Personal Experiences, Informational Resources, and More - Books, Podcasts, and Videos Addressing Family Violence
Looking for resources that can relate your experience with family violence? Looking for videos or podcasts that address family violence or topics related? Looking for more information on family violence offered by personal experiences and professional expertise? Or just looking for informational resources that can provide context to the issue of family violence? We’ve got you covered with this comprehensive list of books, podcasts, and videos that address the issue of family violence and topics associated with it.
We’ve separated the categories out into books, podcasts, and videos. To assist in categorizing whether the resource addresses from an informational 3rd person point of view or a 1st person point of view, we have also categorized the resources into ‘firsthand experiences’.
If you have any questions or comments concerning this guide, please do not hesitate to reach out to our Communications Specialist Shay at communications@thetodaycentre.ca.
NOTE: If you or someone you know if a victim of family violence and may be in an unsafe situation, please remember to clear your browser history of this search and not to open the links below in other tabs.
Books - firsthand experiences
trauma
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist’s Notebook by Bruce D. Perry, M.D and Maia Szalavitz (2007)
Child psychiatrist Bruce Perry has helped children face with unimaginable horror: genocide survivors, murder witnesses, kidnapped teenagers, and victims of family violence. Perry tells their stories of trauma and transformation through the lens of science, revealing the brain’s astonishing capacity for healing.
What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry, M.D and Oprah Winfrey (2021)
Through deeply personal conversations, Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain and trauma expert, Bruce Perry, offer a groundbreaking and profound shift from asking “what’s wrong with you?” to “what happened to you?”.
victim-survivor Stories
Resilience is Futile: The Life and Death and Life of Julie S. Lalonde by Julie S. Lalonde
A story of survival, courage, and ultimately, hope. But it’s also a challenge to the ways we understand trauma and resilience. It’s the story of one survivor who won’t give up and refuses to shut up.
Standing Together: Women Speak Out About Violence and Abuse edited by Linda Goyette
This collection of stories and poems contains firsthand accounts from women, for the most part from Alberta, who have suffered physical, psychological, and/or sexual abuse from male partners, friends, family members, lovers, and strangers.
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and A Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land (2020) - Also a Netflix Series
An emotionally raw, masterful account of Stephanie’s years spent in service to upper middle class America as a “nameless ghost” who quietly shared in her clients’ triumphs, tragedies, and deepest secrets.
Not Without My Pet: Understanding The Relationship Between Victims of Domestic Violence and Their Pets by Andrew Campbell (2021)
Campbell survived his own familial abuse in great part due to the support and unconditional love of his own pet. His compelling personal story inspired his groundbreaking research about the role that pets play in protecting victims of family violence.
Dream Big!: Overcoming A Lifetime of Trauma and Abuse That Led to Dreams of Success by Kathy Tuccaro (2017)
A story of change through faith, courage, hope, and an unrelenting determination to push forward and attain your goals. Follow Kathy on her journey through the winds of change as she overcomes years of sexual abuse, violence, and trauma.
The Full Catastrophe: A Memoir by Karen Elizabeth Lee (2016)
Karen explores the dreams she had during a period of 16 years, the intuitive messages she learned to trust in order to heal, and her own emotional journey - including romances, travel, friends, and Jungian analysis.
Books - Informational
Relationships
Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find-and Keep-Love by Amir Levine, M.D and Rachel S.F. Heller (2010)
Discover how an understanding of adult attachment- the most advanced relationship science in existence today- can help us find and sustain love.
Codependent No More by Melody Beattie (1986)
Helping you break old patterns, maintain healthy boundaries, and say no to unhealthy relationships.
Peace
The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer (2007)
By tapping into traditions of meditation and mindfulness, author and spiritual teacher, Michael A. Singer, shows how the development of consciousness can enable us all to dwell in the present moment and let go of painful thoughts and memories that keep us from achieving happiness and self-realization.
The Language of Letting Go: Daily Meditations on Codependency by Melody Beattie (1990)
Beattie integrates her own life experiences and fundamental recovery reflections in this unique daily meditation book written especially for those of us who struggle with the issue of codependency.
Self-Love
The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown, Ph.D (2010)
Brown, a leading expert on shame, authenticity, and belonging, shares what she’s learned from a decade of research on the power of wholehearted living- a way of engaging with the world from a place of worthiness.
Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristen Neff, Ph.D (2011)
The research of Neff and others strongly suggests that people who are more self-compassionate lead healthier, more productive lives than those who are self-critical.
Abusive behaviours
Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Lundy Bancroft (2003)
Bancroft, a counselor who specializes in working with abusive men, uses his knowledge about how abusers think to help women recognize when they are being controlled or devalued, and to find ways to get free of an abusive relationship.
Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life by Evan Stark (2007)
In providing a model for understanding incents of domestic violence, this book demonstrates how physical abuse is linked to three equally important perpetrator tactics: intimidation, isolation, and control.
A Typology of Domestic Violence: Intimate Terrorism, Violence Resistance, and Situational Couple Violence by Michael P. Johnson (2008)
Johnson argues that domestic violence is not a unitary phenomenon. Instead, he delineates three major, dramatically different, forms of partner violence: intimate terrorism, violent resistance, and situational couple violence.
Invisible Chains: Overcoming Coercive Control in Your Intimate Relationship by Dr. Lisa Aronson Fontes, Ph.D (2015)
In some relationships, the desire to control leads to jealousy, gaslighting, threats, micromanaging- even physical violence. If you or someone you care about are trapped in a web of coercive control, this book provides answers, hope, and a way out.
No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us by Rachel Louise Snyder (2019)
Journalist Rachel Louise Snyder frames this urgent and immersive account of the scale of domestic violence in our country around key stories that explode the common myths surrounding domestic violence.
Trauma
The Body Keeps Score: Brain, Mind, & Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D (2015)
Dr. van der Kolk uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both boy and brain, compromising suffers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust.
No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal family Systems Model by Dick Schwartz, Ph.D (2021)
You’ll learn why IFS (internal family systems) has been so effective in areas such as trauma recovery, addiction therapy, and depression treatment, and how this new understanding of consciousness has the potential to radically change our lives.
It Didn’t Start With You by Mark Wolynn (2016)
Leading readers through a process of self-discovery and healing, helping them identify the emotionally-charged language of their worries and fears that link to unresolved traumas in their childhood or family history.
Trauma Through A Child’s Eyes: Awakening the Ordinary Miracle of Healing by Peter A. Levine, Ph.D and Maggie Kline (2006)
Rich with case studies and hands-on activities, this book gives insight into children’s innate ability to rebound with the appropriate support, and provides their caregivers with tools to overcome and prevent trauma.
Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter A. Levine, Ph.D (1997)
Offering a new and hopeful vision of trauma. It views the human animal as a unique being, endowed with an instinctual capacity. It asks and answers an intriguing question: why are animals in the wild, though threatened routinely, rarely traumatized?
The Ripple Effect of Resiliency: Strategies for Fostering Resiliency with Indigenous Children by Monique Grey Smith (2020)
Discussing resiliency and trauma as a resource and workbook for those working with Indigenous children and families.
Posttraumatic Growth: Theory, Research, and Applications by Richard G. Tedeschi, Ph.D, et al. (2018)
A wide range of answers to questions concerning knowledge of posttraumatic growth (PTG) theory, its synthesis and contrast with other theories and models, and its applications in diverse settings.
Widen the Window by Elizabeth A. Stanley, Ph.D (2019)
The more we can access agency over our own situation, and rewire our mind and body, the more we can widen the window within which our “thinking brain” and our “survival brain” work together cooperatively.
Talking to children about family violence
Coercive Control in Children’s and Mother’s Lives by Emma Katz (2022)
Katz argues that the opportunities for children and mothers to resist coercive control occur in everyday life, not just dramatic incidents of violence, and it is perpetrators who must be held accountable for their impacts on children.
When Dad Hurts Mom: Helping Your Children Heal the Wounds of Witnessing Abuse by Lundy Bancroft (2005)
Written by a therapist who specializes in abusive men, this guide reveals how abusers interact with and manipulate children, and how mothers can help their children recover from the trauma of witnessing abuse.
Luna Little Legs: Helping Young Children to Understand Domestic Abuse and Coercive Control by Catherine Lawler and Norma Howes (2022)
This sensitively written storybook has been created to help very young children understand about domestic abuse and coercive control.
How Are You Feeling Today Baby Bear?: Exploring Big Feelings After Living in a Stormy Home by Jane Evans (2014)
This sensitive, charming storybook is written to help children who have lived with violence at home to begin to explore and name their feelings. Accompanied by notes for adults.
Something Is Wrong At My House: A Book About Parents’ Fighting by Diane Davis (2010)
Based on a true story, this book shows a child seeking, and finally obtaining, help in a domestic violence situation.
Childhood Disrupted: How your Biography Becomes your Biology, and How You Can Heal by Donna Jackson Nakazawa (2016)
A groundbreaking book showing the link between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and adult illnesses such as heart disease, autoimmune disease, and cancer - Childhood Disrupted also explains how to cope with these emotional traumas and even heal from them.
Mental Health
Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David D. Burns, M.D. (2008)
Eminent psychiatrist, David D. Burns, outlines the remarkable, scientifically proven techniques that will immediately lift your spirits and help you develop a positive outlook on life.
When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress by Gabor Mate, M.D (2004)
Promotes learning and healing, providing transformative insights into how disease can be the body’s way of saying no to what the mind cannot or will not acknowledge.
Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Dr. Julie Smith (2022)
Filled with secrets from a therapist’s toolkit, this book teaches you how to fortify and maintain your mental health, even in the most trying times.
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Dr. Emilgy Nagoski, Ph.D and Amelia Nagoski (2020)
This groundbreaking book explains why women experience burnout differently than men, and provides a simple, science-based plan to help women minimize stress, manage emotions, and live a more joyful life.
Hardwiring Happiness by Rick Hanson, Ph.D (2013)
Why is it easier to ruminate over hurt feelings than it is to bask in the warmth of being appreciated? Because our brain evolved to learn quickly from bad experiences and slowly from good ones, but you can change this.
POdcasts - firsthand experiences
I’m A Survivor with Misty Chaviers
A personal journey as a domestic violence survivor and advocate and along the way as she found her own voice, she’s able to give other survivors and victims of domestic violence a platform to tell their stories of resilience.
Shatterproof: Thriving After Domestic Abuse by Mickie Zada
I’m Mickie Zada and I lived in abuse, for 34 years, from age 19 until I was 53.
Something Was Wrong by Tiffany Reese
A podcast aimed to validate abuse victims and educate the public on important topics such as emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, coercive control, and gaslighting.
My Invisible Story by Anne Bona
Coming from someone who’s been on both sides of the fence, my hope is that by sharing both mine and other’s testimonies of healing, you can know that yours is possible too
Armchair Expert with Anna Kendrick by Dax Shepherd
Anna discusses her experience being in a toxic relationship, how she feels about the term “gaslighting”, and her strategies in dealing with a traumatic event.
Hope in Hell Series by Deena Kordt
Meeting people making a difference, meet brave people who have been there, and learn more about how we can all be part of the change. Hope in Hell is series by Deena Kordt with Life Changes Magazine introducing people who have experienced domestic violence and the organizations that help them find safety and healing.
Podcasts - informational
Relationships
Life Changes Magazine Channel with Deena Kordt
Are you or someone you know considering, dealing with, or been through a divorce or separation? Well, you’re in the right place. You don’t have to do this alone. There are people who care and want to help. Hear from a team of experts and professionals on how to navigate this difficult transition in your life easier, more efficiently, and with better outcomes.
Abusive Behaviours
A Date with Darkness by Dr. Natalie Jones, PsyD.
Discusses the impact of narcissistic abuse and other relationship wounds on your wellbeing.
Videos - informational
Family Violence
First Impressions: Exposure to Violence and a Child’s Developing Brain
Produced for the Attorney General’s Office, we learn about the effects of domestic violence on young children.
Home Fire: Ending the Cycle of Family Violence by NCSA
A film that explores family violence and restorative justice from an Indigenous perspective.
Trauma
Trauma and the Brain: Understanding Abuse Survivors Responses by Media Co-Op
An animation to help you in your work with service users who have experienced family violence and to help more professionals to understand the effects of abuse.
Trauma and the Nervous System: A Polyvagal Perspective by The Trauma Foundation
A basic introduction and overview of how trauma and chronic stress affects our nervous system and how those effects impact our healty and wellbeing.
Relationships
Empathy by Brene Brown
What is the best way to ease someone’s pain and suffering? In this beautifully animated RSA short, Brene Brown reminds us that we can only create a genuine empathetic connection if we are brave enough to really get in touch with our own fragilities.
Videos - Firsthand Experiences
Shorts
Namrata by NFB
A short documentary telling the intensely personal story of Namrata Gill - on the many real life inspirations for Deepa Mehta’s Heavon on Earth- in her own words.
Why Domestic Violence Victims Don’t Leave by Leslie Morgan Steiner
In this TED talk, Steiner addresses the issue with asking the question, “why didn’t she just leave"?”.
Documentaries - Victims of family violence
Mourning Son directed by Todd Newman (2015)
Dave Navarro goes on a journey to understand the horrific events surrounding his mother’s murder by her estranged ex-boyfriend, when was Navarro was only 15-years-old.
Power and Control directed by Peter Cohen (2010)
Depicting the issue of domestic violence in the U.S as told through the personal story of Kim Mosher, a mother of three from Wabasha, Minnesota, and victim of physical and emotional abuse.
Private Violence directed by Cynthia Hill (2014)
Filmmaker Cynthia hill explores the complicated and complex realities of intimate partner violence, through the eyes of survivors.
Tales From the Other Side by ACON Health
Presenting stories of survival from those who have experienced domestic or family violence in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) communities.
Documentaries - Shared Stories
A Dangerous Silence directed by Jacobe Love (2020)
Families, friends, and experts in the small town of Columbus, Georgia share testimonials about their battles lost and won, in their efforts against domestic violence and teenage dating violence.
Documentaries - understanding the perpetrator
A Better Man directed by Attiya Khan and Lawrence Jackman (2017)
Filmmaker Attiya Khan documents her meeting with an abusive ex-boyfriend to show the healing and revelation that can happen for everyone involved when men take responsibility for their abuse.