PRAISE

Reading this book is like looking into a mirror. We will see ourselves much more clearly, will understand ourselves much better and will come up with better ways of being It and of doing It. Compassion, yes Compassion is Happiness itself. Enjoy.

THICH NHAT HANH
Zen Master and peace activist
Plum Village Monastery, France

This book is a gift, a wise and compassionate guide for those who undertake the difficult work of caring for the traumas of this world.

JACK KORNFIELD
founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock Center, Buddhist monk, psychologist, author of A Path With Heart
San Francisco, California, USA

Anyone who works with traumatized people can be caught in the grip of anxiety, irritability, or overwhelming sadness. By shutting out those feelings, you may sink into emotional numbness. You wish for wise words and a fresh perspective. You long for an understanding heart. You can find all that and more in Laura van Dernoot Lipsky’s terrific book. What could be more useful to a beleaguered trauma worker than this kit bag of straight talk, wisdom, practical ideas and delightful doses of humor? Trauma Stewardship can be read straight through or picked up as needed for 15 minutes a day. Either way, it will get you through the hard times. It will help you feel better and work smarter. No trauma worker should be without it.

GINNY NICARTHY
counselor, educator, and author of Getting Free: You Can
End Abuse and Take Back Your Life.
Seattle, Washington, USA

Laura makes a superb case for "trauma stewardship" as an approach that will benefit all of us in the service community who must deal with the struggles of our work with a hurting world. Her real-life stories hit home and clearly illustrate the ways that the traumatic situations we experience at work can carry
over into our personal view of our world. Laura helps us understand our own responses to trauma and provides a path of renewal. Her book offers tools to bring us back to a place of balance where we can be more effective in our work, more present with our families, and most importantly, more at peace in our own soul.

MICHAEL L. TUGGY, M.D.
director of the Swedish Family Medicine Residency program, medical director of the Swedish/First Hill Clinic, and recipient of the Bronze Star from the US Army.
Seattle, Washington, USA

This impressive book helps one to recognize the effects of trauma exposure everywhere: in ourselves, our organizations, and our society. Readers will be guided (gently) along an individual path of exploration, growth, hope, and recovery. I will be recommending it to everyone I work with.

CYNTHIA GARRETT, M.D.
Vancouver Native Health Clinic and New Westminster Mental Health
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Laura is a weaver. She takes the harsh yet resilient fibers that are the stories of trauma survivors and workers, including her own, threads them together with common-sense advice, and creates a warm and soft blanket that comforts and protects. It is an important book because it reminds you to care for yourself as you care for others, and then offers practical tools for doing so. I wish I'd had this book when I first began my work with women and children experiencing domestic violence!

GRETCHEN TEST
program associate for Child Welfare, Annie E. Casey Foundation
Baltimore, Maryland, USA

It is extremely easy, especially as caregivers, to overlook our selves and our care. Laura takes us, the trauma stewards, on a journey of self-healing: her book’s humor will make you laugh; its tools will help make us whole. She reminds us that the work we do as caregivers not only impacts our clients but also deeply affects us. Trauma Stewardship provides us with methods
to help us get in touch with habits and feelings that no longer serve us, our communities, or our work. A must-read for all those who understand that this work we do is sacred.

KANIKA TAYLOR-MURPHY
community activist
Atlanta, Georgia, USA

In this ground-breaking guide to trauma stewardship, van Dernoot Lipsky shines new light on the care of the healers in the helping professions and provides a useful and loving guide to developing our ability to care for ourselves as much as we care for others. Anyone in the helping professions will benefit from the profound insights offered in this book.

MIA EISENSTADT
consultant, activist, anthropology researcher
London, England

From the introduction

The early American author, naturalist, and philosopher Henry Thoreau was said to have been torn by two powerful desires: “to enjoy the world and to set the world straight.” This book is written for anyone who is doing work with an intention to make the world more sustainable and hopeful—all in all, a better place--and who, through their work, is exposed to the hardship, pain, crisis, trauma, or suffering of other living beings or the planet. This book is for those who notice they are not the same people they once were, or are being told by their families, friends, colleagues, or pets that something is different about them.

This book is a navigational tool for remembering that we have choices at every step of our lives; we are choosing our own path. We can make a difference without suffering; we can do meaningful work in a way that works for us and for those we serve. We can enjoy the world and set it straight. Taking care of ourselves while taking care of others allows us to contribute to our societies with such impact that we will leave a legacy informed by our deepest wisdom and greatest gifts instead of burdened with our struggles and despair.