Conquering Trauma and Anxiety to Find Happiness

Review\n"Ellen P. McShane offers the reader a fearless analysis, a personal case study of her experience of trauma, and its effects on her development, life and relationships. Thoroughly researched, the result is a courageous presentation of approaches to healing from trauma, focusing on Sylvan Tomkins's affect theory. Readers will find in this book deep insights regarding trauma's effects on our development, the process of therapy, and healing. Dr. McShane describes the variety of tools she used to understand and heal the results of her trauma, encouraging others to consider ways they might also create healing and happiness in their lives. This work is highly recommended for everyone who has experienced trauma and those who work to help them recover." --Lawrence G. Shelton, Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Vermont\n"Going above and beyond her duties as my mentor during college, Ellen has been an unwavering source of support and kindness over the last ten years of my life. Affect theory, as outlined by Ellen, has provided me with a framework for recognizing and managing my inner self and emotions. Naming affects out loud is a valuable tool for increasing awareness of the moment, the self, and the mind-body connection and has made me more resilient in the face of hardships throughout my life journey." --Yao Tan, University of Vermont, 2014\n"I am thrilled that Ellen P. McShane, a former student of mine, has written this truly wonderful book. As I am someone who has advocated for over half-a-century that scholars try to write more personally, Dr. McShane has chosen to do this in her present volume. And she has excelled in producing what I call a 'Scholarly Personal Narrative' manuscript. More important, however, she has helped me to understand, both theoretically and personally, my own lifelong struggle with anxiety. Her courageous, personal exploration of what she calls 'affect theory, ' based on such concepts as affect, feeling, and emotion, along with her use of Positive Psychology throughout, has provided me with personal insights that, even at my advanced age, have fostered a greater sense of health and well-being. The letters to her therapist are vulnerable, authentic, and grounded in science as well as in her incredible life experience. Anyone who has dealt with the consequences of trauma will find this book to be an amazing gift. I know that I have. I also know that thousands of students during my 52 years of teaching could have changed their lives as a result of immersing themselves in this volume." --Robert J. Nash, Professor. Official University Scholar at the University of Vermont\n"I'm so grateful to all of the help and generosity Ellen showed me during my time at the University of Vermont. Learning about the different affects and associated physiological reactions have helped me identify the emotions that come up in my body, as well as the associated scripts that I carried with me from my upbringing. It also helps me shift from a negative affect to neutral and gradually positive through naming the affects and changing my physical activities, while honoring my feelings and developing more empathy for the trauma I have experienced. It has been an invaluable tool to my growth." --Roxanne Chang, University of Vermont, 2016\n"In a herculean, successful attempt to integrate theory, research findings and applied strategies, Conquering Trauma and Anxiety to Find Happiness will empower its readers to understand themselves and get unstuck from the tyranny of their traumatic memories and fragmented sense of self. Ellen P. McShane's unique approach to illustrate how affect theory and affect labeling account for her valiant, life-long journey to overcome child abuse and find happiness is a generous sharing act that reveals the loving teacher within Ellen. Conquering Trauma and Anxiety to Find Happiness may become an indispensable resource in the therapist's toolbox." --Antonio Cepeda-Be