Releasing Our Burdens: A Guide to Healing Individual, Ancestral, and Collective Trauma

Acclaimed authors Richard Schwartz and Thomas Hl teach us how healing trauma can empower us to reclaim resilience and transform our world.

Too often, we assume that our trauma is an individual wound, and that we can only heal it through individual work. In truth, our trauma is shaped by so much more than our own experience--we're impacted by ancestral trauma from previous generations as well as collective trauma from the world around us. Beloved teachers Thomas Hl and Richard Schwartz bring together their wisdom to chart a new path forward that addresses all of these sources of pain, so we can heal ourselves and also our communities and world.

In this powerful collaboration, Hl and Schwartz help us understand why individual trauma cannot be separated from the legacies of shared past and present traumas. Each author offers an overview of their healing modality and how they work together. Schwartz is the creator of Internal Family Systems, a highly effective, evidence-based therapeutic approach that teaches we all contain many parts--and also have an undamaged, healing Self. Hl has done powerful work on trauma healing, particularly collectively and in groups.

Together, they teach methods and practices that help us begin to release beliefs and emotions that no longer serve us, break cycles of harm, expand our awareness, and become more compassionate and curious as we heal. Through this work, Hl shares, "we can unload the burden and create a more flourishing world."