Author Guide · Trauma & Psychology
Books Written by
Peter A. Levine started with a question about animals: why does an impala that escapes a cheetah get up, shake and go back to grazing, while people can stay stuck in fear for years? Trained in medical biophysics at the University of California, Berkeley, and later in psychology, he built his answer into a body-based therapy he called Somatic Experiencing, trademarked in 1989. Waking the Tiger (1997) brought the idea to general readers; his publisher says it is now available in 24 languages. He went on to write for parents and for therapists, and in 2024 about the assault he survived as a boy. This guide covers his eight key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 8 key books · 1997–2024 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Peter A. Levine’s best-known books are Waking the Tiger (1997), In an Unspoken Voice (2010), Trauma and Memory (2015) and his memoir An Autobiography of Trauma (2024). Start with Waking the Tiger, the book that introduced his method to general readers; the later books show how he developed it and, in the memoir, where it came from.
Where to Start with Peter A. Levine
If you want the book that introduced his ideas
→ Waking the Tiger (1997) — his model of trauma, written for general readers.
If you want his fullest account of the method
→ In an Unspoken Voice (2010) — the longer, more clinical book, with a foreword by Gabor Maté.
If you are a parent or teacher
→ Trauma-Proofing Your Kids (2008) — written with Maggie Kline for adults caring for children.
If you want the story behind the work
→ An Autobiography of Trauma (2024) — his memoir, published in 2024.
8 Peter A. Levine Books, in Order
Waking the Tiger
Levine asks why wild animals, threatened routinely, rarely seem traumatised, and uses his answer to set out his view of human trauma as energy that stays “stuck” in the body. The book has four parts, from “The Body as Healer” to “First Aid for Trauma”, with body-awareness exercises for readers. Reviewers in Psychosomatic Medicine (1998) and The Psychologist (2011) found the cases interesting but questioned the self-help exercises and the undeveloped idea of “energy”.
Healing Trauma
A short book of about ninety pages issued by Sounds True with an audio CD of guided exercises. It is meant for readers who want to try the body-awareness techniques from Waking the Tiger step by step.
Trauma Through a Child’s Eyes
Written with the therapist Maggie Kline for parents, teachers and health professionals, it covers children from infancy to adolescence. It treats not only abuse and disasters but everyday events — falls, car accidents, medical procedures, divorce — as possible sources of trauma, with case studies and activities to use with children.
Trauma-Proofing Your Kids
A shorter, more practical follow-up for parents, again with Maggie Kline. It offers exercises for reducing stress, setting boundaries and building a child’s body awareness, and covers situations from bullying and abuse to accidents, loss and divorce.
In an Unspoken Voice
His fullest account of Somatic Experiencing, combining case histories with material from biology, neuroscience and animal behaviour. Levine argues that trauma is an injury caused by fear, helplessness and loss rather than a disease, and that people can recover by drawing on an inborn capacity to regulate arousal. Gabor Maté wrote the foreword.
Freedom from Pain
Written with the pain psychologist Maggie Phillips and published by Sounds True, which also issued it as a guided audio programme. It applies Somatic Experiencing ideas to chronic pain, on the view that pain from injuries, surgery or migraines can be bound up with past physical and emotional trauma.
Trauma and Memory
Aimed mainly at therapists, it looks at how traumatic memories are held in both brain and body, and how Levine works with them in therapy, using case examples. It carries an introduction by Bessel van der Kolk.
An Autobiography of Trauma
Levine describes being sexually assaulted at twelve by a gang in the Bronx, an attack meant to pressure his father, who was due to testify against a mob boss, and how that history shaped his work. He also writes about dreams and visions he regards as guiding him, including visits from Albert Einstein, and about mentors such as Mira Rothenberg. Publishers Weekly praised some brave disclosures but found the book uneven.
In What Order to Read Peter A. Levine
None of Levine’s books depends on another, but they build on the same model. Waking the Tiger sets out the basic idea; Healing Trauma turns it into exercises; In an Unspoken Voice and Trauma and Memory explain it at length for a more clinical reader. The two books with Maggie Kline apply it to children.
If you are a parent, you can go straight to Trauma-Proofing Your Kids. Read the memoir last: it explains where the work came from, and it makes more sense once you know the method he describes.
A reading path
1. Waking the Tiger (1997)
2. Healing Trauma (2005)
3. In an Unspoken Voice (2010)
4. Trauma and Memory (2015)
5. An Autobiography of Trauma (2024)
Everything Else Peter A. Levine Published
Beyond the 8 key books: 2 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Other titles
2
2 books · 2001–2003
- 2001It Won’t Hurt Forever: Guiding Your Child Through Traumaa guide for parents of children after frightening events
- 2003Sexual Healingon recovering from sexual trauma
The years · 1942–2024
Quick facts about Peter A. Levine
- Known for
- Developing Somatic Experiencing, a body-based approach to trauma, and introducing it to general readers in Waking the Tiger (1997).
- 1942
- Born in the United States
- 1989
- Somatic Experiencing is trademarked
- 1997
- Waking the Tiger
- 2010
- In an Unspoken Voice; lifetime achievement award
- Born
- 1942, United States; grew up in New York
- Education
- Doctorate in medical and biological physics, University of California, Berkeley; doctorate in psychology, International University
- Known for
- Somatic Experiencing, trademarked in 1989
- Institutes
- Founder of the Ergos Institute for Somatic Education and of Somatic Experiencing International
- Honours
- Lifetime Achievement Award, United States Association for Body Psychotherapy (2010)
- Other work
- Stress consultant to NASA during development of the space shuttle
The red mark is 1997: Waking the Tiger, the book that brought his ideas to general readers.
How Peter A. Levine Writes: Animals, Cases and the Body
Levine’s books usually start from animal behaviour. In his account, a prey animal that survives an attack goes through a freeze response and then “discharges” it by trembling or shaking; humans, he argues, often override that process, and the unfinished response stays in the body as symptoms. Much of his writing returns to this comparison, which is also the part scientists have questioned most.
The rest is built from case histories. A typical chapter follows one client through a session, with Levine directing attention to bodily sensation in small steps (“titration”) and moving between distress and calm (“pendulation”). The early books address the reader directly with exercises; the later ones, written for therapists, add neuroscience and longer explanations of the model.
His tone is hopeful and practical rather than academic, and from An Autobiography of Trauma on he writes openly about his own history. Readers who want the scientific picture alongside his books often pair them with Bessel van der Kolk or Gabor Maté; see Authors like Bessel van der Kolk.
Watch
Peter Levine on healing after trauma
Levine talks with Rick and Forrest Hanson on the Being Well podcast in 2024 about his memoir, his own history of trauma and the ideas behind Somatic Experiencing.
Frequently asked questions about Peter A. Levine’s books
How many books has Peter A. Levine written?
About ten under his name. Eight are the key books on this page, from Waking the Tiger (1997) to An Autobiography of Trauma (2024); the other two are It Won’t Hurt Forever (2001) and Sexual Healing (2003). Several were written with co-authors: Ann Frederick, Maggie Kline and Maggie Phillips.
What are Peter A. Levine’s books in order?
Waking the Tiger (1997), Healing Trauma (2005), Trauma Through a Child’s Eyes (2006), Trauma-Proofing Your Kids (2008), In an Unspoken Voice (2010), Freedom from Pain (2012), Trauma and Memory (2015) and An Autobiography of Trauma (2024).
Where should I start with Peter A. Levine?
Waking the Tiger (1997), written for general readers, sets out his model of trauma and includes body-awareness exercises. If you want a fuller, more clinical account, go on to In an Unspoken Voice (2010).
What is Peter A. Levine’s most famous book?
Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma (1997), written with Ann Frederick. North Atlantic Books says it is available in 24 languages.
What is Somatic Experiencing?
The body-based approach to trauma Levine developed, trademarked in 1989. Practitioners guide clients to notice bodily sensations in small, manageable steps rather than going straight into the traumatic memory. In Levine’s view this lets the nervous system complete responses that were cut off during the event.
Is Somatic Experiencing scientifically proven?
Not conclusively. A 2021 scoping review by Kuhfuß and colleagues found preliminary evidence of positive effects on PTSD symptoms but called the evidence base weak and asked for more unbiased randomised trials. Some ideas SE draws on, such as parts of Polyvagal Theory, are disputed, and experts have generally not found evidence for his claims about prey animals. His memoir’s accounts of visits from Albert Einstein have also drawn comment.
Why is it called Waking the Tiger?
The title comes from Levine’s comparison with animals in the wild: he argues that people, like prey animals, have an instinctive capacity to recover from threat, and that his method helps “wake” it.
Which Peter A. Levine book is for parents?
Trauma-Proofing Your Kids (2008) is the practical parents’ guide; Trauma Through a Child’s Eyes (2006) is longer and also aimed at teachers and health professionals. Both were written with Maggie Kline.
Is Peter A. Levine still alive?
Yes. He was born in 1942 and published his memoir, An Autobiography of Trauma, in 2024, followed by interviews about it.
Did Peter A. Levine work with Bessel van der Kolk and Gabor Maté?
They are connected through their books: Gabor Maté wrote the foreword to In an Unspoken Voice (2010), and Bessel van der Kolk the introduction to Trauma and Memory (2015).
Footnotes
- Somatic experiencing — Wikipedia
- Waking the Tiger — Wikipedia
- Waking the Tiger — North Atlantic Books
- In an Unspoken Voice — North Atlantic Books
- An Autobiography of Trauma — Publishers Weekly, 2024
- Healing After Trauma with Dr. Peter Levine — Being Well podcast, 2024
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“Trauma is a fact of life, but it doesn’t have to be a life sentence.”
— Peter A. Levine, as quoted by his publisher Sounds True for Healing Trauma (2005)
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