Book excerpt: Dr. Susan Lawrence's Creating a Healing Society program pioneers the recognition of the devastating impact of human emotional pain and trauma as the root cause of societal and world problems. Without healthy support, traumatized people (unconsciously influenced by inner pain) engage in self-destructive or antisocial behaviors. We are accustomed to thinking about the impact of trauma on the individual, but rarely notice the dramatic effect that trauma has on our society. The cumulative result of these pain-driven behaviors can be seen in the epidemics of AIDS, Hepatitis C, drug addiction and alcoholism; in our violent and crime-ridden society; in unemployment, homelessness and poverty; in the ongoing cycle of child abuse and neglect; and, on an international level, in terrorism and war. In Creating a Healing Society, Dr. Lawrence describes her work with alcoholics, AIDS patients, prisoners, and others dying of what one of her clients calls the delayed effects of child abuse. Through concrete examples, she shows that people can turn their lives around, and by doing so, change the quality of our entire society.