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The mission of Tria Corda Ministry is to help Catholics receive and extend Christ’s healing love. We do this by equipping those in ministry to implement trauma-informed practices in their work. We also help individuals to build resilience, find Catholic healing resources, and find intercessors and encouragement in the lives of saints who faced trauma.
The purpose of this page is to curate a list of books that will be helpful for your learning in the areas of content that we cover, as well as to direct you to articles on the site that discuss these topics.
Trauma-Informed Ministry Resources
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 70% of all people will experience at least one potentially traumatic event in their lives.
These events have the potential to wreak havoc on people’s mental and physical health, spiritual lives, relationships, and more.
Trauma’s pervasiveness makes it critical to be trauma-informed. If we aren’t aware of the pervasiveness of trauma and its potential effects, we may inadvertently retraumatize people. Retraumatization can cause people to reexperience trauma as if it were happening again, which can hamper recovery.
On the other hand, if we are trauma-informed and aware of its pervasiveness, we can intentionally create safe and healing spaces, and extend Christ’s healing love to trauma survivors.
Here at Tria Corda Ministry, our goal is to equip those working or volunteering in Catholic ministry with the tools they need to be trauma-informed in their ministry.
The first step in becoming trauma-informed is to increase your knowledge about trauma and its effects. Below, you’ll find a list of books that we have found helpful for improving our understanding of trauma. We’ll include a link to buy the book and a link to our review of each book.
- The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
- What Happened to You? By Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Bruce Perry
- Childhood Disrupted by Donna Jackson Nakazawa
- Fragile Resurrection by Dr. Ashley Theuring
- It Didn’t Start With You by Mark Wolynn
Another way to begin your trauma-informed ministry journey is by signing up to receive our free workbook and course. In this course, we’ll guide you through the principles of trauma-informed ministry and how to incorporate them in your work. You can sign up for the course below.
Healing Resources
If you work or volunteer in ministry, you may sometimes hear about the trauma people have faced, and people may ask for referrals to resources for the healing journey. Our healing resources section will help you prepare to provide these referrals.
Additionally, if you have faced trauma, finding solid Catholic resources to help you on the healing journey is essential. These resources will ensure that the steps you are taking towards healing align with your faith.
You can check out the Healing Resources section of our site below.
Resilience Resources
Resilience is an ability that can help people to heal from trauma and its impacts, handle the daily stresses of life well, and thrive and live out God’s will for their lives.
Here at Tria Corda Ministry, we seek to help people grow in resilience, as it is crucial for the healing journey.
Below, you’ll find a list of books that we have found helpful for increasing our understanding of resilience. We’ll include a link to buy the book and, if possible, a link to our review of each book.
- The Resilience Factor by Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte
- Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back by Andrew Zolli
- Resilient by Rick Hanson
- Bouncing Back by Linda Graham
- The Resilience Shield by Dr. Dan Pronk, Ben Pronk, and Tim Curtis
Many different factors can promote resilience. Here at Tria Corda Ministry, we divide these factors into five different categories of resilience-promoting activities:
- Mental health: Knowing the truth and healing from lies
- Physical health: Care for the body and community
- Spiritual health: Regular prayer and reception of the sacraments
- Virtue: Intentionally striving to live a virtuous life
- Vocation: Living out the various callings God has placed on your heart
Below, we’ll list books that are helpful for each of these categories.
Mental Health
- Change Your Thinking by Sarah Edelman: This book walks you through various exercises used in cognitive behavioral therapy to help you identify your irrational thinking patterns and begin to challenge and reverse them.
- Into His Likeness by Dr. Edward Sri: This book walks you through various habits necessary for discipleship, including a chapter about how to incorporate regular reading of Scripture and other spiritual writings into your life so you can form your mind with the truth.
- The Mindful Catholic by Dr. Greg Bottaro: This book discusses the topic of mindfulness, or focusing on the present moment, from a Catholic perspective.
Physical Health
- Into His Likeness by Dr. Edward Sri: This book walks you through various habits necessary for discipleship, including community with fellow disciples.
Spiritual Health:
- Into His Likeness by Dr. Edward Sri: This book walks you through various habits necessary for discipleship, including regular prayer.
- 13 Powerful Ways to Pray by Fr. Eamon Tobin: This book discusses keys to effective prayer and various types of prayer
- Rediscover Catholicism by Matthew Kelly: This book discusses essential practices for Catholics, including regular prayer and reception of the sacraments.
Virtue
- Broken and Blessed by Fr. Josh Johnson: This book includes a section on how fasting can aid our growth in virtue
- Nine Words by Dr. Allen Hunt: This book is a Bible study on nine essential virtues. Throughout the book, Dr. Hunt provides practical suggestions for growing in these virtues.
- Emotional Virtue by Sarah Swafford: This book provides tips for intentionally striving to grow in virtue with the accountability of your community.
Vocation
- Called by God by Rachael Marie Collins: This book is an excellent guide for women discerning their state-in-life vocation.
- The Rhythm of Life by Matthew Kelly: In one section of the book, Matthew Kelly discusses how to find your unique calling at the intersection of your talents, passions, and the needs of the world.
- Your Blue Flame by Jennifer Fulwiler: This book is an excellent guide for discovering your God-given gifts and how to use them
For Women
How we grow in resilience will differ between men and women, as discussed in this article.
These books are especially helpful for women striving to build habits in the five areas of resilience building:
- Edith Stein’s Essays on Women: This book discusses the unique virtues and vices of women, how women should design their prayer lives, and women’s vocations
- The Language of Your Body by Christina Valenzuela: This book discusses women’s hormonal cycles and how to incorporate this cycle into your prayer life
- Fast Like a Girl by Dr. Mindy Pelz: This book discusses women’s nutrition and how it can impact their cycles.
Another way to help your journey of growing in resilience is to participate in our free 5-week resilience-building challenge. You can sign up for this challenge below:
Resources to Learn About the Saints
Here at Tria Corda Ministry, we tell the stories of saints who faced trauma so we can learn from their healing journeys and ask for their intercession if we face similar situations.
The following books will help you learn more about saints who faced trauma:
The Holy Family
- Our article about the Holy Family
- Resources:
The Visionaries of Fatima
St. Kateri Tekakwitha
St. Monica
Servant of God Leonie Martin
Pope St. John Paul II
- Our article about Pope St. John Paul II
- Resources:
Venerable Chiara Corbella Petrillo
St. Therese of Lisieux
Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin
St. Maria Goretti
- Our article about St. Maria Goretti
- Resources:
The saints teach us many great lessons for the healing journey and can provide extraordinary intercession for our journeys. You can sign up for our free week-long healing retreat with the saints below.