What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma

Every cell in my body is filled with the code of generations of trauma, of death, of birth, ofmigration, of history that I cannot understand. . . . I want to have words for what my bonesknow. By age thirty, Stephanie Foo was successful on paper: She had her dream job as an award-winning radio producer at This American Life and a loving boyfriend. But behind her office door,she was having panic attacks and sobbing at her desk every morning. After years ofquestioning what was wrong with herself, she was diagnosed with complex PTSD - a conditionthat occurs when trauma happens continuously, over the course of years. Both of Foo's parents abandoned her when she was a teenager, after years of physical andverbal abuse and neglect. She thought she'd moved on, but her new diagnosis illuminated theway her past continued to threaten her health, relationships, and career. She found limitedresources to help her, so Foo set out to heal herself, and to map her experiences onto thescarce literature about C-PTSD. In this deeply personal and thoroughly researched account, Foo interviews scientists andpsychologists and tries a variety of innovative therapies. She returns to her hometown inCalifornia to investigate the effects of immigrant trauma on the community, and she uncoversfamily secrets in the country of her birth, Malaysia, to learn how trauma can be inheritedthrough generations. Ultimately, she discovers that you don't move on from trauma - but youcan learn to move with it. Powerful, enlightening and hopeful, What My Bones Know is a brave narrative that reckonswith the hold of the past over the present, the mind over the body - and examines onewoman's ability to reclaim agency from her trauma.

About the Author :
Stephanie Foo is a writer and radio producer, most recently for This American Life. Her work has aired on Snap Judgment, Reply All, 99% Invisible and Radiolab. A noted speaker and instructor, she has taught at Columbia University and has spoken at venues from Sundance Film Festival to the Missouri Department of Mental Health. She lives in New York City with her husband.

Review :
'Stephanie Foo's incredible memoir speaks to so many things at once: the horrors of anabusive childhood, the enduring power of trauma, the messy science of the brain and thelifelong quest for meaning and healing. Funny and tragic, unflinchingly honest andrelentlessly hopeful, What My Bones Know is a marvel of a book.' - Ed Yong, New YorkTimesbestselling author of I CONTAIN MULTITUDES 'Foo's journalistic eye serves her generously through a hard-won examination of traumaand its aftermath. I cried while turning the pages; I knew that I was witnessing anastonishing literary endeavour. For others who live with C-PTSD, this is a crucial, life-changing book.' - Esm Weijun Wang, New York Times bestselling author of THECOLLECTED SCHIZOPHRENIAS 'In What My Bones Know, Stephanie Foo mines her past in search of answers, uncoveringwhat it means to navigate trauma over generations. With striking candidness, Foo takesreaders on her journey to understand her diagnosis of complex PTSD, weaving togetherreporting and personal history. A testament to Foo's determination, What My Bones Knowis an act of reclamation - and a bold, defiant proclamation: "I am here."' - KatChow, author of SEEING GHOSTS