Nurturing the Light Inside

A compassionate memoir about overcoming the shame that fuels addiction and a practical guide to learning to love yourself.

This honest and raw collection of essays reveals the author's struggles with alcohol abuse, body image, and unhealthy relationships as she found the path to the new life she's built in recovery. It also provides thought-provoking questions for readers to explore their own stories and beliefs about themselves.

Sherry Danner-a former marriage and family therapist with specialized training in addiction and trauma-recalls her own teenage sexual assault, the memory of which was triggered by listening to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's testimony at the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings; a love affair that started in rehab and ended in tragedy; an intense female friendship complicated by alcohol that ended messily; a spiritual awakening that kick-started a hundred-pound weight loss; and an unconventional addiction-recovery method that led to freedom from a decades-long battle with alcohol.

Questions designed to be used as prompts for writing or small-group discussions follow each essay, inviting readers to consider their own lives from an empowered point of view and to challenge limiting beliefs they may hold about their own self-worth. In the final chapters, Danner shares practical steps for overcoming the perfectionistic, shame-based thinking that fuels addiction and codependency and offers suggestions for cultivating self-love and setting healthy boundaries.