Paul Valent sees that the dialectic is not between life and death but between life and trauma. This text theorizes that the big issues of life can now be approached through the science of traumatology.
"Child Survivors of the Holocaust" shares the poignant stories of ten Jewish child survivors of the Nazis, as explored by psychiatrist Paul Valent. This book delves into their traumatic experiences, addressing themes of morality, memory, and resilience, while connecting historical trauma to contemporary issues faced by child victims of abuse.
Violence is the plague of our civilization. It threatens us daily through its many domestic violence, criminal violence, sexual abuse, terrorism, state violence, revolution, war, and genocide.The recently evolved discipline of traumatology has amply described commonalities in the consequences of violence. But there was no corresponding discipline of violentology, which explained why violence occurred in the first place.Inexorably, Valent was drawn to take the leap from healing the minds of victims to try to understand the minds of perpetrators.Valent unpicks the minds of perpetrators in each field of violence. He develops a lens by which to understand violence from individual to international, and from primitive to spiritual dimensions. We come to understand how aggressions that helped our species to survive now threaten our species with extinction. Such understanding may help to eliminate our current plague, just as understanding helped to eliminate the original one.Valent explains his thesis through many stories accessible to both professionals and lay readers. One story interweaving throughout is Valent’s own story. From a child who survived the Holocaust, he ferrets out the minds of his perpetrators in his quest to prevent future violence.Violence, for Valent, is not an isolated feature of the human condition. Surprisingly close to violence are struggles for love. Readers also learn about that aspect of humanity.
People frequently say that the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented. Yet from a bird's eye point of view it has similarities with other pandemics, even other illnesses, and with other stresses and traumas. In fact, each situation of stress and trauma illuminates all the others. People frequently say that the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented. Yet from a bird's eye point of view it has similarities with other pandemics, even other illnesses, and with other stresses and traumas. In fact, each situation of stress and trauma illuminates all the others. We are on the cusp of a science of stress and trauma. In this book we indicate how the current pandemic interweaves with that science, both benefiting and contributing to it. In other words, though in this pandemic each person and community feels that its sufferings are unique, in fact it overlaps with other areas of suffering that can provide benefit our collective wisdom. In this book two scientists from different parts of the world have come together to meld their knowledge of stress and trauma and apply it, together with their current observations, to understanding of the pandemic. Reciprocally, because all traumatic situations overlap, lessons from the pandemic will benefit other situations of stress and trauma. Thus the contents of this book are relevant to every traumatic situation. The book is laid out in a particular order. Chapter 1 considers previous traumatic situations, while chapter 2 compares them with the pandemic. Chapter 3 introduces stress and trauma terms and applies them to the pandemic. Chapters 4-6 explore the range of stress and trauma processes and consequences all the way from cellular to international levels. Chapter 7 explores the dialectic between death and resilience, while chapter 8 summarises the previous chapters. Finally, chapter 9 applies understanding to amelioration and treatment of COVID-19 consequences
The memoir chronicles Paul Valent's extensive four-decade career as a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and traumatologist. It delves into his personal struggles and professional discoveries, offering insights into the complexities of mental health and trauma treatment. Through his experiences, Valent reflects on the evolution of his understanding and practice in the field, providing a unique perspective on the challenges faced by both practitioners and patients in mental health care.
Focusing on the concept of trauma, this text presents a new perspective that shifts the discussion from the dichotomy of life and death to life and trauma. It explores how traumatology can address significant life issues, drawing from clinical and historical insights. By analyzing the experiences of individuals affected by trauma, the author categorizes the enriching aspects of their lives. This work is particularly relevant for professionals in healing fields, social work, law, and the humanities who engage with trauma and its complexities.
Helps the reader understand the very wide mental health effects of this pandemic, and thus to understand how distress may be better managed today and in the future.