Trauma happens. Healing is possible. As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Johanna Hattendorf has spent much of her life healing and sharing what she has learned to help others.
If you have experienced trauma, you know how it breaks you at every level of your being. It overwhelms your nervous system; creates pain in your body; changes your brain; leads to fear, depression, and anxiety; and disrupts your sense of connection to the world.
This book is a poetic memoir of courage and hope. Through contemplations on grief, dissociation, personal agency, finding her voice, and embracing her full identity, Johanna shares how she gathered and reclaimed her life after sexual abuse shattered her childhood. But rather than focusing on “what happened,” these poems tell the story of her journey home to herself.
May her words bring you comfort, inspiration, and hope.
Johanna Hattendorf is a writer, teacher, and healer living in VA with her wife Lisa and their dog Toby. She believes in magic and mystery and the wild unfolding of serendipity. She especially believes in the power of words to shape and create.
Johanna has contributed regularly to the Starting with Scripture newsletter, was featured on The Progressive Sacred podcast, and had an award- winning sermon published in Best Sermons by Harper and Row. As a public speaker, she has led workshops, retreats, and seminars at local, state, and national events and was a guest lecturer at Harvard University Divinity School for three years.
Johanna’s history of childhood sexual abuse and her interest in the intersection of body, mind, and spirit led to her pursuit of ordained ministry and pastoral counseling and, later, certifications as a Licensed Massage Therapist, Reiki Master and Teacher, 2nd degree black belt, self-defense coach, Tai Chi and QiGong instructor, and Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE) Provider.
Her unique specialties and playful, easy-going style are reflected throughout her writing, teaching, and healing work.