Recovery Memoirs

In 2012, Rhyannon Styles began her gender transition and attended her first 12-step meeting - beginning two journeys that changed the course of her life. Using her personal narrative as a springboard for exploring addiction, recovery and LGBTQ+ mental health, Rhyannon writes with searing honesty about the complexity of her experiences. The audiobook spans a range of addictions including alcohol, food, sex and relationships, the internet and narcotics, and highlights the ways in which addiction and the transition process can overlap.

Sherri Wyatt was raised by loving parents in a Christian home. However, perversion of grace by religion and religious rituals spoke the fire-and-brimstone message of condemnation, guilt, and shame. Confusion prevailed from an early age about the love of God. As life-threatening childhood health issues mounted, she felt God was mad at her. She tried to do good and be good, yet more trauma was inflicted.

After 24 years in healthcare, one fateful evening transformed Mandi from practitioner to patient. A motor vehicle accident left her with a significant traumatic brain injury that has taken her much longer than expected to recover from. Follow along as she shares her journey back from her worst day through the first year.

Ever heard of someone hitting rock bottom before they finally have a come-to-Jesus moment? Well, Brian will be the first to admit he couldn’t tell you which rock bottom finally did the trick! In this riveting account of his personal testimony, he tells the story of how he went from a life in ruins from the consequences of his addictions to sober, clean, and studying for the ministry, as well as inventor of several medical devices already beginning to change countless lives.

After the disintegration of the most significant relationship of his life, the demons Luke Turner has been battling since childhood are quick to return - depression and guilt surrounding his identity as a bisexual man, experiences of sexual abuse, and the religious upbringing that was the cause of so much confusion. It is among the trees of London's Epping Forest where he seeks refuge. But once a place of comfort, it now seems full of unexpected, elusive threats that trigger twisted reactions.

With Out of the Ashes: A Story of Recovery and Hope, Sallie Crotty offers a profoundly moving memoir told with unflinching bravery and insight. Her compelling story explores a topic that affects us all: mental health. Detailing a mid-life descent into debilitating despair, she brings the listener on a deeply personal journey. She reveals her struggles, time spent in a psychiatric ward, and how lacking a clear diagnosis almost led to her death. She also describes how proper care and receiving the right diagnosis and treatment can provide hope, stability, and a path to happiness.

A child survives the miracle of birth. Regrettably, the doctor discovers an abnormality. Born March 7th, 1973 as the 28th recorded birth to survive with a diagnosis of Eagle-Barrett Syndrome. The rare birth defect involves three triads of urological complications. Continued survival meant multiple surgeries, painful examinations, with tubes inserted into the urethra as the corrective procedures healed. The doctor’s frightening revelations, “a child rarely survives to the age of two.” Each birthday celebration an unknown, "The chance for your survival to the age of sixteen is rare," ...

Her Name Was Lola is the story of Trish Ryan’s triumphant recovery from a stroke that should have killed her. She had a successful career in the entertainment industry for over 30 years until May 5th, 2017, when she suffered a severe stroke that changed her life forever. Living a very fast-paced life had not prepared her for when it all came to a grinding halt. Lost and confused with no roadmap to follow, she relied on her faith to show her the way to embrace what happened and move forward.

On an unlikely backpacking trip, Rhik and his mother find themselves speaking openly for the first time in years. Afterwards, the depression that has weighed down on Rhik begins to loosen its grip for a moment - so he seizes the opportunity: to own it, to understand it and to find out where it came from. Through this begins a journey of investigation, healing and recovery. Along the way Rhik learns some shocking truths about his family and realises that, in turn, he will need to confront the secrets he has long buried.

A riveting and raw story of how one woman overcame alcoholism and mental illness and broke free from the genetic blueprint of addiction that demonized her family for generations. She sets you in a front row seat as she shares her life story and experiences, which show the strength, determination and courage of how she refused to continue with this way of life, and how she would do whatever it took to protect her children from being exposed to a life of addiction which is so normalized and influenced within society.

Cut back or quit drinking entirely…fast! Are you worried you're drinking too much? Has alcohol become a major part of your life? Do you fear it's affecting your health? Your relationships? Your career? Millions of people are dependent on alcohol to self-medicate trauma, stress, depression, or succumbing to peer pressure to drink more than they want. They'd love to cut-back but fear losing the buzz they associate with alcohol, and mistakenly believe that a sober life will doom them to a life of loss, boredom, pain, and misery. Cassandra Gaisford, a New Zealand-based health counsellor, ...

The new face of risky drinking is female. The problem: a global epidemic of bingeing. The solution: a brave new approach to female recovery. Eight years ago, Ann Dowsett Johnston was an award-winning journalist and vice-principal of McGill University. In private, she was wrestling the demon that had undone her own mother; the same demon increasing numbers of women are now battling across the world: alcohol.

An adventurous and free-spirited young man, Winston "Win" Williams, was destined for adventure. He spent years sailing around the world, experiencing life many only see through the movies or TV. From Tahiti to New Guinea and the far east, to the Indian Ocean, Africa, and the Philippines, Win had it all under a cloud of sails. Until he didn't. This dramatic memoir brings us from the highs of life on the seas to the lows of addiction and, devastatingly, losing it all. Win shares openly and honestly his experience of recovery from alcoholism, and the restoration of relationships and a new life...

This is a funny look at the world of smoking and what smokers go through: the stigma, the stereotyping, and the general malaise of the uncaring nonsmoker. Get a few laughs, but if you're willing, get some very helpful tips to, once and for all, kick the habit. Take it from a smoker. You can't learn from someone who's never done it, can you?

The year 2013 was my year of Job. In the Bible, Job was a very wealthy man with a large family who loved God. For reasons Job did not understand, he lost his family, wealth, businesses, and then health--quickly and violently. For about nine months, he was lost to grief and despaired even of life. But God. But God.

This memoir entitled “A Safe Place for Brent” is the experience of a UCC and Disciples of Christ minister named Peter Denbo Haskins who founded and directed a ministry in Knox County, Indiana called “Life After Meth.” It is his experience working in the local jail where he combined Christian ministry and secular social work to create a program to combat the methamphetamine epidemic from 2005 until 2018. This book is written to share this story of hope for any minister, social worker, recovering drug addict and struggling family member of an addict or a member of a community that is ...

No one likes the unpredictability of life and the storms it brings our way. Steady in the Storm documents Shonah's personal journey as she navigates through the storm of her husband's addictions as a newlywed. Coming from a background of homeschooling and Sunday school, Shonah is ill-prepared to handle the uncontrollable situation. Reaching deep into her relationship with Christ, Shonah walks you through the gift of grace, the grit of gratitude, and the lavishness of the goodness of God that got her through the storm.

Within a one year time frame, in the United States, there were 67,367 deaths reported due to drug overdose. This is just one human's story. She could have been number 67,368, but she was spared. Melissa and Christina have never spoken in depth about Melissa’s addiction. By the time Melissa went into recovery, she had been using it for over 20 years.

What do you do when the life you planned is dramatically interrupted? What does it mean to heal, when the world won't stop asking what's wrong with you? At the age of 22, Grace Spence Green's spine was broken at the fourth thoracic vertebra. One day, she was in hospital supporting patients, the next she was fighting for her own life. To Exist As I Am chronicles her journey from idealistic medical student to spinal-injury patient, to doctor and disabled activist, finding her way back to the wards, and finding her tribe along the way.

Victoria Vanstone grew up in 1980s England in a happy home full of laughter, booze and a disturbing amount of fancy-dress parties. From her youthful days downing cheap wine at the local park to dodging disastrous relationships and a messy run-in with a firework, her reliable mate alcohol was never far from reach. Eventually, Victoria found herself in Australia with a husband and a child on the way. After sobering up for her first pregnancy, becoming a boring, bottom-wiping, cleaning machine meant she soon returned to her binge-drinking ways.