Traumaland Polacy w cieniu przeszłości Polacy w cieniu przeszłości

How to break free from the influence of historical trauma? Distrustful of the state and all institutions. Always complaining and dissatisfied. Full of fears and anxieties. And at the same time ready to mobilise enormously in times of crisis and to help others when they are in need. Such are the people of Traumaland. Michal Bilewicz invites you to explore the social psychology of Poles. He shows that we are not unique. Like other historically traumatised nations, we have adapted to the difficult conditions in which our ancestors had to live. But are we condemned to be constantly reminded of a difficult history? Is there a way out of the world of fears and hypersensitivity? The book Traumaland not only provides an understanding of how history has shaped our everyday behaviour, fears and obsessions. It also presents tips on how not to let ourselves be ghosted by the past. A book recommended by the Polish Association of Social Psychology This is a book for the brave and inquisitive, who do not believe in a one-dimensional image of Poland - of which we are either to be proud or ashamed. This is a book for the ambitious who want to build their historiosophical maturity by seeing both of the above perspectives. This is a book for the sensitive who want to understand themselves without falling into group narcissism, complaint culture, victim mythology, conspiracy theories and without inciting social aggression. They want to be aware of the traumas transmitted from one generation to the next, but not to give in to their destructive power. This is a book also for psychotherapists, who, thanks to this book, will be attentive not only to what happened to their patients in early childhood, but also to what tragedies their ancestors and great ancestors were involved in. Michal Bilewicz shows what cognitive traps our consciousness, immersed in martyrdom and the patriotism built on it, is exposed to. But he does not stop at describing the aetiology and psychopathology of Traumaland. He proposes a therapy: to know, problematise, understand and tame the historical trauma in which we are immersed, and then regain personal, social and political agency. Because 'post-traumatic growth' is possible - if we understand our national PTSD. Bogdan de Barbaro, psychiatrist, psychotherapist The book Traumaland is written in a reader-friendly way, citing numerous examples from the world, the results of the latest psychological research - but it is also rich in the author's thoughts and reflections. Reading this book is a real reading adventure, and after all, it is not easy to write straightforwardly on such a challenging topic. Daniel Bar-Tal, social psychologist Michał Bilewicz - social and political psychologist, employee of the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Warsaw, where he heads the Centre for Research on Prejudice. He works on psychological mechanisms of reconciliation, collective memory, trauma and prejudice. Winner of the Nevitt Sanford Prize awarded by the International Society for Political Psychology (ISPP).