Author Examines Unfinished Business of Childhood Trauma

Publications

By Paul R. Pace

“I grew up in a home shaped by trauma, where my father’s unresolved childhood wounds showed up as rage, shame and addiction,” says Adam McCormick, PhD, MSW, professor of social work at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. “Like many children, I adapted in ways that helped me survive and stay connected, eventually becoming what I saw as a ‘cycle breaker.’”

While McCormick built a life and career that looked nothing like his childhood, he began to recognize over time that the trauma had not disappeared. His NASW Press book, “Healing the Helping Professional: The Unfinished Business of Childhood Trauma,” came from a desire to better understand that pattern and to offer a more honest and compassionate framework for addressing it, McCormick said. The book emphasizes that trauma is not simply something to overcome, but something that adapts and evolves with us.

“Many of the qualities we value most in helping professions—selflessness, empathy and perseverance—can also be rooted in survival strategies developed in childhood,” he explained. “Healing begins not with fixing ourselves, but with understanding the origins and purpose of these adaptations and reconnecting with our authentic selves.”

“This book invites a different approach, one that is less focused on changing who we are and more focused on reconnecting with the parts of ourselves we had to leave behind,” McCormick said. “It asks us to shift from asking what is wrong with this behavior now to better appreciating what was right about it then.”