Body-First Healing - by Brittany Piper (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A revolutionary guide to trauma recovery through healing your nervous system from a renowned Somatic Experiencing Practitioner

Brittany Piper spent most of her life sitting across from conventional therapists recalling the painful stories of her trauma. But rehashing each harrowing event--being put into foster care as a baby, losing her brother in a car accident, enduring a brutal rape and a very public trial, and more--made her even more stuck. At a crossroads, she took her recovery into her own hands.
On this journey, Brittany discovered emerging science that explains how and why trauma lives in our bodies, not in the story of what happened to us. Trauma overwhelms our nervous system, which operates through feelings, sensations, and emotions, not through words and thoughts. Now a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner herself, in Body-First Healing Brittany provides a roadmap to recovery, resilience, and nervous system regulation.
With encouragement, relatability, and compassion, Brittany gently guides you through somatic practices which aim to help you remove the protective armor of the past and rediscover who you were before trauma. With Brittany, you will learn how to:

• Name your core wounds, trauma responses, and stuck nervous system state
• Create feelings of safety and regulation with anchoring resources like exploratory orienting, movement, self-contact, etc.
• Fully experience an uncomfortable feeling with the Sensation, Image, Behavior, Affect, Meaning framework
• Express or respond to a feeling of stress in a way you couldn't before to discharge survival hormones and bring a traumatic experience to completion
• Engage somatic tools, like air screaming for anger or limb shaking for anxiety, that help express uncomfortable emotion
• Resource for everyday health issues and triggers beyond trauma, from digestive issues to public speaking and common conditions like OCD.

Whether you're experiencing anxiety, depression, burnout, or the aftermath of trauma, this groundbreaking book will show you how to become your own best healer.

Review Quotes

"Brittany Piper's Body-First Healing offers a compassionate roadmap to reconnecting with your body's innate wisdom. Through her transformative approach, Piper reveals how lasting healing from trauma and pain begins within. This book empowers readers to release old patterns and rediscover resilience and vitality through somatic awareness. A must-read for anyone ready to truly heal."
--Dr Scott Lyons, Founder of The Embody Lab and author of Addicted to Drama

"Body-First Healing is a compassionate, practical, and comprehensive guide to healing trauma of all kinds. Brittany Piper generously shares with us her personal journey, and her clear grasp of the research on trauma and recovery. This book will be a gift to anyone who has felt stuck in the pain of the past and wants to move forward into healing."
--Eli Harwood MA, LPC, Creator of Attachment Nerd and author of Securely Attached

"Brittany's Body-First Healing is a revelatory work that brings hope and clarity to the often misunderstood process of trauma recovery. Her unique approach, grounded in both personal experience and research, provides a compassionate and effective path to healing."
--Jillian Turecki, creator of the podcast Jillian on Love and author of It Begins with You

About the Author

Brittany Piper is a speaker and Somatic Experiencing(R) Practitioner, CPTSD, Nervous System Regulation, Attachments, and Internal Family Systems. She has over 10,000 hours of hands-on work within the trauma space spanning eighteen years and three continents. Her work has been recognized by the United States Army and Department of Justice, the Laura Bush Institute of Women's Health, Cosmopolitan, Elite Daily, and more. Brittany is a rape survivor and leading national expert and advocate on sexual violence prevention and trauma recovery, speaking to over 30,000 audience members annually. She is the creator of @healwithbritt, and the founder of The Healing Hub, a private trauma recovery practice and home of the internationally acclaimed online Body-First Healing Program.