Book · 2022
What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma
by Stephanie Foo
A radio producer gets diagnosed with complex PTSD at thirty and spends the rest of the book finding out what actually treats it.
What does Reddit think of What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma?
r/CPTSD does the heavy lifting here, most of the recognized references, and it's the least conflicted room in the dataset by scored sentiment. The praise doesn't hedge: ↑156 calls Stephanie Foo's memoir a masterpiece, ↑137 says they bought five extra copies for family so their husband could 'really understand,' and ↑154 says it gave hope where The Body Keeps the Score left off, the comparison this book keeps getting measured against. Then the ↑285 comment breaks the pattern entirely. A self-identified therapist says they never recommend it to clients, calling it triggering, problematic, and too much like a textbook, with a linked article naming a different book instead. One comment against a wall of enthusiasm, but it's the highest-upvoted one in the sample. The structure gets flagged too, per ↑273: an early trauma-memoir section some readers are told outright they can skip. r/therapists carries 37 mentions, none scored, so professional opinion beyond that single dissent mostly stays invisible here.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · A memoir/research split, with the trauma chapters flagged as skippable if triggering
- · Measured constantly against The Body Keeps the Score, sometimes as the gentler alternative
- · One vocal therapist dissent inside an otherwise enthusiastic r/CPTSD
- · Buying extra copies for family who don't have CPTSD, to explain what it's like
Common praise
- + The ↑137 comment says they bought five extra copies and gave them to family so their husband could understand her.
- + The ↑154 comment says it gave hope where The Body Keeps the Score left off.
- + The ↑108 comment likes that Foo isn't shy about admitting when her own research findings skeeved her out.
Common criticism
- − The ↑285 comment, a self-identified therapist, says they never recommend it to clients, calling it triggering, problematic, and too textbook-like.
- − That same comment links an article naming a different book as the safer recommendation instead.
- − r/therapists logs 37 mentions but none carry a sentiment score, so professional opinion beyond that one dissent is mostly missing from this data.
Who it's for
Pick this up if The Body Keeps the Score left you more anxious than informed. That's the specific gap the ↑154 comment says it fills. Buying extra copies for family who've never heard of CPTSD and want to understand you, the way the ↑137 comment describes handing them to a husband, is apparently a real use case here, not a hypothetical one. Therapists get more cautious: the ↑285 comment argues the memoir sections read as triggering enough to steer clients elsewhere first. If that's your worry too, the book reportedly lets you skip the trauma-memoir half, per ↑273, and go straight to the research.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“As a therapist I NEVER recommend this book to clients. It’s triggering, problematic, and feels too much like a textbook. Here’s a really good article about why it’s problematic with a recommendation for an alternative book instead: What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
“I’ve been reading “What My Bones Know” by Stephanie Foo and finding it a good read. It’s a split between a memoir of her trauma/early life (which she notes people can skip if triggering), and then her research and understanding around her CPTSD following a diagnosis when she was 30. It’s written pre…
“Toward the end of Stephanie Foo's "What My Bones Know" memoir, she discusses various studies about trauma and how it literally effects us on a molecular level. Generational trauma is real. I didn't hang on to all the nitty gritty details but it was fascinating and an excellent read. Also reminds m…
“Stephanie Foo’s “What My Bones Know” is a masterpiece and so validating. I’d highly recommend it! book link
“If you are having a hard time getting through that book, I cannot recommend enough the memoir “What My Bones Know” by Stephanie Foo. It’s an in depth look at CPTSD by someone who is experiencing it and actively seeking out different treatments. It gave me hope where “The Body Keeps the Score” left m…
““What My Bones Know” by Stephanie Foo. It’s a must read for anyone with CPTSD. I bought five more and gave them to my family. I told my husband if he wants to really understand me to read the book. Can’t recommend it enough.
“What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo is also amazing, and she’s not shy about mentioning when the results of her research skeeved her out.
“I'm over half way through "What My Bones Know" - Stephanie Foo, and it is excellent. In it, she refernces "The Body Keeps the Score" and stated that she discovered the author has a history of abuse. I haven't yet read it, mainly because I'm getting so much out of Foo's book, but it's on my shelf.
“What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo - I appreciated her frankness, her journey (especially through therapy), and it’s a good book to recommend to clients with CPTSD (though important to name trigger warnings right at the top of the book).
“Stephanie foo, what my bones know!!!!
“what my bones know by stephanie foo and self-compassion by kristin neff are two that come to mind. these really helped fuel me to mute my inner critic more and more after reading pete walker.
“What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo. Not written explicitly for therapists really but a beautiful account of someone healing from CPTSD. Helped me connect to a new favorite clinician to glean from, Dr. Jacob Ham.
“If you enjoy memoirs, What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo is a great look into the development and healing process of C-PTSD.
“The book What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo has an entire section on this. It's an excellent book and has a bunch of resources in the back that could be helpful.
“I recommend reading What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo. She mentions this book in one breath, but does a really great job explaining many other approaches to complex PTSD from her standpoint. I still think The Body Keeps the Score is worth it, just much more clinical and not as much of a personal a…
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Ranked best-of lists and editorial guides where this book's tracked mentions place it.
What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma — frequently asked
Is What My Bones Know triggering?+
According to at least one comment, yes. The ↑285 r/CPTSD comment, from a self-identified therapist, calls it triggering and problematic enough that they never recommend it to clients, linking an article that suggests an alternative. Other top comments don't raise the same concern, and the ↑273 comment notes the early trauma-memoir section is explicitly skippable if it's too much.
Is What My Bones Know better than The Body Keeps the Score?+
For at least one reader, yes. The ↑154 r/CPTSD comment says Stephanie Foo's book gave them hope where The Body Keeps the Score left off. A separate ↑102 comment adds unrelated context about that other book's author, which isn't a claim about What My Bones Know itself, just the comparison Reddit keeps reaching for.
Do therapists recommend What My Bones Know?+
It's mixed on the evidence displayed. The highest-upvoted comment in the sample, ↑285, is a therapist who explicitly says they never recommend it to clients. r/therapists logs 37 separate mentions, but none of them are scored, so this single dissenting voice is the clearest professional opinion the data actually shows.
Can I skip the trauma-memoir parts of What My Bones Know?+
Yes, per the ↑273 r/CPTSD comment, which describes the book as split between Stephanie Foo's trauma memoir and her later research into CPTSD treatment, and notes she flags the memoir section as skippable for readers who'd find it triggering.