The Tao of Trauma: A Practitioner's Guide for Integrating Five Element Theory and Trauma Treatment

Explains trauma using a combination of the Five Elements (from Traditional Chinese Medicine) and a touch perspective; for practitioners of a variety of modalities, including acupuncturists, somatic therapists, massage therapists, and mental health providers.

Combining Eastern and Western trauma physiology, clinician-educators Alaine Duncan and Kathy Kain introduce a new map for acupuncturists, medical practitioners, mental health providers, and body-oriented clinicians to help restore balance in their patients. Using concepts from Acupuncture and Asian Medicine (AAM), alongside descriptions of the threat response from Western bio-behavioral science, they describe common physical symptoms, emotional presentations, and paths for healing for five survivor "types" detailed by the authors and correlated to the Five Elements of AAM. This ancient/modern integrative lens illuminates the diverse manifestations of traumatic stress in its survivors--chronic pain, autoimmune illness, insomnia, metabolic problems, and mental health disorders--and brings new hope to survivors of trauma and those who treat them.

ALAINE D. DUNCAN, MAc is a respected acupuncture clinician, educator, and researcher with over twenty-seven years in practice. A charter member of the Integrative Health and Wellness program at the D.C. Veterans Administration Medical Center, she was also founding director of Crossings Healing and Wellness in Silver Spring, MD and currently serves in a volunteer capacity as Clinical Director for Acupuncturists Without Borders of the National Capitol Area, which provides free weekly clinics to immigrants and refugees.

KATHY KAIN, Phd has been a senior trainer in the Somatic Experiencing® training program for nineteen years and has worked with thousands of people over her thirty-seven years of practicing and teaching bodywork and trauma recovery. She shares her expertise in the physiology of traumatic stress through her popular program "Touch Skills Training for Trauma Therapists" and is author of Ortho-Bionomy: A Practical Manual (North Atlantic Books, 1997) and coauthor with Steve Terrell of Nurturing Resilience: Helping Clients Move Forward From Development Trauma - An Integrative Somatic Approach (North Atlantic Books, forthcoming 2018).