Trauma Memoir

On May 12, 2015, Amtrak 188 derailed outside of Philadelphia going 106 miles per hour. Geralyn Ritter was thrown from the train with such force that she sustained catastrophic injuries to her chest, her abdomen, and her pelvis. Found unconscious, unable to breathe, and suffering massive blood loss, she was not expected to survive. After enduring weeks in the ICU, dozens of surgeries over the following years, unremitting pain, PTSD, depression, and opioid dependence, Geralyn was faced with a daunting question: Beyond mere survival after trauma, where is the path back to joy?

In this remarkable memoir, Jeremy Norton marshals twenty-two years of professional experience to offer, with compassion and critique, an extraordinary portrayal of emergency responders. Trauma Sponges captures in arresting detail the personal and social toll the job exacts, as well as the unique perspective afforded by sustained direct encounters with the sick, the dying, and the dead.

A searing memoir about growing up in a fiercely loving, abusive rabbinical family in which the author's father, the charismatic head of a splinter Orthodox religious community, demands unswerving loyalty—and a commitment to guarding terrible secrets. Sara Sherbill was raised by a father who was both a representative of God and a broken man harboring an intricate set of secrets. Her riveting story explores what happens when a daughter is tasked with keeping those secrets, and the cost of keeping them. It asks: How do we live with suffering? What does it mean to heal?

He says he loves you. So...why does he do that? You've asked yourself this question again and again. Now you have the chance to see inside the minds of angry and controlling men---and to change your life. In this groundbreaking book, a counselor who specializes in working with abusive men shows you how to improve, survive, or leave an abusive relationship.

Do you ever feel controlled by your life? Is it hard for you to release anger from the past? Are you just surviving and calling it living? Face your fears and their message! Each experience is perfectly aligned for your purpose, peace, and freedom. Listen and trust. Your life lessons will guide you. * * * In her memoir, Lynn Balter shows how she transformed unimaginable traumas into a triumphant life of compassion, purpose, and philanthropy. Her life story illustrates the important lessons she learned while surviving and thriving after childhood trauma, sexual assault, divorce, addiction, ...

Driven by childhood trauma, a passionate engineer turned doctor confronts the suffering within the medical system. Expecting to find compassion and care, he instead encounters a broken, inhumane and corrupt system. As his journey leads him to question his own deeply held beliefs, he uncovers an urgent need for strategies prioritising human connection over technical fixes. Through profound encounters with patients and wise teachers, the author discovers a new scientific reality where healing flourishes and miracles occur daily – insights with the potential to transform medical practice. ...

Share the innermost feelings of emergency services workers as they encounter trauma, tragedy, redemption, and even a little humor. This audiobook details a progression from innocence to enlightened caregiver to burnout, glimpsing into each stage personally and professionally.

Late one night, while Rebecca Fogg was alone in her apartment, her hand was partially amputated in an explosion. Quick thinking saved her life, but the journey to recovery would be a slow one. As the doctors rebuilt her hand, Rebecca (who also survived 9/11) began rebuilding her sense of self by studying the physical and psychological process of recovery.

To others, Dr. Lawrence Mieczkowski (Dr. Mitch) was a successful physician, caring father, and good husband—but inwardly, he was suffering from deep despair. When the 1999 Columbine shootings triggered a descent into near madness, he lost his ability to fight off the demons dragging him further into the darkness of depression and hopelessness. Something had to be done.

The Chair and The Valley is a raw, gut-wrenching, and amazing story about healing from trauma and starting over. It is a testament to the importance of chosen family, the restorative power of nature, and the strength it takes to build a new life in the face of fear and doubt. Banning takes listeners through his fraught relationship with his family, the mistreatment he suffered at the hospital, the lawsuit against the owners of the facility, and his desire to make sense of what happened to him. We witness Banning navigate the difficult landscape of trauma and his battle to live a normal life.

In this searing memoir, Congressman Jamie Raskin tells the story of the forty-five days at the start of 2021 that permanently changed his life—and his family’s—as he confronted the painful loss of his son to suicide, lived through the violent insurrection in our nation’s Capitol, and led the impeachment effort to hold President Trump accountable for inciting the political violence.

More Confessions shares the raw and honest feelings of emergency service professionals through true "story behind the story" revelations. Disclosing experiences from both sides of the gurney, Sherry and other EMS, ER, paramilitary, and firefighter responders walk you along their fragile line of sanity. Using humor as a life raft during perfect storms, workers reflect upon how they endure and survive personal and professional tragedy while trying not to care too much, and what happens when they fail in that attempt.

On the morning of August 12, 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution, preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black—black clothes, black mask—rushed down the aisle toward him, wielding a knife. His first thought: So it’s you. Here you are. What followed was a horrific act of violence that shook the literary world and beyond.

Tears of a Black Man is a raw, powerful poetry collection drawn from the real-life experiences of author Lawrence McLendon.These aren’t just poems—they're confessions, reflections, and scars. From false accusations and prison time to broken love, fatherhood, and the daily battles of being a Black man in America, Lawrence bares it all with brutal honesty and grace. Every verse is a testimony of survival. Of standing tall after being knocked down. Of carrying invisible weights while trying to be seen, heard, and understood. This book is for anyone who's ever felt invisible, misunderstood,...

As an award-winning stuntwoman, Kimberly Shannon Murphy was intimate with pain. For years, she propelled her body through dangerous spaces—medicating the trauma of her childhood sexual abuse with the adrenaline rush that came from pushing herself to the absolute limit. But as Kimberly learned, no matter how much you suppress your past, it always catches up with you.

Sandra Pankhurst founded her trauma cleaning business to help people whose emotional scars are written on their houses. From the forgotten flat of a drug addict, to the infested home of a hoarder, Sandra enters properties and lives at the same time. But few of the people she looks after know anything of the complexity of Sandra's own life. Raised in an uncaring home, Sandra's miraculous gift for warmth and humour in the face of unspeakable personal tragedy, mark her out as a one-off and make this biography unmissable.

The riveting, heartbreaking, and inspiring story of two sisters who survived a childhood riddled with violence, neglect, and abandonment, but went on to become gifted healers - one a theologian, the other as a therapist. Their stories, inextricably woven together, narrate how they pulled each other out of the hell of shame, fear, poverty caused by their parents and toxic religion, and into lives of profound meaning and service to the world.

Wings of Courage is a heartfelt and deeply personal memoir by Julieta that chronicles a journey of survival, resilience, and hope. Trapped in the web of an abusive marriage, Julieta endures years of pain, manipulation, and heartbreak. Yet, through every challenge, she finds the strength to rise, driven by her love for her children and her unyielding determination to reclaim her life. This powerful memoir delves into the raw reality of domestic abuse, the emotional toll of loss, and the struggle to break free from a toxic relationship. But more than that, it’s a story of healing. Julieta ...

Forget everything you think you know about psychedelics. They’re not punchlines. They’re not party favors for aging hippies. Instead, as Alex Abraham discovered, they are an innovative approach that can help heal trauma and chronic pain.

André Xavier’s life was forever changed by a single phone call on a sunny September morning. On the other end, his wife Charlie heaved in breathless panic. Come quick. There’s been an accident. André jumped into action and found his way to the hospital Charlie had been airlifted to. There, he would learn his wife was alive, but just barely. To the sterile backdrop of beeping, whirring machines, André learned that Charlie had survived a workplace accident, causing severe burns covering 85% of her body. Her road to recovery would be a long and winding one and she would need André’s ...