From survivor to psychotherapist—one woman’s path to triumphing over trauma by understanding how the brain’s brilliant protective mechanisms helped keep her alive.

In this powerful and deeply personal work of nonfiction, survivor and psychotherapist Sara Davidson explores one of life’s devastating but all too pervasive realities—trauma, and its rippling aftereffects.

By her mid-thirties, Sara Davidson had fled a tsunami, fought off a knife-wielding thief and survived a horrific sexual assault by two masked gunmen who burst through her bedroom door in the middle of the night. As she was struggling to confront her own trauma, she was also helping her clients navigate theirs. At one point, she thought she had recovered. However, it was only after delving into the neuroscientific literature on trauma and discovering how her brain had protected her in her darkest hour that she found her way to true healing.

Thoughtful and brutally honest, Davidson’s memoir draws on her personal experience, professional training and the insights she gained through her investigations to paint a moving portrait of one woman’s winding path to self-acceptance, healing and reclaiming a joyful life.