Promotional Information

Dr. Cortman defines emotional trauma broadly--while it includes people who have suffered severe psychological harm (childhood abuse, PTSD from war, etc.), he maintains that most of us have some serious trauma in our past that is affecting our present negatively. Based on his over 65,000 hours of work with emotional trauma patients, the book teaches the process for self-healing that he uses with his patients. The process is based on the brilliant innovations of Gestalt therapist Dr. Fritz Perls, some of whose ideas were absorbed into CBT, but others lost after his death in 1970. Central to the process is how Perls provides a pathway to closure-a pathway that is remarkably easy for patients to travel on their own. The book offers a new solution to a common problem, and will find an audience among the readers of books like The Body Keeps Score and Emotional First Aid. In addition to his clinical practice, he is on the staff of Venice, FL Regional Medical Center, and the co-author of a children's prevention/wellness program called the Social Black Belt, which is being taught in all of Sarasota high schools this year as well as many of its elementary and middle schools. Chris currently serves as the treating psychologist on a new MTV program, Siesta Key, a reality show for twenty-somethings who are struggling with relationships and other issues. The the co-author of two books (with fellow psychologist Dr. Harold Shinitzky), Your Mind: An Owner's Manual (Career Press, 2009) and Take Control Of Your Anxiety (Career Press, 2015), he is a frequent speaker in the area and appears in a variety of media regularly.

About the Author

Chris Cortman, PhD has been a licensed psychologist for 28 years. He is a much-sought-after speaker, has facilitated more than 60,000 hours of psychotherapy, and has provided psychological consultation at five hospitals in the Sarasota/Venice area. Dr. Cortman is the co-creator of a youth prevention and wellness program called The Social Black Belt. Dr. Joseph Walden graduated from Florida State University with his Bachelor's degree in psychology and graduated with his Doctorate of Psychology from the Florida School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Walden has a wide variety of experiences including working in a crisis center and an inpatient drug and alcohol center in Bradenton, a college counseling center in and the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center in St. Petersburg, and Park Center, a community mental health hospital, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Dr. Walden has worked with children, families, adults, and the geriatric populations in individual and group therapy. He offers treatment for anxiety, depression, addictions, trauma, interpersonal skills, phobias, and stress management. "I am personally and professionally invested in the treatment of the military population. My father was an Army veteran and was the one who originally sparked my interest in the treatment of trauma. While on practicum at the Bay Pines VAMC, I worked in the Substance and Posttraumatic Integrated Recovery (SPIR) unit where I worked with veterans who were dually diagnosed with an alcohol/drug addiction and PTSD. There I spent time completing trauma-specific training for my entire tenure there. I also completed my dissertation using an empirical study regarding differences in PTSD symptom expression across war era involvement."