Why Am I Like This?

February 20, 2023
In this flawed debut, trauma therapist Campbell offers advice for challenging harmful behavior patterns. One night in college, the author, who’d long struggled with depression, resolved to end her life—until a friend’s text reminded her of God’s love. She uses that experience as a jumping off point to outline ways to break similar trauma-based cycles. The author defines trauma in its acute (arising from a “single distressing event”) and chronic (prolonged emotional or physical harm) forms, and notes how coping mechanisms can harden into harmful behavioral patterns over time. As a remedy, she recommends confronting one’s trauma head-on by dismantling negative self-beliefs, discussing painful memories with a trusted friend, or drawing on faith, because “when we open our hearts to grieve with Jesus, we get to experience... divine comfort.” Though Campbell’s client stories prove persuasive, her mentions of faith sometimes take the discussion off-track with hazy, unhelpful musings (“Will we walk, shakily if we must, toward a Jesus whose eyes are filled with tears when we have none left?”). In an overcrowded field, this doesn’t stand out.