Put Your Past in the Past: Why You May Be Reenacting Your Trauma, and How to Stop

Summary

Millions of us are desperately trying to rewrite our past by unconsciously repeating it—unknowingly reenacting the traumatic events in our lives in an effort to complete unfinished business or undo what was done to us. These unconscious efforts to undo trauma only bring more pain, more disappointment, and more psychological damage. Reenactments can take the form of self-destructive behavior, unhealthy decisions, choosing the wrong partners, getting stuck in repetitive emotional cycles, or sabotaging chances at success. Understanding and eliminating these reenactments is an essential part of the healing process. Unfortunately, this topic hasn’t been addressed enough by psychotherapists and other mental health professionals.

In Put Your Past in the Past, renowned psychotherapist Beverly Engel offers the first accessible and comprehensive book on emotional reenactments. First, the book will help readers make their unsuccessful efforts to repair their past more conscious. Next, Engel offers powerful strategies to help readers truly heal their past, not by unwittingly repeating it, but by attending to their original wounds and embracing self-compassion.

Unless we process past traumas, we can’t heal them. Put Your Past in the Past will help you face your past head-on to find true and lasting wholeness.

“For decades Beverly Engel has been an important source of understanding, support, and healing for many survivors. This book will, no doubt, be a valuable addition to the recovery literature, and will inspire its readers in their recovery.”—Mike Lew, author of Victims No Longer