Transforming Trauma: Episode 171

Chances are, you may be familiar with Dr. Judith Lewis Herman, the legendary psychiatrist, researcher, teacher, and author. Five decades into her esteemed career, Dr. Herman continues to produce innovative work in sexual trauma and Complex PTSD. But you might not know Judith Herman, the daughter, mother, grandmother, and activist. It’s these presumably ordinary personal identities that not only inform her professional perspective but also provide an antidote to despair in these times.

On this episode of Transforming Trauma, Emily Ruth is honored to welcome back Dr. Judith Lewis Herman for an illuminating conversation on the life experiences and enduring connections that have shaped her public and private life. The pair also explores the positive impact that activism and affiliation with others can have on those who’ve experienced trauma, and why adopting an active coping strategy is one of the best predictors of recovery. 

Dr. Herman, who developed the diagnosis of C-PTSD, is a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, as well as the Director of Training at the Victims of Violence Program in the Department of Psychiatry at the Cambridge Health Alliance. She has received a lifetime achievement award from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and was also named a distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Herman is an advocate for victims of traumatic crimes, and her contributions to the field of trauma cannot be overstated. She is the author of Truth And Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice, published in 2023, 30 years after her seminal book Trauma And Recovery.

“These days I’m thinking a lot about my mother, for a number of reasons,” Judith begins. “One of her aphorisms was that activism is the antidote to despair.” She follows up that opening with a brief account of her family’s history, which includes her parents’ persecution under McCarthyism, the US government’s campaign against alleged communists (led by Senator Joseph McCarthy) in the 1950s. “My family story is very much the immigrant story,” she says. “When you have that tradition handed down about resisting persecution, then you may be shocked, but not surprised when politics takes a sharp right turn. So, that kind of keeps me going in the moment.”

Forward motion, in the form of activism or fellowship with others, can provide an outlet and remedy for our fears. “The methods of coercive control that are practiced by tyrants and would-be tyrants are partly designed to instill fear and terror. They’re also designed to shame and isolate,” observes Judith. She echoes Robert J. Lifton’s premise of a survivor’s mission, that having a purpose in life greater than individual survival keeps hope alive, helping one reclaim agency and solidarity. “Making meaning out of trauma by, in some ways, making it a gift to others by saying, if I can help one other person who’s been through this, or if I can prevent this from happening to one other person, maybe it won’t all have been in vain.”

Over the course of our conversation, Judith returns to the wisdom of her mother, Helen Block Lewis, the pioneering clinician and researcher who conducted a seminal study on the differences between guilt and shame. “My fate was sealed before I was born,” she laughs, noting how Helen’s work ultimately helped her reconceptualize trauma not only as an anxiety disorder of fear, but also one of shame. Helen also stressed to her daughter the importance of genuine connections. “You need to have your people,” Judith concurs, adding that, in times of fear, we must actively pursue these connections––to others, to ourselves, and to the life force that makes us spark. “This is a long fight, and you can’t do it alone.”

Transforming Trauma is once again grateful to Dr. Herman for her generosity of spirit and enduring wisdom. Her call to activism in the face of extreme individualism is a powerful reminder that we are all connected.

RECOMMENDED EPISODE

Listening to What Survivors Need to Address Sexual Trauma and Complex PTSD with Dr. Judith Herman

GUEST BIO

Judith Lewis Herman, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry (part time) at Harvard Medical School. For thirty years, until she retired, she was Director of Training at the Victims of Violence Program at The Cambridge Hospital, Cambridge, MA. Dr. Herman is the author of the award-winning books: Father-Daughter Incest (Harvard University Press, 1981) and Trauma and Recovery (Basic Books, 1992).

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Robert J. Lifton, MD

Helen Block Lewis

American Psychological Association

Shame And Guilt In Neurosis

Freud And Modern Psychology

Boston Area Rape Crisis Center

Stone Center at Wellesley College

Anger In the Mother-Daughter Relationship

National Institute Of Mental Health

Old Before Their Time

Mental Health Care Today – Psychology Today