What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma

Stephanie Foo's memoir investigates complex PTSD and its effects on her life. By age thirty, Foo had achieved professional success as an award-winning radio producer at This American Life, but struggled with panic attacks and daily distress at work. She was eventually diagnosed with complex PTSD, a condition resulting from continuous trauma over years. Foo's parents abandoned her during her teenage years following years of physical and verbal abuse and neglect. Though she believed she had moved past these experiences, her diagnosis revealed how her past continued to affect her health, relationships, and career. Finding few resources available, Foo researched the limited literature on C-PTSD while pursuing her own healing. In this account, Foo interviews scientists and psychologists and explores various therapies. She returns to her hometown of San Jose, California, to examine immigrant trauma in her community, and travels to Malaysia to uncover family secrets and understand how trauma can pass through generations. Through her investigation, Foo concludes that healing from trauma involves learning to move with it rather than moving past it.