Books & Resources for Partners, Friends and Family

This is a list of resources that partners, family or friends may find helpful. This should not be considered a list of recommended books. Click on the books to read online reviews and descriptions to decide if a book is suitable for you.

Jump to:

• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder & Depression
• Veterans/Combat PTSD
• DID, DDNOS and Borderline Personality Disorder
• Abuse, Sexual Abuse/Rape & Intimate Partner Violence
• Parenting traumatized children
• Free Resources
• Memoirs

Related pages

• Books for Survivors and people healing – PTSD, Complex PTSD, Dissociative Disorders, BPD and more
• Books for Professionals
• Faith-based resources (external website)

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder & Depression

Parenting traumatized children

For Families or Partners of Veterans (Combat PTSD)

DID, DDNOS and Borderline Personality Disorder

Note: Books for Dissociative Identity Disorder also cover PTSD, Abuse and the after-effects.

Abuse, Sexual Abuse/Rape & Intimate Partner Violence

Free Resources

• PTSD
• Understanding PTSD booklet (US Dept of Veterans Affairs)
• Helping a family member with PTSD (US Dept of Veterans Affairs)
• Partners of Veterans with PTSD: Common Problems online summary (US Dept of Veterans Affairs)
• Traumatic Stress and Substance Abuse PTSD and alcohol/drug use problems pamphlet (International Society for the Study of Traumatic Stress)
• Resources for the public including information on Mass Disasters (International Society for the Study of Traumatic Stress)
• When a Friend of Loved One Has Been Traumatized pamphlet (International Society for the Study of Traumatic Stress)
• Dissociative Disorders
• The Significant Others Guide to Dissociative Identity Disorder. online guide
• My Mom is Different for children of a mother with Dissociative Identity Disorder (large file)
• Abuse and Sexual Abuse
• Intimate Partner Violence (Domestic Violence) pamphlet (International Society for the Study of Traumatic Stress)
• Supporting a Survivor of Sexual Assault (booklet)
• How can I help? Tips for Secondary Survivors (of Sexual Assault or Rape) (booklet), Pandora's Aquarium
• Sexual Assault Myths & Facts (booklet), Pandora's Aquarium

Memoirs by partners or families

Memoirs are about people and their experiences - not 'disorders'. Some do not focus on symptoms/disorders at all, and many people's difficulties don't fit neatly into the classification system. Most people who have trauma-related disorders also develop additional diagnoses or problems as result. Virtually all trauma memoirs contain distressing details, and may cause anxiety or fears that your loved one may deteriorate, may not survive — or the opposite: that he or she may not be improving "quickly enough" compared to the person you are reading about.

The effects of past trauma or a dissociative disorder vary greatly between different people. Some people with Dissociative Identity Disorder, for example, are never admitted to hospital, and a minority of people with PTSD recover quickly or without professional help — yet others committed to healing make slower progress, have fluctuating levels of symptoms or regular crises. Not all these memoirs are stories of hope and recovery - a few end in death.

PTSD, Combat PTSD, and Depression

• Tears of a Warrior: A Family's Story of Combat and Living with PTSD by Janet Seahorn and E. Anthony Seahorn (2010). ISBN 0615213170 ISBN-13: 978-0615213170. Includes information on coping with PTSD.
• When the War Never Ends: The Voices of Military Members with PTSD and Their Families by Leah Wizelman (2011). ISBN 1442212071) ISBN-13 978-1442212077. A mix of contributors from many countries, with many different outcomes.
• In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing by Lee Woodruff and Bob Woodruff (2008). ISBN 0812978250 ISBN-13: 978-0812978254. Bob Woodruff was a TV news reporter, reporting from Iraq when he was injured. He and his wife write about the impact of Bob's Traumatic Brain Injury, and PTSD, on their family life. A NY times best seller.
• Thirty Days with My Father: Finding Peace from Wartime PTSD by Christal Presley (2012). ISBN 0757316468 ISBN-13 978-0757316463. Reconciling after inter-generational trauma.

Dissociative Disorders and Borderline Personality Disorder

• The Magic Castle: A Mother's Harrowing True Story Of Her Adoptive Son's Multiple Personalities-- And The Triumph Of Healing by Carole Smith (1998). ISBN 031217196X ISBN-13 978-0312171964.
• Suzi: A Life of Suffering and Triumphs by Dr. H. David Shuster (2016). ISBN 1940354439 ISBN-13 978-1940354439. David Shuster's wife Suzi had many successes in her life despite struggles with many health conditions, including Dissociative Identity Disorder, Bulimia, Personality Disorders, Endometriosis and organ problems.
• Cutting the Soul: A journey into the mental illness of a teenager through the eyes of his mother by Theresa Larsen, and Matthew Larsen (cover design) (2014). ISBN 1502933101 ISBN-13 978-1502933102. Matthew's struggles with self-harm and memories of abuse. He is later diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and a Dissociative Disorder.
• Remnants of a Life on Paper: A Mother and Daughter's Struggle with Borderline Personality Disorder by Bea Tusiani, Pamela Tusiani, and Paula Tusiani-Eng (2013). ISBN 0985571810 ISBN-13 9780985571818. An unexpected ending.
• The Siren's Dance: My Marriage to a Borderline: A Case Study Paperback by Anthony Walker (2008). ISBN 1419698184 ISBN-13 978-1419698187. A whirlwind marriage - and divorce. Medical student Anthony Walker crosses boundaries by dating a (former) patient, who he met after she had attempted suicide.

Parenting Traumatized Children

• Detached: Surviving Reactive Attachment Disorder by Jessie Hogsett (2011). ISBN 0615522793 ISBN-13 9780615522791. Adopting a young boy born to an uncaring and alcoholic mother.
• No Matter What: An Adoptive Family's Story of Hope, Love and Healing by Sally Donovan (2013). ISBN 1849054312 ISBN-13 9781849054317. Parenting two young and traumatized children with resulting attachment difficulties. Based on real events.
• Girl Alone: Joss came home from school to discover her father's death. Angry and hurting, she's out of control. by Cathy Glass (2015). ISBN 0008145156 ISBN-13 978-0008145156. Written by an experienced foster parent.

Abuse including Sexual Abuse/Rape

• Working with Available Light: A Family's World After Violence by Jamie Kalven (1999). ISBN 0393046907 ISBN-13: 978-0393046908. A husband writes about the aftemath of his wife's rape and physical assault.
• Loss of Innocence: A Daughter's Addiction. A Father's Fight to Save Her by Ron Clem and Carren Clem (2010). ISBN 0753513021 ISBN-13 978-0753513026. Father and daughter write about Carren's trauma and subsequence addiction, and Ron's attempts to help her.
• Under My Roof: A Mother's Story of the Heinous Crime of Incest by Emalou King (2013). ISBN 0985604832 ISBN-13 978-0985604837.

Book Suggestions and Feedback

Use the feedback form to suggest any self-help books or non-military PTSD memoirs you would like to see included here.