
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5🌟/5🌟

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underground_bks
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This must-read on trauma recovery is part memoir of NPR radio producer Stephanie Foo‘s “apocalyptic childhood” (as Mary Karr once described hers), part journey to understanding her diagnosis of Complex PTSD through conventional & unconventional therapies. Foo is not only a deeply compelling writer/narrator, she‘s a wry & irreverent yet earnest & vulnerable guide through the pain of enduring, reckoning with, and healing from childhood trauma.

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Sydneypaige
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I love this audio book! Especially at the end with the excerpts of live therapy sessions. This book is pain and truth and healing and a journey. I have all the respect for lived experience authors who have to challenge therapists and medical professionals and stigma and power imbalances and so much “knowledge” based on bs in the fields. This book is honest and powerful and it‘s truth - it‘s messy & real & insightful. Into my dissertation it goes!

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Forgetmenot
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I can‘t recommend this book highly enough for those who have experienced trauma and for those working with trauma. Difficult content but written in such a way as to give a deeper understanding of trauma and the impact it had going forward. It gives hope to healing and living with complex ptsd

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Librarybelle
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In this raw and emotionally driven memoir, Foo examines the abuse she received as a child and the mental illness she lives with because of it. It‘s her slow discovery to who she is authentically and how to cope with her illness. This is exquisite and at times hard to read - she lays everything out. But, as she comes to terms and makes these slow discoveries, there is so much inspiration and hope.

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lilpumpkin2.0
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April 29, 2022 Man! Listers!!! Happy Friday and last day of April. I am like 1/3 of the way into this book and it is such an emotional one. When I read this, I can really FEEL through Stephanies' words how much trauma and pain she dealt woth and is still dealing with in the present day. I recommend this book for anyone honestly. This book is not only for people who are going through the same diagnosis of complex PTSD aka C-PTSD

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lilpumpkin2.0
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April 17, 2022 Happy Easter! Today I will be starting a new book. Updates to come 😛

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Kitta
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Very excited to read this book and there was a slate article out today by the author!

https://slate.com/technology/2022/04/stephanie-foo-book-what-my-bones-know-excer...

The book is a memoir about her journey healing from complex PTSD (a condition I also have). Books dealing with it are few and far between because it‘s considered relatively newly described.

Christine Thanks for sharing this article and about your personal connection to the book. On my TBR also! 2y
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nelehelen
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New books I‘m excited about. Been hearing amazing things about WHAT MY BONES KNOW.

Thank you to the pubs for these #gifted copies!