::books

Just released from Mango Media:
cover of Write to Restore guided journal

Write to Restore: A Step-By-Step Creative Writing Journal for Survivors of Sexual Trauma A companion to the bestselling Writing Ourselves Whole (Mango Media).

OUR WORDS RESTORE US is a companion text to Writing Ourselves Whole #metoo has raised awareness around issues of sexual trauma, which has impacted our collective conversations about how survivors live in the aftermath of this trauma.

Writing is one of the healing and transformative practices nearly everyone has easy access to. While #metoo has had a profound (and primarily positive) impact on our society, many survivors describe walking around in a constant state of being “triggered;” we need a place to explore the nuances of our stories, outside of a twitter feed or instagram post This journal can be be used by those writing alone or along with a writing group, support group, or other healing community.

Healing from trauma can be a slow and painful process, especially for sexual trauma survivors, who are often shamed into keeping their experience to themselves. This companion journal to Jen Cross’s book Writing Ourselves Whole is a space to put the pain on a page, and in doing so, release the hold it has on us and restore our bodies and minds.

In this self-help journal, you will find:

  • A 60-day guided journey to healing from your experience
  • Sixteen writing exercises that gently prompt writers deeper into their experiences and into renewal
  • Follow-up readings, additional exercises, and suggested uses for your writing

Available at your local independent bookstore, and anywhere else books are sold, including:
IndieBound
Barnes & Noble
Available at Amazon

 


 

Cover of Writing Ourselves Whole book(more information for media/press)

Writing Ourselves Whole: Using the power of your own creativity to recover and heal from sexual trauma 

Writing Ourselves Whole is a collection of essays and creative writing encouragements for sexual trauma survivors who want to risk writing a different story. Each short chapter offers encouragement, experience, and exercises. Sections focus on writing as a transformative practice, embodying our story, how to write trauma without retraumatization, writing joy and desire, and more.

When you can find language for the stories that are locked inside, you can change your life. Survivors of childhood sexual trauma are strong and vulnerable enough to bear witness to each other’s truths, to share and learn new languages for our experiences, to throw over the simplistic “victim” and “survivor” narratives that permeate mainstream media in favor of narratives that are fragmented, complicated, messy, and ultimately more whole.

Yet few creative writing or creative recovery books explicitly address sexual trauma survivor struggles to find language for their experience, nor do they describe the empowerment we might find in discovering language and expression for our delight, desire, and joy as well as our loss and pain. Writing Ourselves Whole specifically addresses the power of connecting with others who share our experience and can support us in finding language for subjects we not only are not supposed to talk about in polite company, but aren’t even supposed to articulate to ourselves.

Writing Ourselves Whole acknowledges the radical and profound impact of a creative healing community for trauma survivors, and includes suggestions for those seeking to create a peer writing group in their own communities.

What You’ll Learn Inside Writing Ourselves Whole:

  • How to reconnect with your creative instinct through freewriting
  • How freewriting can help you reclaim the parts of yourself, and your history, that you were never supposed to be able to name
  • How “restorying” the old myths about sexual trauma survivors can set you free
  • How a consistent writing practice can help reconnect you with your creative genius
  • How (and why) to make writing part of your regular self-care routine
  • Why writing about your desires is at least as important as writing about violence
  • The profound joy and power of writing in community and solidarity with other survivors

Jen is always delighted to connect with readers out in the world, and is available to offer talks/workshops for colleges, universities, social service organizations, community groups, and others.

What others are saying about Writing Ourselves Whole:

Writing Ourselves Whole is a raw, powerful, necessary, wise and practiced guidebook to the revolutionary practice of finding the words, language and voice to transform suffering. It is chock full of insights, exercises,experience and the kind of fierce loveand teaching that transforms pain into power.
Jen Cross is a brave and brilliant transmitter of the deepest healing and healing practices. To anyone who has experienced abuse,violation and trauma, this book is a way out of the darkness.” –Eve Ensler, The Vagina Monologues

Writing Ourselves Whole is rich, intelligent, passionate, intimate, honest and encouraging. Jen Cross draws from her personal experience, her many years of facilitating writing groups with survivors of sexual abuse, and the wisdom of a variety of teachers and writers, to provide guidance for writing-and for life-that’s both sensible and inspiring. This book is a treasure trove!”
Ellen Bass, poet and co-author of The Courage to Heal

“This is the most essential book on writing practice I know … Every writing teacher, writing coach, writing workshop or group leader- and every person with a history of any kind of trauma needs this book.
Pat Schneider, author of How the Light Gets In and founder of the Amherst Writers & Artists method

Publication details:
Published by Mango Media
Paperback: 304 pages
Language: English
ISBN-10: 163353619X
ISBN-13: 978-1633536197
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.7 x 8.9 inches

Available at your local independent bookstore, and anywhere else books are sold, including:

IndieBound
Barnes & Noble
Available at Amazon