About
Laura K. Kerr, PhD is a mental health scholar and former psychotherapist specialized in sensorimotor psychotherapy. She is the author of "Dissociation in Late Modern America: Defense Against Soul?" and "Trauma’s Labyrinth: Reflections of a Wounded Healer," winner of a Bronze Living Now Book Award and a Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award. Her research interests include psychological and social trauma, spirituality, human evolution, the emotional lives of other species, and the psychological impacts of climate change. Currently, I am completing a book on the process of recovery from early life sexual abuse to be released in 2024.
She lives in San Francisco, CA with her husband. When not engrossed in research and book writing, she enjoys creative writing, making art, gardening, and supporting local wildlife.
Featured Work
Trauma's Labyrinth: Reflections of a Wounded Healer
Trauma can feel like a labyrinth, twisting on itself like a maze of despair, without end or exit. This seems particularly true in today’s chaotic world of pandemics, climate change, social conflict, and systemic violence. Increasingly, the conditions of the larger world aggravate, if not cause, the traumas in our individual lives.
However, as Laura K. Kerr explores in this wide-ranging collection of essays, not only can we heal from trauma, but we can use it as an opportunity for growth and transformation, changing ourselves and the world for the better. Drawing from her experiences as researcher, trauma survivor, and psychotherapist, she examines various causes of trauma, details how to understand and treat trauma’s effects, and explores the role society plays in activating traumatic defenses. Despite the weightiness of the topic, Dr. Kerr brings hope for lasting, positive change.
As Dr. Kerr shows, the key lies in removing rigid divides, like those between wounded and healer, self and society. When they are integrated, healing becomes transformative and enduring—not only for ourselves but for the increasingly traumatized world in which we live.
Other Works
Awards and Recognition
- 2022 Recipient of a Bronze Living Now Award for Trauma's Labyrinth: Reflections of a Wounded Healer
- 2022 Recipient of a Foreword Reviews INDIE Book of the Year Award for Trauma's Labyrinth: Reflections of a Wounded Healer