Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness: Practices for Safe and Transformative Healing

What does it mean to practice mindfulness safely—to recognize that meditation, when practiced without trauma awareness, can exacerbate symptoms of traumatic stress rather than heal them? David Treleaven's Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness: Practices for Safe and Transformative Healing is one of the most groundbreaking works on trauma-informed contemplative practice ever written, a book that reveals how mindfulness meditation can trigger flashbacks, dissociation, and retraumatization in survivors when taught without sensitivity to trauma. This is not a critique of mindfulness but a compassionate framework by a psychotherapist and educator who understands that anywhere mindfulness is practiced, someone in the room is likely struggling with trauma. Treleaven illuminates five key principles for trauma-sensitive mindfulness—attention, arousal, relationship, dissociation, and social context—and offers 36 specific modifications designed to support survivors' safety, stability, and transformative healing.

Treleaven writes from a decade of research and clinical experience, having witnessed how traditional mindfulness instruction can inadvertently harm trauma survivors. The book asks: How can mindfulness help—or hinder—trauma recovery? What happens when survivors are instructed to pay sustained attention to their inner world without trauma-informed support? How do we minimize the dangers of mindfulness for survivors while leveraging its powerful benefits? What modifications make mindfulness accessible and safe for those with trauma histories? Through grounded scholarship, neuroscience insights, and wide-ranging case examples, Treleaven shows us that trauma-sensitive mindfulness is not just possible but essential, offering a practical approach that empowers teachers, clinicians, and survivors to practice mindfulness in ways that truly support healing.

For readers seeking contemplative wisdom and trauma-informed practice, Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness serves as both a penetrating exploration of the intersection of mindfulness and trauma and a comprehensive guide to safe, transformative practice. This Norton Professional Books edition includes histories of mindfulness and trauma, modern neuroscience perspectives, five key principles, and 36 practical modifications. This is a book for mindfulness teachers and meditation instructors, for trauma therapists and mental health professionals, for survivors seeking safe contemplative practice. It's a reminder that mindfulness must be adapted for trauma, that safety and stability come first, and that with trauma-sensitive modifications, mindfulness can be a powerful tool for healing and transformation.

Looking for hands-on practice? Explore the companion Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness Workbook for exercises, reflections, and practical applications.

What You'll Discover

• David Treleaven's groundbreaking framework for trauma-sensitive mindfulness
• Five key principles: attention, arousal, relationship, dissociation, social context
• 36 specific modifications to support survivors' safety and stability
• How mindfulness can help or hinder trauma recovery
• Neuroscience insights and case examples from clinical practice

David A. Treleaven, PhD, is a psychotherapist, educator, and leading expert in trauma-sensitive mindfulness. He has trained thousands of mindfulness teachers, therapists, and educators worldwide in trauma-informed contemplative practice. His work bridges contemplative traditions, modern neuroscience, and trauma psychology, offering practical frameworks for making mindfulness accessible and safe for all. Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness, published in 2018, has become an essential resource for mindfulness teachers and trauma professionals, transforming how contemplative practices are taught and adapted for trauma survivors.

Perfect for: Mindfulness teachers and meditation instructors, trauma therapists and mental health professionals, yoga teachers and somatic practitioners, trauma survivors seeking safe contemplative practice, students of contemplative psychology and trauma-informed care, anyone teaching mindfulness in schools, hospitals, or community settings, readers interested in the intersection of mindfulness and neuroscience, practitioners of MBSR, MBCT, and other mindfulness-based interventions, students of humanistic and transpersonal psychology, anyone committed to making mindfulness accessible and safe for trauma survivors, readers who want to understand how meditation can trigger trauma responses, those seeking evidence-based modifications for trauma-sensitive practice.

Norton Professional Books hardcover edition. David Treleaven's essential guide to trauma-sensitive mindfulness—offering five key principles, 36 practical modifications, and a comprehensive framework for teaching and practicing mindfulness in ways that support survivors' safety, stability, and transformative healing.