Jan Winhall's new guidebook is brimming with enlightened, effective strategies for addressing the deeply interwoven challenges of treating trauma and addiction. Centered by the Four Circles Harm Reduction Practice, her body-centered model of 20 practices is bolstered by an insightful theoretical foundation combined with deep respect for the wisdom of the body to release self-acceptance and healing. Organized with a gentle, grounded, step-by-step approach, this book will become an inspirational companion for therapists and their clients searching for an innovative, nonjudgmental paradigm for addressing addictive processes and underlying trauma.--Cece Sykes, LCSW, consultant, senior international trainer, Internal Family Systems Institute, and coauthor of Internal Family Systems for Addiction

Jan Winhall has a remarkable way of taking complex subjects and grounding them in practical, healing strategies that work. She invites you to relate to addictions as learned habits that can be unlearned. Rooted in trauma-informed care and Polyvagal Theory, Winhall provides a compassionate understanding of how addictive behaviors were developed as the best-known attempts to manage adverse life events and the resulting dysregulated nervous system. Here, you are skillfully guided through the felt sense approach to reduce the harm of addictions while enhancing your capacity for joy!--Dr. Arielle Schwartz, clinical psychologist and author of The Complex PTSD Workbook

20 Embodied Practices for Healing Trauma and Addiction is a profound guide to reclaiming one's body, life, and sense of self. By listening to the wisdom of our bodies and cultivating a sense of safety, we can break free from the cycles of trauma and addiction that have held us back. Winhall's book offers both hope and practical tools for those on this healing journey, transforming how we view and address trauma and addiction.--From the Foreword by Stephen W. Porges, PhD

What I find most compelling about this book is the compassion and warmth that accompany the reader's journey from hiding and isolation, hallmarks of trauma and addiction, to openness and self-acceptance. It's a journey that passes through many landscapes, including the scientific foundation of bodily health, cultural distinctions in our understanding of risk, and modes of thought and action that cultivate trust, both of ourselves and of others. This book takes focusing on the road, from a conceptual understanding--of, indeed, a bodily exploration--to a fluid (meta-focusing), intuition-guided methodology that links urgent needs to real solutions, concretely defined, and available either in therapy or outside of therapy. Grounded in the body's urge for self-care, Winhall's exercises offer a remarkable pathway through emotional healing.--Marc Lewis, PhD, C. Psych, professor emeritus of developmental psychology and neuroscience, University of Toronto, and clinical psychologist

Jan Winhall highlights the vital importance of drawing on one's inner wisdomwhen healing from trauma and addiction. This work empowers both trauma clinicians and survivors and instills hope in those who are healing from trauma.--Ruth A. Lanius, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry, director of the PTSD Research Unit, and Harris-Woodman Chair, University of Western Ontario

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Pub date: 2025-03-18

Length: 192 pages