Book Reveal!

It's here!!

Hello ♡,

We are finally here. I am so excited. I am too excited to even use exclamation marks. I may resort to all caps as needed, this occasion calls for CELEBRATION.

I am also interestingly relieved. It has been such a long road to get to the publishing of this book. You have been the most supportive place for this work, and I am so excited to share it with you first.

Look!

Your Pain Has a Name: A Therapist’s Invitation to Understanding Your Story and Sorting Out Who You Are From What Hurts

Inhale, exhale. Here it is. I think it is so beautiful! What do you think? It will be out May 13th, but you can preorder it now!

So, what is this book about?

I became a therapist after one changed my life more than 2 decades ago. I thought, if there is one thing I can do in my life it would be to help people the way I was after going to therapy. I was struggling terribly, and I had no idea what was happening. And this went on for years. It was a different time, mental health wasn’t such a hot topic, and it certainly wasn’t normalized to get help or go to therapy. (My hope is that this book, even my story, can be one small part to continue to help destigmatize struggling with your mental and emotional health, AND getting help.)

When I found a name for my pain, I finally understood myself and found the way back home to myself. It was in finding a name for my pain, that I was able to separate who I was from the false narratives I had been believing for years. Because, if you don’t name your pain, it will name you.

Not every pain can be solved or healed, but every single pain can be named. And it is in this naming that we understand ourselves, and find our way back home to who we really are. We get ourselves mixed up with our pain, and mixed up by the stories it tells about us. I hope to help readers do just that in this book. This book is in many ways the culmination of my years of work as a therapist and my years of creating therapeutic content online, for my podcast, and for articles. It is in some ways like coming to therapy at my office. The biggest difference is that in this book I “go first” and share my vulnerable story to help lay the groundwork for you, as the reader, to explore your own.

My hope for this book?

I must tell you, I share parts of my story in this book I felt deep shame about. I believed for years (years!) there was something deeply wrong with me. It was all consuming internally, but I hid it well. This book is for anyone who has ever felt like that, and for anyone who has struggled with unnamed pain. It is for anyone who is hurting but doesn’t know why! It is for anyone who wants to learn to love themselves better. It is for anyone who wants to understand themselves more. It is like a therapeutic journey in a book, and so it is for anyone who wants to explore that journey in this form.

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”

―Toni Morrison

My hope for this book is that it is one stone on the path leading you towards finding names for your pain and finding your way back home to yourself. This book is for anyone who wants to explore what that might look like for them.

It takes courage to name your pain. It takes courage to try to understand your story. And it is an enormous relief to come home to the beloved truth of who you are. Naming your pain helps you return home to who you are. Returning home to who you are helps separate you from what hurts. This is essential. My hope is this book will hold your hand and help you have courage. And that this book will help you exhale.

How can you help?

Preorders are huge for books. Many of you may have heard that by now. But it’s true! The best way to help support this book is to preorder your copies now, and then to help get the word out! You can preorder it on:

Amazon,

or Barnes and Noble,

or independent book stores - here is one I love: Main Street Books.

(I hope to be in and support other independent book stores too. Let me know if you have one that you would like to carry my book!)

Once you have received and read the book in May, leaving a review is an enormous help too. I will be in touch with you all first about all the book stuff and any opportunities with it.

Finally, this book reveal is in large part thanks to you. Thank YOU for reading my words. I actually thank my readers of all this content first in my acknowledgments section of the book. Of all the voices clamoring for your attention, it means the world that you hang out in this quiet corner with me where we will continue to try to take away shame, and bring healing and hope.

With you,

Monica