Accompaniment means to walk with those who suffer. I learned how to accompany refugees in war zones in El Salvador, offering protection against military attack with my physical presence. I learned how to be accompanied when my work in Central America became the catalyst for my own healing from years of emotional, sexual and physical abuse, primarily at the hands of my mother." Linda Crockett

Combining the personal narrative of a survivor of incest with stories from El Salvadors bloody civil war in the 1980s, The Deepest Wound demonstrates that victims of sadistic childhood abuse share common ground with survivors of political torture. It explores the social conditions that foster private and public war zones, and the cultural dynamics that impede healing from individual and collective trauma.

Offering the concept of "accompaniment" as a new paradigm for healing, Crockett challenges readers to consider complex issues such as touch within the therapeutic alliance, the delicate and dangerous dance of relationship between survivors and supporters, and the difficulty inherent in accepting even basic medical treatment. Teaching those who accompany her lessons absorbed from Salvadoran peasants about healing from trauma, Crockett offers new hope for survivors and for those who walk with them.