Try Softer

This may be my favorite book on trauma-informed counseling so far. However, the reason that it can be rests upon the extensive reading that I have already done. Aundi Kolber gives a multi-disciplinary, broad overview description of the trauma people experience from their family of origin with a systemized approach within the multi-disciplinary, broad overview on how to handle this. I wonder if this great strength could also be a weakness for some. Aundi covers so many helpful concepts that unless a person is already prepared to study this a lot, they may not be prepared to absorb it. This also means that she is not able to dig down as deep on many of the concepts, and some people will not be able to dig deeper. These are just potential weaknesses though.

One of the most helpful concepts Aundi gave me was that of "white-knuckling." I already understood the underlying concept, but the visual-practical way the phrase "white-knuckling" communicates really hit home for me. That, in tandem with Kolber's main premise of "try softer," made the book unusually powerful for me.

In general, I consider this to be an excellent entry point for Christians wanting to know more about trauma-informed therapy/counseling. I encourage folks to read this book, and then to dig deeper into the footnotes. They give tons of references to some of the most recent work on dealing with trauma.