Now and Then: Complex Trauma and the Disruption of Relational Time - Paperback

by Christopher Barker Ph. D. (Author)

What if trauma changes more than memory?

What if it alters the way time unfolds between people--making connection feel fragile, uncertainty feel permanent, and endings seem inevitable before relationships have a chance to continue?

In Now and Then, clinical psychologist Dr. Christopher Barker introduces the concept of relational time: a powerful framework for understanding how complex trauma reshapes the experience of connection. Rather than remaining confined to the past, trauma can disrupt the flow of relationships in the present, teaching the nervous system to anticipate rupture, abandonment, or loss before they occur.

Drawing on attachment theory, neuroscience, and decades of clinical experience, Barker explores how early relational wounds become embedded in everyday interactions. Readers will discover why moments can feel emotionally overwhelming, why trust is often difficult to sustain, and how trauma narrows experience into a series of disconnected "now" moments.

But this is also a book about possibility.

With clarity, compassion, and practical insight, Now and Then illuminates how healing unfolds through relationships, repair, and the gradual restoration of continuity. It offers a hopeful understanding of how the nervous system can learn that connection can endure--and that the future does not have to repeat the past.

For readers seeking a deeper understanding of trauma, attachment, and healing, this book offers a compelling new perspective on what it means to move forward.