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Justin Sunseri, LMFT

"Trauma Through a Child's Eyes" Book Review

Updated: Mar 20, 2023



INTRO -

  • In this short book review episode, I…

    • Am going to give you my thoughts on and tell you whether or not I recommend the book - Trauma Through a Child’s Eyes by Peter Levine and Maggir Kline.

  • My name is Justin Sunseri.

  • I’m a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist that thinks the world needs a new paradigm for mental health.

  • Welcome to Stuck Not Broken.




TOPIC - TRAUMA THROUGH A CHILD’S EYES by Levine and Kline


Do I recommend it?

  • Overall, definitely.

What it covers, a sampling:

  • Understanding nervous system and trauma brief overview

    • He covers this a lot, so nice that it’s brief

  • Various ways that children can get traumatized

    • Hospitals and doctor visits

    • Through falls and normal play

    • Also sexual abuse, divorce

    • Very comprehensive

  • Trauma First Aid

  • Acting out and acting in

  • Gang behavior and ‘the rage of the unparented’

  • Cultural trauma

  • ...and much more

Who it’s for:

  • Anyone looking to understand trauma, especially when applied to children

  • Those looking for how to directly intervene in a potentially traumatized child

  • Any profession dealing with kiddos imo

  • Parents definitely

  • Schools definitely

  • Adults looking to get a better understanding of themselves, because we were all once children

    • Pieces will fall into place for you

What I like:

Great reference

  • Huge book

  • 450+ pages

Lots of explicit ideas

For multiple ages

For multiple environments and populations

  • Parents

  • Teachers

  • Medical staff

  • Therapists, school counselors and school psychologists

Culturally appropriate

For trauma first aid in the immediate aftermath of something

  • A nasty fall

  • Something severe like a natural disaster

Good balance of technique and learning

  • I prefer the theory stuff

Great resource, and its advanced, but it’s also an intro of sorts

  • Doesn’t teach the fundamentals to implementing and self-regulation

  • Too large a scope

  • Do some self-regulation work along with this, like BSA

What I didn’t like

Real situations seem far too easy

  • But they’re done by masters of SE

  • Might be unrealistic for you at first and that’s okay

Very very long

  • I wanted it to end

Too many interventions for me

  • Listening in chunks helps, esp along with other things that are more light-hearted

Audio book is not the ideal way to go about this

  • So long - 16 hours?

  • So slow - i listened to on 1.5x

  • No way to use as a reference

    • If you’re needing something and want to pull from a segment, impossible to find

Great breadth it goes into in theory and application

  • Like “In an Unspoken Voice”

  • But some of it is lacking depth





Intro/Outro music & Transition Sounds by Benjo Beats - https://soundcloud.com/benjobeats


National Suicide Prevention Hotline - 1 (800) 273-8255

National Domestic Violence Hotline -1 (800) 799-7233

LGBT Trevor Project Lifeline - 1 (866) 488-7386

National Sexual Assault Hotline - 1 (800) 656-4673

Crisis Text Line - Text “HOME” to 741741

Call 911 for emergency


This podcast is not therapy, not intended to be therapy or be a replacement for therapy. Nothing in this creates or indicates a therapeutic relationship. Please consult with your therapist or seek for one in your area if you are experiencing mental health sx. Nothing in this podcast should be construed to be specific life advice; it is for educational and entertainment purposes only.


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