230 pages, paperback
Who This Book Is For:
Older youth and adults who have been hurt in the form of physical or mental abuse, rape, molestation, or other forms of personal betrayal trauma caused. Expecto Patronum is a positive, non-triggering guide to understanding how trauma affects the brain, the impact of PTSD on personal functioning, and steps you can take toward healing.
Therapists who work with clients who are fans of Harry Potter books, and want to find innovative analogies and metaphors to explain complex psychological concepts in ways their clients can understand. Instead of relying on "therapy lingo" such as "you've got stuck points that haven't been processed," you can describe opening a dark place to face boggart in order to become free of their fear.
Instead of telling them, "That's a cognitive thinking error caused by your PTSD," you can explain that they're still hunting horcruxes, and those horcruxes are fighting back. Watch as your clients light up and go, "Oh, now it makes sense! I have to destroy my horcruxes to be set free of this stuff!" Unlock the understanding of clients who are resistant to traditional talk therapy, but would eagerly embrace concepts that compare their own healing journey to Harry's.
Clients of therapists who are working hard but occasionally become frustrated. "Why won't my therapist just tell me what to do to make this all better? Why does it have to be so hard?" Harry felt the same way about Dumbledore many times, and Expecto Patronum explains why therapy works, why it can sometimes make you feel worse before you heal, why your therapist seems difficult sometimes, and how to handle the surges of hurtful feelings that come up as you make progress.
Therapists who work with clients who are fans of Harry Potter books, and want to find innovative analogies and metaphors to explain complex psychological concepts in ways their clients can understand. Instead of relying on "therapy lingo" such as "you've got stuck points that haven't been processed," you can describe opening a dark place to face boggart in order to become free of their fear.
Instead of telling them, "That's a cognitive thinking error caused by your PTSD," you can explain that they're still hunting horcruxes, and those horcruxes are fighting back. Watch as your clients light up and go, "Oh, now it makes sense! I have to destroy my horcruxes to be set free of this stuff!" Unlock the understanding of clients who are resistant to traditional talk therapy, but would eagerly embrace concepts that compare their own healing journey to Harry's.
Clients of therapists who are working hard but occasionally become frustrated. "Why won't my therapist just tell me what to do to make this all better? Why does it have to be so hard?" Harry felt the same way about Dumbledore many times, and Expecto Patronum explains why therapy works, why it can sometimes make you feel worse before you heal, why your therapist seems difficult sometimes, and how to handle the surges of hurtful feelings that come up as you make progress.
What you will find in the pages of Expecto Patronum:
- How Harry's "Hero's Journey" compares to the healing process from abuse
- How the Triwizard Championship represents the three main stages of healing
- The effects of depression on the brain, and how to battle your personal Dementors
- Therapists and Hogwarts headmasters: why both can be frustrating even when they care about you
- How facing a Boggart is like facing your past, and what to do to win
- How healing from PTSD is like hunting Horcruxes, and why it's so hard
- "Creative maladjustment": why being imperfect and not always pleasing everyone is a strength, not a weakness
- Dobby, Winky, and self-harm: how to be more like Dobby and less like Winky
- Understanding the difference between healthy love and toxic obsession
- Hogwarts and equality: how resisting discrimination is an antidote to your abuser's mindset
- Rita Skeeter and Draco Malfoy: dealing with critics who blame you for your own abuse
- Understanding your scars, both visible and invisible
"It is really, really great...for survivors of any type of abuse, it is very engaging with the memories of the Harry Potter universe, using them to relay concepts that people recovering from trauma need to understand. It tells and reiterates things survivors need to hear...it made me cry a couple times--happy tears, because I imagined someone who's been struggling with a lot of negative self-talk getting so much out of this..."
-Reader review
-Reader review