Dr. Mark Forman: Trauma, Healing, and the Monster's Journey

Thinking Ahead with Carter Phipps

Trauma. It’s a term we hear everywhere today, or so it seems. In our psychologically informed age, the idea that many of us—if not all of us—carry around some psychological and even physiological effects from troubled events in our history is commonplace. But what if all trauma was not the same? In this episode of Thinking Ahead, Carter interviews Dr. Mark Forman, author of The Monster’s Journey: From Trauma to Connection. Mark takes listeners on a new archetypal journey of self, one that compares and contrasts to the much better known “Hero’s Journey” archetype made popular by famed mythologist Joseph Campbell. For those who experienced significant early childhood trauma in their own lives, the Monster’s Journey describes the pathway to wholeness, peace, and connection. In their conversation, Mark and Carter explore how to heal the inner “monster” and what a path of recovery might look like. How do we know if our own history might have included the type of trauma that would generate an inner “monster”? How do we break the karmic chain that links generations in traumatic psychological events? Even for those who haven’t undertake the monster’s journey, there is much to learn in this episode that may be relevant in better understanding a friend, companion, family member, or loved one.