Trauma Memoir

In 1974, Liz Harvie – born Claire Elaine Watts – was given up for adoption by her birth mother Yvonne. Claire was just eight weeks old when her adoptive parents took her in – and renamed her Elizabeth. Although brought up in a ‘perfect’ household, the emotional – and physical – trauma of being taken from her biological mother would never leave Liz. She constantly wondered: what does my real mum look like? Will she come back for me? Why did she abandon me?

An Uncompromised Life takes listeners through Colleen Gallagher’s past unhealthy relationship which led her to compromise her soul. From this relationship, an unplanned pregnancy was created. Faced with a life-changing decision, and shocked because western medical doctors told Colleen it would be challenging for her to get pregnant after being diagnosed with cancer at age 14, she chose to let her child go.

Claudia Garcia crossed the border because her toddler, Natalia, could not hear. Leaving behind everything she knew in Mexico, Claudia recounts the terror of migrating alone with her toddler and the incredible challenges she faced advocating for her daughter’s health in the United States. When she arrived in Texas, Claudia discovered that being undocumented would mean more than just an immigration status—it would be a way of living, of mothering, and of being discarded by even those institutions we count on to care.

Linda Litteral is a survivor of incest and rape who used art to heal from the destruction to the body and spirit which comes from physical and sexual abuse. In this courageous memoir, Litteral shares the story of her abuse, spanning eight years of incest perpetrated by her grandfather, a rape she experienced in high school, and physical and verbal violence she suffered at the hands of her first husband.

David W. Powell enlisted for a tour of duty in April 1966 with the US Marines after receiving an imminent draft notice. Believing he would be able to leverage his existing skills as a computer programmer, he never thought all they would see on his resume was his Karate expertise. Even less that he would wind up serving as a Rocket man in the jungles of Da Nang and Chu Lai for a 13 month tour in hell. David's journey from naive civilian to battle-hardened combat veteran shows us all how fragile our humanity really is.

Craig Thayer’s destiny was mapped before he was even born. Saved is the story of a man who learned to see the sum of his parts and follow them like stepping stones throughout a miraculous life. Being put up for adoption at birth and finding his family at nine months was just the start of his unorthodox journey.

Rheumatoid arthritis was taking over my life. I could barely walk, dress myself, and perform simple daily tasks. I did everything I could to find healing. I tried all of the special diets; I was on all of the medications. Something wasn't right, and I was just getting sicker. This audiobook is about healing from the inside out. Your body is your greatest gift, dearest friend. The only difference between having a body that is your enemy and a body that is your friend is learning to speak its language. You can overcome chronic pain! You are worthy of a great life full of health and happiness!

This is an inspirational memoir and self-development book of a man who not only recovered from his Vietnam War wounds that blinded him but also from the force of darkness of self-pity, frustration, and despair.

In 1999, Sierra Leone was in the midst of a brutal civil war where mindless violence, vicious amputation and the rape of young enslaved women were the everyday weapons of bloody conflict. It was also where rebel soldiers snatched the young Aminata Conteh-Biger from her father's arms, then held her captive for months. After she was released, the UNHCR recognised that her captors still posed a serious threat to her safety. So, still in her teens, she was put on a plane and flown to Australia to start afresh as a refugee in a land she knew nothing about.

A week after my 50th birthday, and just as our family was about to move home, something happened that changed the way I looked at life. I spoke to others about how they rebuilt their shattered worlds after very different personal traumas, emerging stronger than before. I hope our experiences, together with the latest science on resilience, will help guide all those going through tough times. This book says that it's possible not just to survive them but to thrive. To rise.

When Melody Horrill arrived at university 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 lecturer monitor pods of river dolphins nearby. 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.

Rena Lipiner Katz grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust, believing that the price of her parents’ survival and her own birth was a life of sorrow and guilt. Lipiner Katz explores how her parents’ childhood trauma affected her emotionally and physiologically.

In this insightful, emotional, and thought provoking memoir, fashion mogul Blake Martin bares his soul and guides his audience through his childhood trauma. Through entertaining stories and brutal honesty, Martin stands on the pedestal of his truth.

Surviving Lasts a Lifetime: A Parent's Journey Through Medical Trauma details the journey of a young mother who survives a near death experience against all odds. It chronicles the survival, recovery, and the difficult task of moving on, and integrating a new normal. Astrid wrote letters as a "guide to life" for her children in case she would not live to teach them to her own children, as the trauma brought into sharp focus life's great questions about love, family, and purpose.

Have you or a loved one ever struggled with addictions, codependency, trauma, or shame? Do you often feel "not good enough", alone, or hopeless? Have you ever wondered if God is real, alive, or cares about your mess? This book is for you. Laura McCarthy writes from both her personal struggles and professional point of view.

From pain to purpose, purpose to peace. In 1999, Danny Sanchez was an inmate in San Quentin Prison. In 2012, he was commended for his work in youth violence prevention and named a Champion of Change by President Barak Obama. Experience his journey through the trauma that shaped his childhood, his spiral in self-destruction, then his radical transformation, and quest to serve the community he loves. Danny grew up in the juvenile incarceration system and lived a violent life, including police brutality, suicide attempts, and surviving multiple stabbings.

This sequel to Welcome to Vietnam, Macho Man digs deep into the mind of a Khe Sanh vet. The author, Ernest Spencer, opens up and shares with the world his life experiences from both before and after surviving the longest battle in the Vietnam War. How does wartime service change a person? Ernest shares his struggles with finding a place to fit back into the American Dream. Some, like the author, transition back into society very well in the eyes of the world, yet the demons deep inside are grappled with daily.

The dream of joining the military after high school to serve the country other family members had honorably served takes a terrifying turn in her first assignment after boot camp. Authority Beyond Reproach tells the author's experience of physical, emotional, and sexual trauma from her superiors in the immediate chain of command.

As a true story told through dual perspectives, a powerful love ignites amidst the chaos in a combat zone between Baghdad and Abu Ghraib, Iraq. Two young soldiers from completely different lives unite together on a deployment - mostly under the privacy of mosquito netting, since fraternization was frowned upon. Jennifer was more timid about needing to keep their relationship private, whereas Ryan didn’t take well to orders and was rather experienced in manipulating the system.

As a deeply authentic and heartfelt collection of harrowing true stories and reflections on sexual trauma, Echoes is a powerful anthology that seeks to shed light on the painful reality faced by male survivors of sexual abuse, along with the lasting mental and emotional scars that so many men carry with them. Compiling dozens of poignant real-life accounts, this groundbreaking book will open the hearts and minds of listeners, offering male survivors a safe place to find solace from their pain and begin building a road map on their journey to wholeness.