Paul Valent

OAM, MBBS, DPM, FRANZCP
Consultant liaison psychiatrist, psychotherapist, traumatologist, Co-founder and past President Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and Child Survivors of the Holocaust, Writer.

A wholist perspective. Presentation to the Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Conference Hobart

From the crucible of traumatology arise questions of morality, ethics, and philosophical questions of meaning and purpose.

The wholist perspective (wholist = holistic + whole) includes a three-dimensional view of survival and aspiration to fufilment responses. The depth dimension traces fulfilments and traumatic disruptions from instinctual drives to what we call spirituality. Different levels of scaffolding on this dimension include instincts, survival drives (strategies), morality (virtue, worth, justice), principles, ethics, religions and other beliefs, identity, symbols, creativity, sacredness, existential meanings, sacredness, reason and soul. Morality and spirituality depend on specific survival and aspirational responses on different levels.

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Child Survivors of the Holocaust

In this book, ten child survivors of the Second World War, of different ages, from different countries, and with varied experiences, tell their stories.

From Survival to Fulfillment

When survival or fulfilment are threatened, people manifest a great variety of responses and consequences. They range from basic instincts to the most sublime aspects of life.

Trauma and Fulfillment Therapy

This book follows logically From Survival to Fulfillment, in its practical applicability to diagnose and repair tears in the human fabric.

In Two Minds; Tales of a Psychotherapist

Paul Valent, retired medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychotherapist and traumatologist, describes the struggles and discoveries in his varied four-decade career. Each chapter offers a glimpse into different psychotherapeutic encounters

Heart of Violence: Why People Harm Each Other

Violence is the plague of our civilization. Its many tentacles – domestic violence, criminal violence, sexual abuse, terrorism, state violence, revolution, war and genocide threaten us daily.

Mental Health in the Times of the Pandemic

The pandemic threw our world up in the air. We deal with the immediacy of survival. We try to orientate ourselves, but our minds are in a fog. We are captured by many feelings and sensations

Know Thyself: Our Hidden Selves in a Precarious World

After surviving the Holocaust, a little boy makes a pledge. He will understand war so it is not repeated. So begins Paul Valent’s life’s work, an investigation into the reasons why humans, who can love and care for each other, too often hate and hurt each other.

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