Finding Hope After Trauma
Stories of healing, resilience, and reclaiming your life.
“Above all, be the heroine of your own life, not the victim.”
— Nora Ephron
Home: A Memoir of Family, Forgiveness and Healing from Complex PTSD
Coming September 15, 2026
Order your signed copy from Village Books and receive Three Keepsake Family Recipe Cards!
Kirkus Reviews‘ verdict—the ‘gold standard’ in book reviewers—is GET IT! Read their full review HERE.
Part investigation, part love letter to survival, HOME is a courageous story of trauma and transformation, love and forgiveness, and realizing that sometimes the home you’re searching for is the one you build inside yourself.
In my research, I discovered that while my experiences had left me with long-lasting trauma, they had also resulted in talents and skills that would serve me later in life.
This, I believe, is the greatest aspiration for those who have suffered complex trauma – to find hope and meaning within the events we were unable to control. Home is a memoir of survival, belonging, and the hard-won truth that healing is possible.
“I suspected that something from my past was reaching into the present and hijacking the happy life I’d carefully built.”
After nearly losing her husband, Amy Smyth Miller’s panic spirals out of control. Therapy reveals a diagnosis: Complex PTSD. In search of healing, Amy embarks on a harrowing excavation of her past—childhood neglect, homelessness, parental addiction, and a family history shadowed by suicide. Amid the wreckage, she discovers the people and circumstances that kept her safe and helped to shape her life: her wise great-grandmother’s teachings, the watchful eyes of caring adults, and her own fierce determination. Each memory is a clue, each family story a piece of the puzzle. But the most elusive truth is buried in a forgotten childhood memory—one that holds the key to her deepest fear.
Latest Articles
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Stories We Tell Ourselves
My teaching career taught me an unexpected lesson: good intentions aren’t enough—research matters. That realization changed how I taught reading and, years later, how I understand sibling estrangement, dysfunctional family systems, and developmental trauma. As I prepare to publish my memoir, I’m reflecting on what happens when we stop believing the stories we’ve been told…
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The Four Survival Responses to Trauma
Childhood trauma doesn’t just affect emotions — it reshapes the nervous system and the way people respond to stress, fear, and relationships. The four trauma responses — fight, flight, freeze, and fawn — are automatic survival mechanisms designed to protect us from perceived danger. In children and adults alike, these responses can appear as aggression,…
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Healing Childhood Trauma: Rebuilding Your Sense of Self
How Does a Sense of Self Develop? A sense of self begins at birth, shaped by early sensory experiences and secure relationships with caregivers. As children grow, emotional support and validation help build confidence, identity, and resilience. However, early trauma can disrupt this process, leading children to internalize distress and develop survival-based coping patterns that…
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