Author of Award-Winning Trauma Book Challenges "Trauma Culture" with New Framework

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, September 2, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In the past decade, trauma awareness has skyrocketed. But as therapist Antonieta Contreras sees it, we've started confusing knowing facts about trauma with understanding our own experience. How Deep Is the Wound?, published by Sentiment Publishing, challenges the assumption that all emotional pain is trauma—and offers a neuroscientifically precise, compassionate methodology for understanding what's really happening in both our body and mind. The book introduces two groundbreaking concepts to the trauma conversation: the emotional system as a unified framework and the critical distinction between adaptive and survival brain circuits.

Written as a series of questions and answers, this accessible guide offers an urgent call to action and a structured pathway forward. In a time when we use the same vocabulary to describe everything from scary movies to serious trauma, Contreras provides a much-needed nuanced approach.

"Trauma has become everyone's favorite self-diagnosis to explain their pain," says Contreras. "But it comes with the feeling that there's no resolution—'I have trauma; therefore, I'm damaged.' I want to help people find their way out, starting with assessing the depth of the wound. Not all pain is the same—and not all of it lasts forever."

This book is intended for all who are “trauma-curious” and for anyone navigating emotional pain without finding resolution. Instead of more labels or capital “T” trauma diagnoses, Contreras introduces a six-part framework that helps readers determine whether they are dealing with wounds that resolve through innate adaptive mechanisms, active traumatization that needs to be stopped, or lasting trauma injuries that require specialized treatment.

From insecurities, heartbreak, and abuse to the pain of unavoidable circumstances, readers can learn to identify the source of their struggle, understand its neurobiological roots, and select the healing approaches most likely to work for their specific situation.

Contreras draws from her award-winning academic work, Traumatization and Its Aftermath: A Systemic Approach to Understanding and Treating Trauma Disorders (Routledge), and extensive dialogue with readers who ask for help on online forums, comment sections, and Quora threads. Featured as a trauma expert in The Guardian, The New York Times, and Esquire and as a speaker at international forums on mental health, Contreras is known for her practical, empowering approach. She consistently advocates that all emotional wounds—whether traumatic or not—need resolution and deserve tailored care and attention.

"In a culture that's turned pain into pathology, we've lost our ability to understand our emotions," Contreras says. "But there's no limit to knowing ourselves better. The act of investigating ourselves with precision and honesty is, in itself, healing.”

Antonieta Contreras is available for interviews, review copies, and expert commentary on trauma and emotional health.

Book Details:
• How Deep Is the Wound? A Guide to Investigating, Understanding, and Resolving Your Emotional Pain
• Antonieta Contreras
• Psychology/Self-Help/Mental Health/Neuropsychology
• September 9th, 2025

Contact Information:
• https://www.antonietacontreras.com/books
• SentimentPublishingllc@gmail.com
• +1-646-4776156

Antonieta Contreras
Sentiment Publishing
+1 646-477-6156
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