After nearly a decade of sobriety, Pam Gaslow relapsed into a life of dependency on marijuana, a devastating downward spiral that shattered her.

From bongs to pipes to flavored vape pens, she dove into a two-year-long 24/7 stoned void: a protracted journey to nowhere.

Ultimately becoming sick from marijuana toxicity, Pam eventually finds the willingness to save herself and seek treatment.

Her book, Don’t Bring Your Vibrator to Rehab, is an emotionally raw memoir that reveals the terrifying and lonely world of addiction.

She tells all with honesty, intelligence, wit, and a remarkable degree of self-deprecating humor.

Sandwiched between raising their own children and taking on the responsibilities of their aging boomer parents, GenX mothers are often faced with a seemingly impossible emotional juggling act.

In her memoir, Truth Has a Different Shape Kari O'Driscoll faces the challenges of being groomed as a caretaker, growing up in the post-first-wave-feminist 70s and 80s, in a family where her need for love is often unmet, and how that shifts her own identity as woman, wife, mother, and child.

Kari has learned to see her own personal evolution as an ever-expanding spiral - where she does occasionally find herself back in a familiar place, but with more wisdom and life experience.

As she makes her way through, she is able to draw on her past to build resilience and a deeper understanding of how she wants to be in the world.

Every one of us at various points in our lives go through challenges that cause us a lot of pain and trauma.

That is what comes with life.

However, these experiences help us grow as individuals and acquire new knowledge and skills to manage future challenges, and also inspire others.

Motherhood should be a time of joy and wonder. Watching your baby grow and develop is amazing. And challenging. 

Nothing can prepare a woman for dealing with years of infertility to finally have a miracle baby...only to watch that child fight for her life with pediatric cancer. 

It's a nightmare for any parent. 

 Hilda Manyo Dickson not only was diagnosed with infertility but had her miracle baby and helped her child survive pediatric cancer.

She has decided to use that story to teach other women how to wade through similar challenges and grow from it.

Have you tried everything to get a handle on your anxiety?

The aches and pains in your body distract you, and things are so complex it seems impossible to figure it all out.

You've done things like yoga, meditation, and other therapies, but you still feel stuck in the stress loop. So how do you get results that last when your world is out of control?  

Author and deep tissue therapist, Chris Ann Cravens, offers an intriguing process to help you to calm your nerves and experience immediate, lasting improvement.

In addition, this insight brings emotional stability, which translates to confidence in everyday actions.  

Learn how to calm your anxiousness and find better clarity for decision-making.
Stabilize your emotions and stop being paralyzed during the times that matter most.
Discover techniques that reduce underlying pain and stress that cause anxiety.
Unearth sacred gems of wisdom that allow you to refocus and find relief during stressful times.
Access ancient knowledge and combine it with modern science to rewire your habits.
Feel more relaxed, confident, and even excited about turning your anxiety into enthusiasm.

Penis politics negatively impacts girls and women’s view of themselves and their options in life, saying that women are “damned if you speak up and damned if you shut up.”

Known for never ducking a fight, Karen Hinton was at the peak of her career in 2018 when a catastrophic brain injury propelled her into the battle of her life. Emerging from a coma, learning to walk, talk and write again, she was determined to “speak up, not shut up” on issues involving women, men and power.

In her newly released memoir, Karen coins the term “penis politics” to describe how powerful men assert control over women in a vulnerable or subordinate position and the extensive media attention Karen received over her revelations of Andrew Cuomo’s sexual politics.

Karen's goal with Penis Politics is to help change the way we treat each other with an outspoken appeal to moving us in the right direction and a wake-up call for men to support the women in their lives.

Jacob Cooper was your average three-year-old.  Until the day he experienced death.

Recovering from a case of whooping cough, Jacob was playing on a playground. Having fun, running around...and then for no apparent reason, he suffocated. 

That experience changed his life and his path forever. His near-death experience (or NDE) was very traumatic but gave Jacob the gift of knowing from a young age what life had in store for him. 

His story is told in his new book, "Life After Breath."

"Death, even for a moment, changes everything.

In Life After Breath, Jacob’s near-death experience as a child ripped an opening between him and the spirit world.

He lived but was forever changed. As he grew, darkness and light led him on a roller coaster ride of turmoil, loss, discovery, and renewal.

He now shares this mystical journey with those brave enough to explore the “other side,” understand the beings there, and hear the wisdom gleaned.

He faces the question of the hereafter, looks at life lessons, and examines what a connected awareness can mean to the human experience."

We’ve all had unique...and often messy...life journeys. You know; the good, the bad, and the ugly. But what if your “messy” life experiences have hidden meanings—that if uncovered could help you have mind-blowing insights about your life’s purpose, and deepen your friendships?

Shari Leid, a former lawyer-turned-mindset and life coach who spent a year meeting with her friends via Zoom for intimate conversations centered around the question, "What is the mess that became your message?"

She turned those interviews into her newest book, Make Your Mess Your Message. And she shares with us a bit about her own mess and how it became her message.

At the age of 3, Ed Hajim is kidnapped by his father, driven cross-country, and told his mother had died. He pressed his face against the car window, watched the miles pass and wondered where life will take him.

Where he least expected.

Ed Hajim tells his improbable story of how he bounced from foster homes to orphanages, in a daily struggle to survive, to living the American dream as an accomplished Wall Street executive and model family man with great moral fiber and the means to give back to a world that seemed intent on rejecting him.

Born into both emotional and economic poverty, Anne de Nada's early life consisted of only obstacles and challenges.

However, she never gave up, and she continually trusted in her own guidance, being rewarded with insight and wisdom. Whenever it felt like her life was not flowing, she took that as a sign that it was time to do more healing, clearing away the trauma that lay embedded deep in cellular memory.

Anne speaks to the gift of grace and the indomitable courage of the human heart as well as the many essential truths she discovered about life, among them that we are never given something we cannot handle, and that life is about manifesting the deepest desires of our hearts, and that the thing we most fear is our own greatness.

After 2 years of pandemic isolation, people are ready for some holiday celebration! This season will be especially challenging because alcohol and drug relapse rates historically spike, and more than 50% of Americans will be personally affected.

BUT…if you are prepared for the holidays and have the right tools and information, you can safeguard yourself (or a loved one) and take advantage of this unique time of family togetherness.

The holidays are also a time of year when kids come home from college and parents have the unique opportunity to connect and communicate about making good decisions.

The time between now and Thanksgiving is crucial because it is when people need to plan and prepare.

Scott H. Silverman is a Substance Abuse Expert, Crisis Coach (and former addict) with over 35 years of experience helping families and individuals navigate the challenges of addiction.

Scott shares practical advice about protecting yourself (or a loved one) from the season of overindulgence.

If you or someone you know needs help, please visit http://www.yourcrisiscoach.com.