Shaili Jain, M.D.

Shaili Jain, M.D. is a psychiatrist and PTSD specialist and currently serves as the Medical Director for Integrated Care at the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System. She is a trauma scientist affiliated with the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and a Clinical Associate Professor affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Her work has been published in some of the most prestigious medical journals, such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, Psychiatric Services and the Journal of Traumatic Stress, in addition to being featured in national publications such as The New York Times. Her medical essays and commentary have appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, Psychology Today, Kevin MD, STAT, public radio and elsewhere.

THE UNSPEAKABLE MIND: Stories of Trauma and Healing from the Frontlines of PTSD Science

THE UNSPEAKABLE MIND is the definitive guide for a trauma-burdened age. With profound empathy and meticulous research, Shaili Jain, M.D.—a practicing psychiatrist and PTSD specialist at one of America’s top VA hospitals, trauma scientist at the National Center for PTSD, and a Stanford Professor—shines a long-overdue light on the PTSD epidemic affecting today’s fractured world.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder goes far beyond the horrors of war and is an inescapable part of all our lives. At any given moment, more than six million Americans are suffering with PTSD. Dr. Jain’s groundbreaking work demonstrates the ways this disorder cuts to the heart of life, interfering with one’s capacity to love, create, and work—incapacity brought on by a complex interplay between biology, genetics, and environment. Beyond the struggles of individuals, PTSD has a tangible imprint on our cultures and societies around the world

Since 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there has been a huge growth in the science of PTSD, a body of evidence that continues to grow exponentially. With this new knowledge have come dramatic advances in the effective treatment of this condition. Jain draws on a decade of her own clinical innovation and research and argues for a paradigm shift in how PTSD should be approached in the new millennium. She highlights the myriads of ways PTSD care is being transformed to make it more accessible, acceptable, and available to sufferers via integrated care models, use of peer support programs, and technology. By identifying those among us who are most vulnerable to developing PTSD, cutting edge medical interventions that hold the promise of preventing the onset of PTSD are becoming more of a reality than ever before.

Combining vividly recounted patient stories, interviews with some of the world’s top trauma scientists, and her professional expertise from working on the frontlines of PTSD, The Unspeakable Mind offers a textured portrait of this invisible illness that is unrivaled in scope. A nuanced cartography of a widely misunderstood condition, this book is essential reading for understanding the pathways via which human beings can recover from unspeakable trauma. The Unspeakable Mind stands as the definitive guide to PTSD and offers lasting hope to sufferers, loved ones, and health care providers everywhere.

"A constant of modern life is trauma, shared widely in word and image and discussed openly on social media. Whether the trauma is personal or political, it affects millions. I can't think of anyone I'd trust more to write a nuanced examination of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder than Dr. Shaili Jain."—Dr. Sandeep Jauhar, author of the NYT bestselling Doctored and Intern from FSG, and NYT Op-Ed contributor

Rights: Harper, North America