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

What does it mean to discover you've been living with complex PTSD from childhood trauma you didn't even realize was trauma? Stephanie Foo's What My Bones Know is a raw, unflinching memoir of her journey from high-achieving journalist to someone confronting the reality that her body has been keeping score all along—and her search for healing through therapy, EMDR, research, and the messy, non-linear work of piecing together who you are when trauma has fragmented your sense of self.

This isn't a clinical guide or a tidy recovery story—it's the lived experience of complex trauma healing in all its difficulty, humor, setbacks, and small victories. Foo chronicles her path through multiple therapies, reads The Body Keeps the Score, confronts intergenerational trauma in her Asian American family, and grapples with what it means to heal when the damage runs so deep it feels like it's written in your bones. This is self-discovery as archaeology—excavating who you are beneath layers of survival strategies, cultural silence, and a nervous system wired for threat.

What You'll Discover

• A deeply personal account of discovering and healing from complex PTSD
• What therapy, EMDR, and various healing modalities actually feel like from the inside
• How intergenerational trauma and cultural silence shape identity and mental health
• The non-linear reality of trauma recovery—setbacks, breakthroughs, and everything between
• How to piece together who you are when trauma has defined so much of your life
• Honest, funny, and heartbreaking reflections on healing, relationships, and self-acceptance

Foo writes with brutal honesty, dark humor, and journalistic rigor—she researches the science while living the messy reality. This memoir has resonated with millions because it validates what trauma survivors know: healing isn't linear, it's not always beautiful, and sometimes the bravest thing you can do is keep showing up for yourself. Self-discovery here means learning that you're not broken—you're responding exactly as you were wired to respond—and that healing is possible even when it feels impossible.

How do you heal from wounds you didn't know you had? What does it take to discover who you are beneath the trauma? Foo's powerful memoir offers companionship and hope for anyone navigating complex trauma, seeking to understand their past, and committed to the ongoing work of healing and self-discovery.

Perfect for: Anyone navigating complex trauma or childhood trauma, readers seeking honest accounts of therapy and healing, those interested in intergenerational trauma and cultural mental health, people for whom The Body Keeps the Score resonated, anyone committed to understanding how trauma shapes identity and finding their way to healing.

Paperback edition. A powerful memoir of discovering and healing from complex PTSD—honest, researched, and deeply human. Essential reading for understanding trauma recovery and self-discovery.