The Power of Memoir

Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D., is president of the National Association of Memoir Writers and a practicing psychotherapist. She is the author of Don't Call Me Mother: Breaking the Chain of Mother-Daughter Abandonment, which won the Gold Medal Award from the Bay Area Independent Publishing Association in 2007.

Foreword xi
by Kathleen Adams

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction xv

Part 1 Eight Steps to Writing a Healing Memoir 1

Step 1 Understanding Your Reasons for Writing 3

Step 2 Doing Your Research 16

Step 3 Planning Your Memoir 29

Step 4 The Psychology of Memoir Writing 48

Step 5 The Dark Stuff 65

Step 6 Organizing the Narrative Arc 79

Step 7 To Publish—or Not 98

Step 8 The Power of Writing to Heal 121

Part 2 Spirituality, Therapy, and Stories 145

Chapter 1 Spirituality, Meditation, and Inner Listening 147

Chapter 2 For Therapists Who Use the Healing Power of Memoir 156

Chapter 3 Stories from the Workshops 166

Epilogue 213

Resources 219

Recommended Reading 221

Reader’s Guide 227

Bibliography 231

About the Author 237

Index 239