April 14, 2025
Welcome Back!
Thank you for being here and for your continued support as we count down to the launch of my book, Girl, Groomed: A Therapist’s Memoir of Trauma, coming April 22— just around the corner!
As I mentioned in my first newsletter, I’ll continue to share behind-the-scenes moments, personal reflections, and updates as we move closer to launch day.
What two words describe a lifetime of healing?
A question was recently posed on social media to authors about their books. It was simple — and brilliant:
Writers are known for being wordy (myself included), so this challenge was no small feat. How could I summarize the culmination of my life’s work in merely two words?
It brought me back forty-three years to graduate school, where I was in a clinical course taught by a remarkably gifted professor who looked a bit like — and acted a lot like — Yoda. One of our assignments was to describe our approach to working with clients in just three short sentences.
It took me a week to winnow down what I thought I had to offer as a budding psychotherapist. Even then, I wasn’t entirely satisfied — and my answer would be vastly different today. But the exercise of getting to the core of something remains as daunting as it is valuable.
Now, decades later, I’m asked to distill my memoir into two words.
It’s about the trauma I carried and the narrative I absorbed.
It’s about how I unconsciously projected those wounds onto the people I loved.
It’s about how integrating my pain gave me new agency — and new freedom.
My two words?
Reclaiming Myself.
📩 Stay tuned!
There’s more behind-the-book insight and personal reflections coming in the next few newsletters.
is a therapist and author of Girl, Groomed, sharing her personal story of trauma and healing. Her work blends professional expertise and personal insight to guide readers on their own journeys to resilience.
cfodellmsw@gmail.com
+1 (206) 291-2211
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