This book presents an array of case examples from scholars of health-related topics, focusing on biographical narrative as a window into understanding key needs in trauma informed scholarship and medicine.

Alexandra C. H. Nowakowski, PhD, MPH is an Assistant Professor at the Florida State University College of Medicine, and affiliate faculty in Sociology. Dr. Nowakowski's research and other professional activities focus on the experience and management of chronic conditions, as well as disparities in the origins and outcomes of different health states. Dr. Nowakowski holds PhD and MS degrees in Medical Sociology from Florida State University, an MPH in Health Systems and Policy from Rutgers University, and a BA in Political Science from Columbia University.

J. E. Sumerau, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Tampa. Dr. Sumerau's research and other professional activities focus on relationships between gender, sexualities, religion, and health in the historical and interpersonal experiences of sexual, gender, and religious minorities. Dr. Sumerau holds PhD and MS degrees in Social Psychology from Florida State University, and a BA in Political Science from Augusta University.

Part 1: Rewriting the Life Course 1. Death Check: Doing Life and Research with Chronic Autoimmune Disease 2. Not Quite One of You: Testimony of a Wayward 'Survivor' Sociologist 3. The Day that Changed My Life: Reflections on Becoming a Caregiver Part 2. Revising Institutional Logics 4. No Trespassing: A Cop Navigating Personal, Organizational, and Community Well Being in Academia 5. Reflections on Rehab: Navigating the Disparate System of Substance Abuse Treatment 6. From Person to Patient and Back Again 7. Finding My Place in Sociology: Questioning Societal Standards Part Three: Rejecting Stigmatization 8. Going 'There' and Being 'There': Researching and Writing about Discreditable Identity, Stigma, and Peer Suicide Loss 9. Neither Queer Nor There: Becoming a Raging Lesbian Scholar 10. But How Does That Make You Feel: Racism and Emotion Management 11. Navigating Genderqueer Existence Within and Beyond the Academy Part Four: Redirecting Trauma 12. Trauma, Tears, and Transformation: Living and Working after Surviving a Tornado 13. I See Monsters: The Role of Rape in My Personal, Professional, and Political Life 14. The Beaten Black Queer Activist: On the Trauma of Grad School