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Write Life
Award-winning Writer and Author

Books

NEW BOOK BY MICHELE
HOLDING ONTO AIR: The Art and Science of Building a Resilient Spirit

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"Michele DeMarco has written a wise and welcoming guide to what comes after survival — the rebuilding of hope, spirit, resilience, and joy."             

— Anne Lamott, New York Times best-selling author.

A top mental health writer, trauma researcher, and survivor illuminates the dual nature of loss — the science behind it and art of transforming it with a breakthrough book and truly holistic approach.

After experiencing two rare heart attacks at age 33 — and a third a decade later, DeMarco knows trauma intimately.

With poignant wisdom and refreshing insight DeMarco explodes traditional myths of resilience and shows what it takes to thrive through any of life’s challenges. DeMarco situates meaningful challenge and loss specifically in the context of “lost innocence,” and challenges common notions that we can think our way out of despair and back to a “normal” happy life when the unimaginable shatters it.

Leveraging advances in emotion science, somatic psychology, neuroscience, and trauma, Holding Onto Air brings the body and spirit into the solution, as much as the mind, and so presents a truly integrated, “whole person” approach to recovering from lost innocence and building resilience. It also makes spirit accessible for anyone of any background or belief — or no aligned belief.

More than a rudimentary map for navigating grief and loss’ rocky terrain (with tired tropes and shop-worn strategies), DeMarco offers a unique and trusted guide for an arduous journey every human being will have to face — the realization of evil, pain, or mortality that occurs after a person experiences trauma or meaningful adversity.

by Berrett-Koehler!

BUZZ IS STARTING! NEW BOOK BY MICHELE (COMING FALL 2024!)
Writing the Wrongs: A Guided Journal for Healing Moral Injury
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"As a veteran with over three decades in the Army Special Forces and an author on moral injury, I deeply understand the silent battles many face after service. Writing the Wrongs is a crucial resource that adeptly combines scientific rigor with compassionate insight. This journal offers a structured yet personal path to healing and understanding."

Bill Edmonds, LTC (Ret) and the author of God Is Not Here: Torture, Trauma, and the Moral Injuries of War

Have you experienced an event that violated your core values and beliefs? Do you find yourself struggling with deep, lasting emotional and spiritual pain as you try to navigate the aftermath? Are you crippled by guilt, shame, or anger, or unable to trust others as a result? If so, you may be suffering from moral injury.

The wounds caused by experiencing these transgressions can leave you with a debilitating sense of powerlessness, hopelessness, and despair—and it can feel as if you’re wounded in your very “soul.” To heal these invisible wounds, it’s necessary to discover, process, and repair the moral aspects of your trauma—so you can get back to living a meaningful and resilient life, in step with your core values and beliefs.

This guided journal introduces a breakthrough, evidence-based writing program for healing moral injury to help you transform pain and powerlessness into peace, purpose, and possibility. Grounded in embodied disclosure therapy (EDT)—an approach created specifically for moral injury—Writing the Wrongs offers a safe, structured space to process your painful experience on your own terms, at your own pace. Using inspiring journaling prompts, you’ll carefully explore your trauma with an eye toward discovering meaning in your experience—so you can minimize triggers, maintain calm, and begin to heal.

There are times when our life experiences don’t align with our deepest values, and this can cause immense distress and emotional pain. This journal will help you work through these experiences and feelings, and guide you toward a place of genuine healing.

Part of New Harbinger’s "Journals for Change Series." Written by renowned mental health and wellness experts.

Coming Fall 2024, by New Harbinger!

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A Leading Voice for Trauma, Moral Adversity and Resilience

Featured Publications

Cultivate Moral Resilience Instead

Moral distress is the feeling that we've compromised ourselves or something we hold dear due to external forces seemingly beyond our control. Moral resilience shifts the narrative from powerlessness, hopelessness, and helplessness to one defined by possibility and principled choice.

(One of my all-time viewed articles.)

Tips to reset your brain and body when everything feels impossible

According to psychiatrist and neurobiologist Dr. Dan Siegel, each of us has a “window of tolerance.” Siegel coined the term to describe normal brain/body reactions, especially following adversity...

(Another popular post.)

Edited essay written by Joseph Simboli Jr., one of the members of the 89th Infantry Division who liberated Ohrdruf, the first Nazi concentration camp to be discovered by American forces in April 1945. For decades, Simboli struggled with the internal turmoil of what he saw and couldn’t prevent on that sunny April morning in 1945. Simboli never shared his wartime story in detail, until he lost his wife in 2019. The day after her funeral, Simboli pulled out decades of personal writings and artifacts from WWII. This is his incredible story. (Don't miss this one)

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ANCHORS FOR WHOLE SOUL LIVING

Resources & Inspirations

If you or your loved one is struggling with a moral dilemma, trauma, or the loss of integrity or innocence and feel uncertain how to get on the path of healing and wholeness, let me show you the way.

I’ve created a number of resources that are anchors for “whole soul living.” They are my gift to you.

RESOURCES
Assessment

The Whole Soul Assessment

Here you can assess your moral strengths, level of resilience, and areas for growth. It's a great place to start the journey to principled and embodied living.

Inspirations
Downloads

A Collection of Art, Heart, and Soul

Need a spark of inspiration, grounding, or hope? I know I do. Enjoy these downloadable illustrated quote cards.

RESOURCES
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Tips & Tricks

Real-Time Techniques for Anxiety and Despair

Stop trying to think your way out of in-the-moment stress or depression. These scientifically-backed practices really can help.

Inspirations
Inventory

Building Resilience

These building blocks make resilience possible. Learn how to make them a part of your life.

RESOURCES
Assessment

Do I Have Moral Injury or a Soul Wound?

Here is a quick self-assessment tool that can help you determine if your experiences, feelings, and behaviors may be related to moral injury.

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We cannot recreate our lives going backward.
We can only reclaim our life moving forward.
-Michele DeMarco, from Holding Onto Air: The Art and Science of Building a Resilient Spirit