What does healing from trauma actually look like—not in theory, but lived, day by day?
After decades as a psychotherapist trained in trauma therapies, Lisa Grinnell answers with her own life, in her memoir and guide.
The daughter of parents who lived through World War II—her mother survived the London Blitz—Grinnell traces how trauma travels silently through generations, and how it can stop. From getting sober in Silicon Valley's boom years, to her work as a therapist in a women's prison, to the convent doorstep in England where her grandmother was raised, she interweaves an unflinching memoir with a clear, compassionate guide through the three stages of trauma recovery: Safety, Mourning, and Reconnection.
Each part shows what a stage asks of us, why pacing matters, and how practices like mindfulness—and therapies like EMDR, IFS, DBT and Brainspotting—support the work of coming home to yourself.
For survivors who quietly wonder whether real healing is possible, and for the therapists who walk beside them, this book answers plainly: it is. You were meant for this world.
Five star Rating from The International Review of Books ★★★★★
"You Were Meant for This World is a compassionate, illuminating exploration of trauma, recovery, and the remarkable human capacity for change.
“Lisa Grinnell blends personal experience, decades of therapeutic insight, neuroscience, addiction recovery, and mindfulness into a narrative that feels both intimate and useful. Her willingness to examine inherited wounds and hard-won healing gives the book emotional authority.
“Thoughtful without becoming clinical, spiritual without losing its grounding, this is an encouraging, generous work that offers readers something precious: credible hope for a meaningful life beyond trauma.”
Rating: ★★★★★ The International Review of Books.
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