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Embark on your trauma recovery journey with this safe and empowering workbook for healing childhood traumaDrawing from their years of experience working with trauma, licensed clinicians Sostenes B. Lima and Erica Lima empower adult survivors with the resources and skills they need to heal old wounds and replace unhelpful defense mechanisms with healthier coping strategies. Learn to process your past, make meaningful changes in the present, and build a future that feels freer and more hopeful—without revisiting traumatic memories in painful detail. Key features of this workbook: Understanding Trauma. Learn about the effects of childhood trauma and build up your internal resources so you can rewire the survival mind and strengthen your core self Practical, Guided Exercises. Utilize clinically proven skills, techniques, and tools to achieve meaningful progress, no matter how unique and complicated your journey Trauma-Informed Care. Explore multiple therapy modalities to best fit your needs, including attachment-based, EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and more Compassionate and Integrative. Set your own pace for your healing work and use a body-centered approach to stay grounded and safe when releasing stuck trauma

Heal the pain of growing up with emotionally abusive parents, and take the first steps toward the life—and the love—you deserve. Few things in the world have a more profound effect on your life than the parents who raised you. When your parents are pathologically self-centered, manipulative, or emotionally abusive, the pain they cause is deep and often difficult to put into words. You may experience anxiety, depression, complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD), low self-esteem, addiction, or other mental health conditions as an adult. And you may even feel like it was somehow all your fault. But it was not your fault, and there are tools you can use to heal the trauma caused by your childhood. From the author of the self-help hit Adult Survivors of Toxic Family Members, this compassionate guide will help you gain a greater understanding of what happened in your past; transform deep pain into emotional resilience; and build the loving, meaningful relationship with yourself that you deserve. You'll also learn to set boundaries with others, assert your needs, and overcome emotional avoidance to develop warm, loving relationships with others. Author Sherrie Campbell offers powerful skills drawn from a range of evidence-based treatments, including mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), self-compassion, lived experience, and body-based practices to help you heal from the past and reconnect with your authentic self. A happy and healthy life is not a life without struggle—it is a journey full of meaningful lessons. Let this book guide you on the path to healing, wholeness, and self-discovery.

This edited collection collates research concerning the challenges and opportunities of pregnancy and the postpartum period for perinatal women who are survivors of child abuse. Drawing on empirical findings and theory, this is the first book to identify emerging and topical issues around screening and disclosure and how clinicians and professionals may help to build resilience for child abuse survivors. Pregnancy and the postpartum period present unique challenges and opportunities for clinicians and mental health professionals who may encounter pregnant women with adverse childhood experiences. Challenges include antenatal care considerations for survivors of child abuse such as triggering events that may further traumatize women or result in avoidance behaviours such as failing to engage in routine antenatal care, and other associated adverse outcomes including increased health concerns and, in some cases, prolonged labour and preterm birth. These challenges point to the need for identifying women at risk and providing sensitive care, and this book demonstrates the opportunities which arise through interventions and resilience building.

This book presents the therapist with a reflective and robust framework for group treatment that promotes an end to the shame and secrecy so frequently experienced by survivors. Through a series of tools such as visualisations and art exercises, the practitioner is guided through the process of establishing and running a group in this modality. The synthesis of both an educational and a process-based model is imbued with a sense of warmth and a deep understanding of this client group. Themes such as self-soothing, strengthening boundaries, inner-child work, making meaning of endings, and ways forward drive this therapeutic approach. Taking group work as the optimum matrix for change for this client population, this model provides a convincing rationale for the establishment of said work as best practice in the institutions that provide for their care. Practicing therapists and mental health nurses will find this new model of therapy an instrumental resource in their approach to treatment for survivors of trauma and abuse.

Relative Distance is a powerful memoir of resilience and faith. While it's an unflinching look at brothers being raised by a violent, abusive father and a detached, mentally ill mother, it's also an inspiring account of two distinctive life journeys and an examination of the role played by family and society in individual homelessness. After surviving his tumultuous upbringing, David Pruitt rises to become a CEO in Corporate America, while his brother, Danny, becomes a long-time homeless traveler. As David helps to grow a fledgling North Carolina business into what is at the time the largest specialty bicycle retailer in the United States, Danny sleeps under overpasses, jumps passing freight cars, lives in and out of shelters, faces death more than once—and encounters the best and worst of America in a restless search to find a better place in the world. Yet, despite their differences, a common thread runs through the distinct trajectories of the brothers'lives: each of them struggles with difficult psychological issues stemming from their troubled past. This deeply moving memoir examines the lifelong challenges that often come for those raised in an abusive home, along with the limitless possibilities we open ourselves to when we allow faith and determination to overcome judgment and fear.

Gypsy-Rose Blanchard discovered that her whole life was a lie. After eight-and-a-half years of incarceration, she can finally tell you the truth—with this exclusive collection of interview transcripts and journal entries, plus her own illustrations and photos. While incarcerated for her role in her mother's death, Gypsy saw her story told by others again and again in the media, from news reports and podcasts to TV series like The Act (Hulu). Now, granted early parole and preparing to start a new life, she's free to speak directly to her supporters and the world. Falsely told that she suffered from debilitating, chronic illnesses, Gypsy grew up enduring physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her mother Dee Dee, including unnecessary medication and surgery. But her desperate attempts to escape a lifetime of isolation led Gypsy into the grip of another abuser, ultimately resulting in her mother's murder. Released is Gypsy's frank, unflinching, and deeply personal reflection on her past, present, and hoped-for future, and includes: Exclusive interviews with Gypsy recorded during her time in prisonGypsy's contemplative writing on trust and betrayal, love and freedom, self-worth and identity, prison life, her marriage, and other personal issuesPersonal photos, drawings, and other memories from years pastCreated with writers Melissa Moore and Michele Matrisciani, Released is a declaration of Gypsy's resolve to turn her pain into perseverance, take accountability for her actions, and help others escape the trap that circumscribed her life for so long.

A new, hopeful pathway to understanding children's trauma and providing effective interventions to build healthier communitiesEach year at least a billion children around the world are victims of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that range from physical abuse to racial discrimination to neglect and food deprivation. The brain plasticity of our most vulnerable makes the adverse effects of trauma only that much more damaging to mental and physical development. Those dealt a hand of ACEs are more likely to drop out of school, have a shorter life, abuse substances, and suffer from myriad mental health and behavioral issues. The crucial question is: How do we intervene to offer these children a more hopeful future? Neurobiologist and educator Dr. Marc Hauser provides a novel, research-based framework to understand a child's unique response to ACEs that goes beyond our current understanding and is centered around the five Ts—the timing during development when the trauma began, its type, tenure, toxicity, and how much turbulence it has caused in a child's life. Using this lens, adults can start to help children build resilience and recover—and even benefit—from their adversity through targeted community and school interventions, emotional regulation tools, as well as a new frontier of therapies focused on direct brain stimulation, including neurofeedback and psychedelics. While human suffering experienced by children is the most devastating, it also presents the most promise for recovery; the plasticity of young people's brains makes them vulnerable, but it also makes them apt to take back the joy, wonder, innocence, and curiosity of childhood when given the right support. Vulnerable Minds is a call to action for parents, policymakers, educators, and doctors to reclaim what's been lost and commit ourselves to our collective responsibility to all children.

The brand new gripping psychological thriller from bestselling author J.A. BakerJackson and Lydia Hemsworth are pillars of the community, feted for having the perfect marriage and three wonderful children – Florence, Jessica and Ezra.But appearances can be deceptive.Because behind closed doors Jackson Hemsworth rules his family with cruelty and control. His marriage is a sham; his children for years have cowed in fear.Until the day that Jackson and Lydia throw themselves off Newport Bridge in a joint suicide pact – the final cruel blow by Jackson to control his wife and torture his adult children.As the Hemsworth siblings return to their family home, they must try to make sense of their parents'last act. But there are many dark secrets waiting to be unearthed at Armett House.Like, why are the townsfolk so suddenly hostile towards them? And who are the strangers who arrive at Armett House unannounced? And why has their mother's body still not been found?In the aftermath of their parents'death, it becomes clear that something terrible is about to be exposed about the Hemsworths'perfect parents.A secret they may all wish had stayed hidden…A gripping psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Perfect for fans of Valerie Keogh, Diana Wilkinson and Keri Beevis.What people are saying about J.A.Baker'Engaging characters, a chilling tale - Baker at her best!'Bestselling author Valerie Keogh.'A dark and twisting thrill ride that asks the question: how well do you really know your parents? It kept me hooked until the final page!'Bestselling author M.A. Hunter.'A dark and twisty thriller that keep you guessing at the truth, The Perfect Parents is an addictive read!'Bestselling author Alison Stockham.'This captivating pacy thriller sucks you in from the first page and spits you out at the last! I thought I'd worked it out, but no… the twists kept coming and the final reveal is a heartbreaker 💔'Bestselling author Ruby Speechley'Intensely compelling, with so many twists I didn't see coming!'Bestselling author, Alex Stone

Erst mit jahrzehntelanger Verspätung kamen die Belange ehemaliger Heimkinder in den Fokus von Politik und Öffentlichkeit, sodass in Folge des Runden Tisches Heimerziehung auch in Bayern eine Anlauf- und Beratungsstellen für ehemalige Heimkinder eingerichtet wurde. Die vorliegende Studie weist nach, dass die Arbeit der bayerischen Anlauf- und Beratungsstelle insgesamt einen wirksamen und nachhaltigen Beitrag zur Unterstützung ehemaliger Heimkinder und zur Aufarbeitung ihres Schicksals leistete. Dies vor dem Hintergrund eines bislang noch nicht bekannten und in diesem Buch nachgewiesenen Ausmaßes an Vernachlässigung, Misshandlung und sexualisierter Gewalt in Kinderheimen zwischen 1949 und 1975. Systematische biografische Rekonstruktionen ermöglichen darüber hinaus umfassende Einblicke in die gesundheitlichen, sozialen und beruflichen Auswirkungen dieser frühen Schädigungen auf das gesamte Leben der betroffenen Frauen und Männer, wobei aber auch deren Überlebensressourcen erkennbar werden. Diese Aufarbeitungsstudie stellt auch eine Mahnung an die gegenwärtige stationäre Kinder- und Jugendhilfe dar, indem sie alle Formen von Gewalt, Vernachlässigung und Machtmissbrauch in ihren zerstörerischen Wirkungen auf die betroffenen jungen Menschen in beklemmender Weise beschreibt.

Du chagrin à la grâce, ce livre autobiographique explore les stigmates d'une enfance martyre. Comment relire un parcours de souffrance à la lumière de la résilience plus de cinquante ans plus tard? Comment accueillir la douleur toujours vivace en une acceptation sereine? Comment pardonner l'impardonnable? Autant de questions soulevées pour mieux cerner la maltraitance parentale. En remontant à l'enfance de ses parents, grands-parents et arrière-grands-parents, l'auteure pose la genèse généalogique d'une violence larvée qui s'est transmise sans jamais avoir été traitée ou verbalisée. Avant de s'exprimer pleinement durant son enfance. Ce témoignage déchiffre et dénonce la reproduction d'un système pervers. Si la lecture de ce livre permet à certains d'échapper à cette spirale infernale, sa difficile rédaction n'aura pas été vaine.

One of Ms. magazine's'Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2023'Authentic and inspiring, Everything That Rises personalizes the realities of climate change by paralleling our relationship to the planet with the way we interact within our own homes. Nineteen-year-old Brianna Craft is having a panic attack. A professor's matter-of-fact explanation of the phenomenon known as'climate change'has her white-knuckling the table in her first environmental studies lecture. Out of her father's house, she was supposed to be safe. This moment changed everything for Brianna. For her first internship, she jumped at the chance to assist the Least Developed Countries Group at the United Nations'negotiations meant to produce a new climate treaty. While working for those most ignored yet most impacted by the climate crisis, she grappled with the negligent indifference of those who hold the most power. This dynamic painfully reminded her of growing up in a house where the loudest voice always won and violence silenced those in need. Four years later, Brianna witnessed the adoption of the first universal climate treaty, the Paris Agreement. In this memoir that blends the political with the personal, Brianna dives into what it means to advocate for the future, and for the people and places you love, all while ensuring your own voice doesn't get lost in the process. It will take all of us to protect our home.

'Packed full of secrets and lies, Saxon succeeds in putting the'creep'in creepy.'Valerie KeoghFour sisters, four secrets. Who has the deadliest of them all?Something happened to me when I was nine.My childhood memories before that fateful day are gone. Extinguished.The aftermath has become a living nightmare, with a guilt that runs so deep, I'm not sure I can ever tell anyone. I fear I've left it too late...The burden of my secret and the hurt and pain that silence cost each and every member of my family is too overwhelming.But you can't avoid fate and now I have the opportunity to right the wrongs inflicted on us.There was no justice. Not then. Not now. But I can change that.The big question is, how far am I willing to go?Bestselling author Diane Saxons immersive thriller will have you debating how far you would go for your family to right a wrong… Perfect for fans of Freida McFadden and Shari Lapena.Praise for Diane Saxon:'An unputdownable, tense, fast-paced, terrifying plot that deftly twists and turns.'Danielle Ramsay'An intensely dark thriller'Ross Greenwood'A complex, dark and disturbing thriller, full of intrigue, toxic relationships and jaw-dropping twists.'Alex Stone'Gripping... I couldn't put it down'Gemma Rogers'This book has you captured from beginning to end and keeps you guessing as you read. Then along come those twists you just weren't expecting.'⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reader Review'I read this in one sitting, fantastic characters, fantastic twists, highly recommended.'⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reader Review

Dismissals such as'boys will be boys'and'not all men'are ingrained in our world. And the purity culture of our youth sold the same excuses with a spiritual spin. Can we break the toxic cycle and recover a healthy identity for men?In Non-Toxic Masculinity, Zachary Wagner tells men,'If you are in Christ, this is your problem—and you should be part of the solution.'Reflecting on his own coming of age in the purity culture movement and ongoing recovery from sexual shame, Wagner confronts harmful teaching from the American church that has distorted desire, sex, relationships, and responsibility. For those—both men and women—who feel disillusioned and adrift, this book offers a renewed vision for Christian male sexuality founded in empathy and selflessness.

A PEOPLE magazine pick, Best Books Fall 2023: “A breathtaking memoir about surviving a horrifying childhood; Means...transforms memories...into a work of art.” Starred review from Kirkus: “This book is an outstanding debut…A harrowing and soulful memoir to be read, savored, and reread.'“Brittany Means has pieced together the shards of a devastating childhood in this powerful memoir. It's gut-wrenching but at the same time triumphant, harrowing yet exquisitely told. Hell If We Don't Change Our Ways is a story of survival that left me choked up and cheering.”–Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle “The book's lasting impact might be what it demands of the memoir genre. Brittany Means has, at once, created the most readable and the most psychologically rigorous book I've read in decades. I needed the reminder that art can do this.” –Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy “I can't write a story about myself as the sad, quiet child of two drug addicts. That's not how it was, even when it was. To me, sleeping in the car was normal. Better, it was comfy and fun. I loved my bed made of clothes inside a trash bag that I sank into slowly like Uncle Fester from the Addams Family movie.... I loved the motels and their swimming pools and trashy daytime TV channels.... Nobody could tell us what to do.” Brittany Means's childhood was a blur of highways and traumas that collapsed any effort to track time. Riding shotgun as her mother struggled to escape abusive relationships, Brittany didn't care where they were going—to a roadside midwestern motel, a shelter, or The Barn in Indiana, the cluttered mansion her Pentecostal grandparents called home—as long as they were together. But every so often, her mom would surprise her—and leave. As Brittany grew older and questioned her own complicated relationships and the poverty, abuse, and instability that enveloped her, she began to recognize that hell wasn't only the place she read about in the Bible; it was the cycle of violence that entrapped her family. Through footholds such as horror movies, neuropsychology, and strong bonds, Brittany makes sense of this cycle and finds a way to leave it. While untangling the web of her most painful memories, Brittany crafts a tale of self-preservation, resilience, and hope with a unique narrative style—a sparkling example of the human ability to withstand the most horrific experiences and still thrive.

Řekli jste si někdy: „Co jsem to udělal?“ nebo „Proč jsem své chování neudržela na uzdě?“ Ostatní mohli nad vaším chováním uvažovat a říkat si, co je asi tak na vás špatného. Když přemýšlíme o svých pocitech, nemáme daleko k sebeobviňování nebo z toho, co děláme, udělat jakýsi podivný standard. Během hluboce osobních rozhovorů Oprah Winfrey s odborníkem na lidský mozek a trauma Brucem Perrym se otázka: „Co je na tobě špatného?“ proměnila v: „Co se ti stalo?“.Oprah Winfrey otevírá příběhy ze své minulosti, traumatické zkušenosti a nepřízeň osudu, a Bruce Perry nabízí poznatky o traumatu, psychické odolnosti a uzdravení z odborného pohledu. Kniha je plná příběhů, spojují se v ní prožitky známé americké moderátorky s tím, co zažily děti, s nimiž pracoval doktor Perry. Knihu ocení zájemci o téma traumatu, resilience a uzdravení, psychologové.Oprah Gail Winfrey je americká moderátorka, herečka a vydavatelka časopisu, která uváděla televizní pořad Oprah show. Je mnohonásobnou držitelkou ceny Emmy a byla nominována na Oscara.Bruce D. Perry je americký psychiatr, specializuje se na dětské duševní zdraví a neurovědu. V Portále vyšla jeho úspěšná kniha Chlapec, kterého chovali jako psa.

In this powerful Amish romance, an isolated woman and a compassionate man learn that love can build a bridge between their two worlds.Since witnessing the murder of her beloved parents, Miriam Hochstedler suffers from paralyzing anxiety and a deep-seated fear of the Englisch. Unwilling to venture beyond her family's Tennessee farm, she forms a close bond with a badly injured gelding. Like Miriam herself, the traumatized animal seems unlikely to recover—until skilled horse whisperer Reuben Brenneman arrives. A survivor of an abusive childhood, Reuben understands fear better than most. He'll do whatever it takes to help a terrified animal, but his compassion doesn't extend to the church that turned a blind eye to his family's suffering. Once he finishes this job, he'll return to the Englisch world, putting his Amish heritage behind him forever.As Miriam works alongside Reuben, battling the horse's fear—and her own—an unexpected friendship blooms and deepens into romance. But the Amish faith that sustains her inspires only distrust in Reuben, and the Englisch world he's chosen has already broken her heart once. Falling in love was easy. But staying together will take all the courage they have.

“An inspiring story of resilience, told with a vivid sense of character and humour.” —RICHARD CROUSE, CTV host and film criticFilm critic, writer, and broadcaster Thom Ernst chronicles his life growing up with an abusive father in rural Ontario.The residents of Waubamik know about the Wild Boy, a somewhat feral child, standing nearly naked in a rusty playground of weeds and discarded metal, clutching a headless doll. They know the boy has been plucked from poverty and resettled into a middle-class family. But they don't know that something worse awaits him there.This is the story of a system that failed, a community that looked the other way, and a family that kept silent. It is also a record of the popular culture of the 1960s — a powerful set of myths that kept a boy comforted. But ultimately, The Wild Boy of Waubamik is a story of triumph, of a man who grew up to become a film critic and broadcaster despite his abusive childhood. It reminds us that life, even at its darkest, can surprise us with moments of joy and hope and dreams for the future.

“Someday Mija, You'll Learn the Difference Between a Whore and a Working Woman is a memoir that turns time on its head, circling through terror and joy with eloquence and becoming its own sacrament of resistance.” —Foreword Reviews, 5-star reviewAt eighteen, Yvonne Martinez flees brutal domestic violence and is taken in by her dying grandmother... who used to be a sex worker. Before she dies, her grandmother reveals family secrets and shares her uncommon wisdom. “Someday, Mija,” she tells Yvonne, “you'll learn the difference between a whore and a working woman.” She also shares disturbing facts about their family's history—eventually leading Yvonne to discover that her grandmother was trafficked as a child in Depression-era Utah by her own mother, Yvonne's great-grandmother, and that she was blamed for her own rape.In the years that follow her grandmother's passing, Yvonne gets an education and starts a family. As she heals from her own abuse by her mother and stepfather, she becomes an advocate/labor activist. Grounded in her grandmother's dictum not to whore herself out, she learns to fight for herself and teaches others to do the same—exposing sexual harassment in the labor unions where she works and fighting corruption. Intense but ultimately uplifting, Someday Mija, You'll Learn the Difference Between a Whore and a Working Woman is a compelling memoir in essays of transforming transgenerational trauma into resilience and post-traumatic growth.

It is a good story, although I cannot say it is true. Like most stories I suppose there is some truth in it, but the absence of truth does not diminish the story, does it?'In late autumn, Kitten, so named by a girl he met long ago, sits and remembers an aching adolescence; not of lost love and romance, but of wild and unbound joys and sorrows. And of those enduring friendships that linger at the periphery, that come with the hope that one day everything will return to what it once was.

In 2006, I was told by a spirit guide that I would write a book. Yes, I see spirits. “That sounds good but what story had I to tell? Tell the story of how you came from the slums of Glasgow, pushed away your gifts of ‘sixth sense'and rediscovered them as an adult.” Okay, from the slums of Glasgow to discovering that you're a psychic in your late forties sounds good but the part in between might sound uninteresting. “Think about it,” I was told, “You will soon be given the opportunity to write.” My life was to follow two paths; communicating with spirit and learning to replace fear with love. My guidance came from two sources; spirit and dreams. My childhood had been a ‘lie'and I came to realise that much of my adult life was a ‘lie'also. I wasn't quite the person that I thought I was. During my childhood I had been abused by my father, a person I was supposed to trust. When anything horrific happened to me I would pretend that it never happened. Unfortunately, I continued with this habit as an adult and would have difficulty facing up to anything. I had two options: run, as I had been doing, or face the truth about myself. I opted for the latter. Today I do not acknowledge negativity. I learn from every experience and think positively. It does help somewhat when the guidance that I receive is ‘out of this world!'

Cutting ties with a toxic family member is a crucial step away from a legacy of dysfunction and toward healing and happiness. This compassionate guide will help you embrace your decision with a sense of pride, validation, and faith in yourself; and provides powerful tools for creating boundaries, coping with judgment, and overcoming self-doubt.Do you have a toxic family member? Do you feel like cutting ties with this person—even as painful and scary as that may sound—would dramatically increase your well-being and improve your life? You're not alone. Severing ties with a family member can be devastating; and cutting this toxic person out of your life may bring up feelings of guilt and uncertainty—especially if you feel judged by others regarding your decision. Fortunately, you can free yourself from this toxic family member in a healthy, responsible, and liberating way.In Adult Survivors of Toxic Family Members, psychologist and toxic-family survivor Sherrie Campbell offers effective strategies for setting strong boundaries after ending contact with a toxic family member, and provides powerful tools to help you heal from shame, self-doubt, and stigma. You'll find the validation you need to embrace your decision with pride and acknowledgement of your self-worth. You'll learn how to let go of negative thoughts and feelings. And finally, you'll develop the skills needed to rediscover self-care, self-love, self-reliance, and healthy loving relationships.Whether you're ready to sever ties with a toxic family member, or already have, this book will help guide you, every step of the way.

A sequel to First Gear: A Motorcycle Memoir, Horses in the Sand is a collection of stories that document a queer Métis woman's journey from her sparse beginnings as a child to becoming a tradeswoman, teacher, and artist. With courage, humour, and frank honesty, the stories describe what it was like to grow up as a girl who was starkly different from'normal'and how'coming out'became a lifelong process of self-acceptance and changing identities. Potvin's tales also speak to the difficulties in participating in and maintaining healthy adult relationships when childhood foundations are rooted in violence and trauma, culminating with a triumphant account of fulfilling a long-time dream of buying land and building a home with her own hands. Ultimately, this memoir is a celebration of making art, telling stories, and of finding her birth father, a family of half siblings, and an Indigenous community whose presence she had always felt, but to which she never knew she belonged.

Warriors are never victims! What if you were a highly sensitive, super magical kid plunked down in a world of violence, sex, and danger? In this world of upside down, nothing feels real. Everything hurts and no one is to be trusted. What is love? What is family? Who am I? Amidst the violence June finds herself slipping in and out of time. After a particularly brutal encounter something happens. June awakens, curled on the ground wet and alone as if dripped out of a faucet. As she takes in the magnitude of the field of wildflowers a panic begins to set in. Where am I? She can hear the sound of running water off in the distance. But just as ideas were beginning to form, she sees HIM. Tigua, his long black tail twitching high above the sea flowers. The flowers are parting gracefully as if in a bow. June drops to the ground in fear. With a sense of his presence, she lifts her eyes to the panther standing regally above her. He beckons her. Rise June Rise. BUT, then just as suddenly as she got there, she would be sucked back down...there. With them. The ones that claim to be her family. The ones that tell her they love her despite all the other things. The unspeakable things. The things that hide in the Secrets. I am Junebug, and I chose to fight! Thousands of children across the nation wake up each morning to face battles waged within their own homes and fall asleep each night clinging to the hope of a better tomorrow. I've spent years putting my life into words. I am June and this is my story.

A new commemorative edition of Theodore Fontaine's powerful, groundbreaking memoir of survival and healing after years of residential school abuse.Originally published in 2010, Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools chronicles the impact of Theodore Fontaine's harrowing experiences at Fort Alexander and Assiniboia Indian Residential Schools, including psychological, emotional, and sexual abuse; disconnection from his language and culture; and the loss of his family and community. Told as remembrances infused with insights gained through his long healing process, Fontaine goes beyond the details of the abuse that he suffered to relate a unique understanding of why most residential school survivors have post-traumatic stress disorders and why succeeding generations of Indigenous children suffer from this dark chapter in history. With a new foreword by Andrew Woolford, professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Manitoba, this commemorative edition will continue to serve as a powerful testament to survival, self-discovery, and healing.

This book takes an innovative approach to using narrative therapy in counselling people who have been subject to childhood sexual abuse.Reclaiming Lives from Sexual Violence presents an illustrative case study of the authors, Tim the therapist in consultation with Dale the client, who was sexually abused as a child by a clergy member. The book is unique in documenting their therapeutic work using transcripts taken directly from their sessions together. This narrative approach invites the reader to consider different ways of engaging in therapy in order to challenge the dominant social discourses around masculinity and shame.Looking at shame from a position of value awareness rather than a deficit perspective, this book extends counselling to consider the individual experience as political and one that must be shared outside the one-to-one therapy environment. This will be an essential resource for beginning or established therapists and practitioners working with clients who have been victims of sexual violence.

From a junkie addicted to methamphetamines to a federal judge, Mary Beth O'Connor's memoir shares her inspiring journey from rock bottom to resilience as she forged a personal path to recovery from trauma and addiction. Silver Award, 2023 Nonfiction Book AwardsSearing, unsettling, and ultimately triumphant, Judge O'Connor's debut memoir takes readers on a wild ride through the rock-bottom underbelly of intravenous drug addiction to the hallowed halls of justice where she rose to the pinnacle of success as a federal judge. With wit and unabashed honesty, O'Connor shares her remarkable three-phase journey: the abuse and trauma that drove her to teenage drug use, the chaos that ensued from her addiction; and how she developed a personalized secular recovery plan that led to twenty-nine years of sobriety. Her story proves any addict can recover and anyone can build a productive and happy life, no matter how low the bottom or how deep the pain. Within a week of being born, O'Connor was dropped off at a convent. When she was brought into her home, her mother focused on her own needs and desires, ignoring her young child. When she was nine, her stepfather kicked her in the stomach for spilling milk, beat her when she didn't clean a plate to his satisfaction, and molested her when she was twelve. A few months later, with her first sip of Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill wine, her life changed. She felt euphoric and relaxed. So she got drunk as often as possible, adding pot, then pills, then acid. At sixteen, she found her drug of choice--methamphetamine. With her first snort, she experienced true joy for the first time. When this high was no longer sufficient, she turned to the needle and shot up. During the next sixteen years, she descended into a severe meth addiction, working her way down the corporate ladder, destroying relationships, and shattering her physical and emotional well-being. At thirty-two, she entered rehab, where she was ordered to submit to the 12-steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. As an atheist, turning her will and her life over to a higher power was not an option, and she refused to agree she was powerless. Told to comply or fail, she bravely created a new path that combined ideas from multiple programs and even incorporated some AA concepts. Clean and sober now for more nearly three decades, she is proof that anyone can find their sober self, their best self, no matter how far they have fallen. Along with her inspiring story, she offers a comprehensive checklist of questions for readers to ask themselves as they take the brave steps toward recovery, offering a powerful blueprint for personal change.

Aisling Creegan's childhood was dominated by an abusive, alcoholic mother, who tortured her at every turn. From insults and beatings to being threatened with a butcher's knife, Aisling endured unthinkable suffering at the hands of the woman who should have loved her unconditionally. Yet, in the midst of this trauma, Aisling relied on the one person she knew she could trust – herself. Possessed of an incredible imagination and remarkable resilience, Aisling found escape in the little things in life. Her power to imagine an alternative world enabled her to hold on and make it to adolescence and the freedom she had longed for since childhood. But the scars of the past take time to heal, and when Aisling suffered a breakdown it took her on a surprising path to freedom – and forgiveness. I Am Someone is an extraordinary memoir about female cruelty and – ultimately – female strength and endurance.'Searingly honest … brings you straight into the inner world of someone pushed to the limits'Lynn Ruane

When the Sonoma Complex fire came to Elisa Stancil Levine's California doorstep in 2017, her world changed overnight. The devastating fire torched thousands of acres, but for Elisa, a world-class decorative artist, it was her reaction that night that cracked her wide open. A loving wife, mother, and grandmother, Elisa thought she had reckoned with her early childhood trauma. But when she fled the midnight firestorm without alerting a single neighbor, she had to ask herself: Who does that?In This or Something Better, Elisa revisits her past and the one force in which she has always found true kinship: the wild river. Nature, her lifelong ally, gave solace. Through teen pregnancy, her baby's stillbirth, and a mystical near-death experience at eighteen, nature shaped her character, and it later informed her wildly successful career. But was there an unintended consequence?The fresh trauma of the firestorm sparked a quest: what treasure awaited if Elisa learned to trust human nature? Vivid, poetic, and intimate, This or Something Better reveals how true healing of deep wounds happens one exquisite layer at a time—and invites us each to consider and embrace our own path toward wholeness and authenticity.

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is not only an assault on the body—it is also an assault on the mind and spirit. In addition to imposing a significantly higher rate of conditions like depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, sexual exploitation, intimate partner violence, suicidality, and substance abuse, the most devastating consequences of childhood sexual abuse is shame. Freedom at Last will help former victims recover from all aspects of this extreme shame and its damaging after-effects. In this groundbreaking book, leading psychotherapist Beverly Engel reveals the truth about how shame affects victims, explains the nuances behind the emotion of shame, and teaches readers how to develop more self-awareness about how shame has manifested in their lives, along with powerful and effective shame-reduction strategies. Not only does shame from CSA cause a multitude of problems, this very same shame stands in the way of a victim's ability to recover and heal..Freedom at Last offers effective strategies for not only healing the negative effects of abuse-related shame, but also the emotional barriers to disclosing abuse and seeking help due to difficulties trusting others and self-blame. Using cutting-edge research along with her thirty-five years of experience working with victims of child sexual abuse, Engel provides a blueprint for readers to overcome the debilitating effects of shame, including strategies for emotional release, disclosing the abuse, practicing self-forgiveness, eliminating shame-causing behaviors, including sexual compulsions and addictions.

• #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • MORE THAN 2 MILLION COPIES SOLD! A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life. Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother's dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn't tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income. In I'm Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants. Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I'm Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.

After witnessing a violent crime, Catlin (Kit) McCormick is on the run. She's determined to lie low, find family that's unaware of her existence, and start fresh in the beautiful mountain town of Laurel Ridge. But disappearing is harder than she thought, especially when one of the first people she runs into is handsome U.S. Marshal, Cameron Grainger. There's no escaping the Marshal because he and Catlin are more closely connected than either realizes.Cameron has trust issues and trouble of his own. He's currently on leave and recovering from wounds suffered while on duty. Plus, his service in Afghanistan has left him emotionally scarred and doubting his own judgement. When the mysterious woman with hazel eyes and bruises on her neck collapses on the floor of his aunt's bed-and-breakfast, he's both intrigued and wary. Will Catlin risk her identity being discovered and explore the overwhelming feelings she has for Cameron? Can Cameron trust his instincts enough to let down his guard and follow his heart?Intrigue, danger and the questions of trust and loyalty keep the pages turning in this inspirational romantic suspense— a standalone follow-up to Someone to Trust.

The compelling, heart-warming story of how a traumatised young woman found peace through her friendship with an injured dolphin called Jock.'An extraordinary, unique and brutally honest book about the healing power of nature and love in its purest form.'—Dr Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of PeaceWhen Melody Horrill arrived as a student at the University of South Australia she was a troubled and lost young woman, hiding behind a carefully crafted exterior. She had experienced a childhood of emotional and physical trauma mainly at the hands of her violent father that was as damaging as it was brutal. One day Melody volunteered to help her university lecturer monitor pods of river dolphins that lived in the waters of Port Adelaide. There for the first time she encountered Jock, a solitary dolphin with a maimed fin, who lived apart from the highly social pods. Melody was to form a bond with Jock that gave her the key to freeing herself from the demons of her own past, and their extraordinary friendship was the start of a long-term mission to try to save the river dolphins.Beautifully written and filled with insight and compassion, Melody's memoir details her life-changing relationship with the river dolphins, and how Jock helped her to heal.'In this unputdownable account of the healing power of nature and the discovery of trust, an orphaned river dolphin gives a young woman a new life and a profound purpose - to help save the beautiful, sentient creatures that saved her.'—Brad Collis, author of Snowy and Fields of Discovery

More than just a book full of the latest information, this is a dynamic, interactive, and personalized journey of recovery for those impacted by adverse childhood experiences (ACES). Finally, they can put their past behind them where it belongs!For those who have grown up in a family with addiction, mental illness, or other adverse childhood experiences (ACES), the heartache and pain doesn't end when they grow up and leave home. The legacy can last a lifetime and spread to generations unseen, as author Janet Wotitiz first showed readers in the groundbreaking Adult Children of Alcoholics. In The ACoA Trauma Syndrome Dr. Tian Dayton picked up where Dr. Woititz left off, filling in the decades of research that tell us why pain from yesterday recreates itself over and over again in our today. In The Soulful Journey of Recovery, Dr. Dayton gives us the how. There is a journey of recovery that you can start today. Simple, elegantly written and researched, poignant, penetrating, and on point, Dr. Dayton will move with you through the confusion, pain, and anger you may carry in secrecy and silence. Through engaging and enlightening exercises, you will give voice to hidden wounds and space to your innermost emotions and thoughts. Online links will also offer guided meditations, film clips and other tools to enhance the work you do in the book. You will learn what happened to you growing up with dysfunction and you will learn how to deal with it in the present. You will discover that recovery is a self-affirming life adventure, and the kindest and best thing you can do for yourself and future generations. Some books can change your life. This is one of them.

“Will educate and enlighten Canadians for generations to come. It's a must-read for anyone seeking to understand Canada's residential-school saga. Most importantly, it's a touchstone of community for those survivors and their families still on the path to healing.”—Waubgeshig Rice, journalist and author of Moon of the Crusted Snow Picking Up the Pieces tells the story of the making of the Witness Blanket, a living work of art conceived and created by Indigenous artist Carey Newman. It includes hundreds of items collected from residential schools across Canada, everything from bricks, photos and letters to hockey skates, dolls and braids. Every object tells a story. Carey takes the reader on a journey from the initial idea behind the Witness Blanket to the challenges in making it work to its completion. The story is told through the objects and the Survivors who donated them to the project. At every step in this important journey for children and adults alike, Carey is a guide, sharing his process and motivation behind the art. It's a personal project. Carey's father is a residential school Survivor. Like the Blanket itself, Picking Up the Pieces calls on readers of all ages to bear witness to the residential school experience, a tragic piece of Canada's legacy.

Childhood adversity that is severe enough to be harmful throughout life is one of the biggest public health issues of our time, yet health care systems struggle to even acknowledge the problem. In Damaged, Dr. Robert Maunder and Dr. Jonathan Hunter call for a radical change, arguing that the medical system needs to be not only more compassionate but more effective at recognizing that trauma impacts everybody's health, from patient to practitioner. Drawing on decades of experience providing psychiatric care, Maunder and Hunter offer an open and honest window into the private world of psychotherapy. At the heart of the book is the painful yet inspiring story of Maunder's career-long work with a patient named Isaac. In unfiltered accounts of their therapy sessions, we see the many ways in which childhood trauma harms Isaac's health for the rest of his life. We also see how deeply patients can affect the doctors who care for them, and how the caring collegiality between doctors can significantly improve the medicine they practice. Damaged makes it clear that human relationships are at the core of medicine, and that a revolution in health care must start with the development of safe, respectful, and caring relationships between doctors and patients. It serves as a strong reminder that the way we care for those who suffer most reveals who we are as a society.

All three novels from Christian's point of view in EL James's #1 New York Times bestselling Fifty Shades of Grey series—now available in one e-book bundle.Discover the world of Fifty Shades: An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller More than 165 Million Copies Sold Worldwide One of 100 Great Reads in the Great American Read 133 Weeks on the New York Times Bestseller ListChristian Grey exercises control in all things; his world is neat, disciplined, and utterly empty—until the day that Anastasia Steele falls into his office, in a tangle of shapely limbs and tumbling brown hair. He tries to forget her, but instead, is swept up in a storm of emotion he cannot comprehend and cannot resist. Unlike any woman he has known before, shy, unworldly Ana seems to see right through him—past the business prodigy and the penthouse lifestyle to Christian's cold, wounded heart. But Christian knows a relationship with Ana will not be easy, and that being together will pose challenges that neither of them would anticipate. Just when it seems that their strength together will eclipse any obstacle, misfortune, malice, and fate conspire to turn Ana and Christian's deepest fears into reality.This e-book bundle includes Grey, Darker, and Freed, the Fifty Shades stories in Christian's point of view, which have sold millions of copies and enchanted readers around the world.And don't miss The Mister, a modern-day Cinderella love story that will captivate E L James fans and lovers of danger, romance, and intrigue alike!

This book takes up the challenge of examining women's understandings of eating disorders and child sexual abuse away from a framework focused on pathology. The central argument is that women's distress is an enactment of their engagement with certain discourses and practices, rather than a reaction triggered by child sexual abuse. Guided by a contemporary feminist framework and Mikhail Bakhtin's sociological linguistics, to substantiate the argument, women's own poetry and drawings are used as evidence to develop, support and supplement research findings. The book establishes that an eating disorder is ‘an understandable response'to sexual trauma and shifts the focus away from ‘a damaged personality'. Even more importantly, it demonstrates that women with eating disorders are using their bodies as a form of resistance to express silenced traumas that remain in the silenced female body. This is an active way of making sense of experiences of child sexual abuse.

An autobiographical account of a nightmarish childhood. A recollection of events that happened behind closed doors. From youth to adulthood; from hurting to healing. Intertwined with a journey into intuition, paranormal occurrences and finding out who you are. A story about mental and physical growth, learning how to be strong on your own and finding the right time to confront those who wronged you. Finding strength from your own weakness is incredibly freeing and powerful. Sometimes you look back and wonder how you made it; how did you survive? All you know is you did, you will, you can.

I could not ignore the tiny spark of hope that whispered to me that there might be someone with whom I could be vulnerable and real, and that this time they might just not let me down...This is the story of Alexia and her therapist Kim, and their three-year therapy journey to begin Alexia's path to recovery. Written from both perspectives, it is a powerful and revealing account of a therapist-client relationship. Together, the authors show the manifold challenges that adult survivors of childhood abuse have to overcome, and offer insight to all therapists on how relational interventions can pave a way to healing.

This book explores how traumatic experiences of impingement and neglect – in childhood and adulthood, and at both the family and the state level – may create a desire in us to be parented by certain kinds of screen media that we unconsciously believe are “watching over” us when nothing else seems to be.Andrew Asibong explores how viewers make psychical use of eerily moving images, observed in film and television and later taken into an already traumatised mind, in order to facilitate some form of reparation for a stolen experience of caregiving. It explores the possibility of a media-based “working through” of both the general traumas of early environmental failure and the particular traumas of viewers racialised as Black, eventually asking how politicised film groups in the age of Black Lives Matter might heal from a troubled past and prepare for an uncertain future through the spontaneous discussion – in the here and now – of enlivening images of potentially deadly vulnerability.Post-traumatic Attachments to the Eerily Moving Image: Something to Watch Over Me will be of great interest to academics and students of film, media and television studies, trauma studies and psychoanalysis, culture, race and ethnicity.

I stood at the school gates with nothing but the clothes on my back. I had no money, no family, no home — nothing to show for the past 16 years except my cheap cardboard suitcase and a reasonable grasp of reading, writing and arithmetic … I didn't know what I was going to do next, but I knew that whatever it would be, it would be on my own terms.'— Prologue, Two Cultures, One StoryDr Robert Francis Isaacs AM, OAM, PhD (Hon) has spent his life bridging the divide between white and black Australia. Taken from his mother as a baby, Robert was raised in institutions not knowing he had a family and not knowing he was Aboriginal.Enduring severe hardship, discipline and abuse at the hands of the Christian Brothers, Robert went out into the world at the age of 16 determined to make a life for himself and a family of his own.A chance encounter with a member of his extended family would help shape the rest of his life. Determined to both embrace his culture and build on his faith and education, Robert immersed himself in the world of Aboriginal health and housing, proving to be a straight-talking, deft political negotiator who can achieve real outcomes for Aboriginal people. Over the decades, Robert brings his considerable interpersonal skills to bear in the areas of alcohol and drug abuse, employment, relations with the police, the justice system and education.Told with grace and strength, this memoir shares the inside story of a respected Elder and his drive to break down cultural barriers and improve the lives of his people.

'This lyrical testament to life as'a blind date with mercy'will challenge and inspire.'--Publishers Weekly [Starred Review] In 1991, when he was 13 years old, Lenny Duncan stepped out of his house in West Philadelphia, walked to the Greyhound station, and bought a ticket--the start of his great American adventure.Today Duncan, who inspired and challenged audiences with his breakout first book, Dear Church, brings us a deeply personal story about growing up Black and queer in the U.S. In his characteristically powerful voice he recounts hitchhiking across the country, spending time in solitary confinement, battling for sobriety, and discovering a deep faith, examining pressing issues like poverty, mass incarceration, white supremacy, and LGBTQ inclusion through an intimate portrayal of his life's struggles and joys. United States of Grace is a love story about America, revealing the joy and resilience of those places in this country many call'the margins'but that Lenny Duncan has called home. This book makes the bold claim that God is present with us in the most difficult of circumstances, bringing life out of death.

Hope Carpenter opens up about her personal struggles that nearly destroyed her family, her church, and her ministry, but then God did something miraculous—out of her brokenness, He made something beautiful.As co-pastor of one of the nation's largest megachurches, Hope Carpenter had perfected the roles of supportive wife, good mother, devoted worship leader, and dutiful homemaker. But inside, she was secretly ashamed, sad, and afraid. She didn't know who she was, and she didn't know how to ask for help without bringing down the whole façade. A series of bad choices led to multiple affairs; her husband kicked her out and announced from the pulpit of their church that their marriage was over. Hope was sure her life was done. But in her lowest moments, something beautiful happened. God met her there, and, with a lot of hard work, time, and mountains of therapy, she started to understand the pain that had caused her to act out. She and her family faced their brokenness together, and in powerful acts of forgiveness only God could have arranged, they all found real breakthrough and healing. Ron and Hope rebuilt their marriage and their family, and their ministry thrives today. In The Most Beautiful Disaster, Hope helps readers understand the lasting impact of childhood trauma and gives readers practical steps to uncovering the root of pain in their own lives. She shows how small decisions can lead to big changes, and helps readers find healing and wholeness in Scripture and prayer. Ultimately, readers will be led to hope, reconciliation, and true freedom.

A shocking and hopeful account of one woman's extraordinary courage to face her past and embrace truth in order to help others find hope and healingIn The Relentless Courage of a Scared Child, Tana Amen shares her incredible story of transformation—of growing up in poverty, a bullied latch-key kid raised on sugary cereal and junk food, to becoming a world-renowned food and fitness expert.Her challenging past of neglect, poverty, sexual abuse, thyroid cancer, and bouts of anxiety and depression set her on a path to find healing. Through her remarkable journey, we see more clearly the light that can shine through our own broken places and ultimately heal us: body, mind, and soul.At once tragic and heartwarming, Tana's story integrates cutting-edge psychology and proven wellness techniques from the Amen Clinics in a moving exploration of the healing available to each one of us, no matter the pain in our past.“What a journey! With in-your-face honesty, Tana reveals how she was able to turn her pain into purpose. For anyone who has been faced with unspeakable loss, this message is so important.” —Jay Shetty, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Like a Monk, storyteller, purpose coach, and former monk

Get the Summary of Oprah Winfrey's What Happened to You in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: Through deeply personal conversations, Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry offer a groundbreaking and profound shift from asking “What's wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” Here, Winfrey shares stories from her own past, understanding through experience the vulnerability that comes from facing trauma and adversity at a young age. In conversation throughout the audiobook, she and Dr. Perry focus on understanding people, behavior, and ourselves. It's a subtle but profound shift in our approach to trauma, and it's one that allows us to understand our pasts in order to clear a path to our future - opening the door to resilience and healing in a proven, powerful way.

Practical skills for healing the hidden wounds of childhood traumaWe're all a product of our childhood, and if you're like most people, you have experienced some form of childhood trauma. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are at the root of nearly all mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Memories associated with ACEs imprint on a child's brain, and can manifest themselves mentally and physically throughout adulthood—even decades after the traumatic incident. So, how can you begin healing the deep wounds of ACEs and build strength and resilience?In this innovative workbook, trauma specialist Glenn Schiraldi presents practical, evidence-based skills to help you heal from ACEs. In addition to dealing with the symptoms, you'll learn to address the root cause of your suffering, change the way your brain responds to stress and the outside world, and soothe troubling memories.Using the trauma-informed and resilience-building practices in this book, you will:Understand how toxic childhood stress is affecting your healthRewire disturbing imprints in your brain using cutting-edge skillsLearn how to regulate stress and emotional arousalDiscover why traditional psychological approaches might not be helpingKnow when and how to find the right kind of therapy Childhood trauma doesn't have to define you for the rest of your life. With this book as your guide, you will be able to make fundamental changes and replace needless suffering with self-care, security, and contentment.

A powerful, heartbreaking, and redemptive account of a boy who endured a childhood of poverty and abuse in an American Southwest trailer park named Cloud 9.Abandoned by his father at age two, Rick Sylvester lived with an abusive mother whose struggles as a member of the working poor led her to drugs, alcohol, theft, and prostitution--and eventually attempted suicide. Rick battled depression, anxiety, and PTSD as the chaos, neglect, and unpredictability of his childhood seemed to doom him to follow in his mother's footsteps.Well into adulthood, Rick stumbled through unemployment and divorce, using drugs and alcohol to numb the pain until he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Miraculously, though, he overcame the odds and today is a happy husband and father. How did this happen? Rick's answer is this:'It was the Lord.'A message of hope to those who are drowning from an undeserved childhood, Leaving Cloud 9 speaks to millions who grew up poor, feeling ignored and hopeless, and who need the healing power of God. This indelibly American story conveys the steadfast love of Jesus and his power to deliver us from the most devastating of pasts.

This book will give you clear-cut directions on how to recover from your past, find your purpose and prosper. The Law of Attraction and Childhood Trauma is the first book to identify that significant numbers of fans of the LoA are suffering from depression, anxiety and addictive behaviours. Using scientific research, this book will show how these issues result from their experience of growing up in a dysfunctional household. The trauma has affected their mind, body and soul and has left them unable to benefit from the LoA.'Overcoming the lingering effects of childhood trauma is what causes the mental, emotional and spiritual shift that allows the law of attraction to work.'The self-doubt and fear learned in your dysfunctional childhood is an invisible enemy sabotaging your best efforts to live the life you want. Facing the past and feeling the pain will release you from denial. This will propel you into a new world where an abundance of choices will reveal themselves.

Patricia Byrnes's life began with being reared by deaf parents during an era when the deaf community was shunned rather than supported. Poverty, alcoholism, incest and poor parenting were the underpinnings of Patricia's life, leading to her own issues with alcohol. Eventually, with a 12-step recovery program, her life became a powerful, positive example to others. Her story is also a roadmap for change, and that was no easy task: the transition from self-loathing – the nemesis of the human experience – to self-love was painful but one that had to be taken in order to not only survive, but to also, finally, appreciate the gift she is and was created to share with others. Change is always possible… change is necessary.'The author is a powerful example, demonstrating that a person can suffer from poverty, abuse, addiction, divorce and so much more and not only survive, but use adversity as a vehicle for growth, compassion and wisdom.'-- MIGNON LAWLESS, Ph.D.'What a brave and strong woman you are! You have spoken your truth, pure and unadulterated. I am truly humbled by your straightforward portrayal of such an incredible and painfully difficult life's journey. You have reached the place of forgiveness and understanding against all odds. May God continue to hold you close to His loving and merciful heart!'-- JEANNEMARIE BAKER, R.N.'Read TRISH not to look into Byrnes's struggles at a distance, but to take personally what the human spirit can do with whatever it is given. That is a blessed assurance that whatever challenges we face in our lives, we too can survive and overcome.'-- SAMUEL DEIBLER, B.A., B.D.'TRISH is a story of love, loss and longing told through the eyes of a girl who was forced into womanhood too early and a woman who somehow managed to retain the innocence of a girl. The impact of this beautiful book will linger long after you've turned the last page. Prepare to be changed.'-- DARALYSE LYONS, author, speaker, coachFrom the Reflections of America series Modern History Press www.ModernHistoryPress.com

Chicago's Ferraro crime family will do anything to protect one of their own in this thrilling entry in the Shadow Riders series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan.Nicoletta Gomez was a terrified teenager when Taviano Ferraro and his brother saved her life. Ever since, she's been trying to rise above what was done to her, molding herself into a survivor under the protective eyes of the Ferraro family. All the while, she's been falling hopelessly in love with the man who knows her darkest secrets.…With one look, Taviano knew that Nicoletta was his, just as he felt their shadows connect. But no matter how much he wanted to claim her, he knew she needed time to become her own woman. When Nicoletta once again finds herself in the sights of dangerous men, a split-second decision has Taviano breaking all of the Ferraro family's rules to keep her safe. And as far as he's concerned, the reward is more than worth the risk.