Sirens: Unpacking Painful Past Experiences to Lead Us to Better Relationships, Communication, and Healing

by Catherine Brooks

Have you ever experienced something so intense that it plays like a never-ending loop in your mind? Maybe it was shocking, terrifying, or left an emotional and physical mark. Or perhaps someone you care about has gone through something similar.



If this resonates with you, you're not alone. Author Catherine Brooks invites you on a journey of healing and growth. In this book, she shares personal stories and insights from others, diving deep into the trauma experience and offering practical tools and resources to help along the way.



You don't have to carry the weight of the past any longer. You have the power to break the cycle and prevent trauma from impacting future generations. Healing is hard work, but it's transformative. As you turn these pages, you'll find education, empowerment, and encouragement to embrace the healing process.

158 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 24, 2024

About the author

Catherine Brooks grew up in rural Pennsylvania and was a farmer’s daughter. After completing her master’s degree at The Pennsylvania State University in 1992, she and her sled dog headed north to Alaska. Catherine worked various jobs in interior Alaska over the next three decades, including a youth development specialist, business owner, nonprofit director, tourism operator, office assistant and manager, lab technician, professor, and local government specialist. She especially loved her time teaching at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in the Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development. Catherine swears she had the best students in the world in the program. She was honored with emeritus status in May 2024. Her husband has been beside her for the majority of the journey. They have been blessed with three wonderful children and three incredible grandchildren. They currently own Write22 together, where she loves to encourage, empower, and educate people. Her husband creates beautiful antler jewelry inspired by his Alaska Native heritage and growing up in a subsistence lifestyle. She and her family call Fairbanks, Alaska, home but spend most of the summer on the Yukon River at her husband’s family fish camp, where skills and traditions are shared with the next generation.

Reviews

[Jessica Seale · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this short but profound book, Brooks plumbs the depths of her life experience to take the reader on a journey through several meaningful subjects, including, addiction, trauma and grief. Not shying away from the painful moments in her life, yet showing sensitivity to the reader’s potential needs, Brooks combines her true stories with facts and resources designed to help the reader care for themselves in whatever issue is mentioned. She also shows great insight in reflecting on her life and the resources she could have benefitted from. I see a profound grace and strength in her words, as shares honestly and bravely, yet acknowledges the potential for growth in both herself and others. My favorite story is found in chapter 7. Brooks tells the story of how her younger daughter shared in a school assembly about a painful incident that had happened. Brooks learned from experience that it’s never a good idea to force healing if someone isn’t ready to heal. That’s a truth I hadn’t thought much about before. Patience is so important. Trust the process. And God.
Brooks shares about faith and God, but definitely does not present a “pie in the sky” theology. Each chapter is packed with practical information and tools to help with addressing the topics she shares about. I love the letters she wrote in her journal, to the baby she lost in 2007. Journaling can be a powerful way to heal.
I could say so much more, but I’ll just add that I immensely enjoyed Sirens. Most importantly, it bolstered my courage to share my own story. Highly recommend!

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paralyzing no more

“Grief can hit hard as it involves our emotions, intellect, spirit, and physical parts of us. The process we walk through is not linear but rather full of ups and downs, twists and turns.”

Ms. Brooks has a wonderful way of weaving personal events into in-depth research. With each chapter comes a set of questions to ponder which, in turn, leads to more thought and deeper understanding. A multitude of additional resources are given for further study and support of what she has written.

I am one who enjoys intellectual discussions, and one could easily use his book in a small group setting to facilitate a time of grief sharing. I am also one who loves the fine art of storytelling, and Ms. Brooks excels at drawing the reader into the story and reflecting upon personal stories. In addition, I am well-acquainted with grief, and here is where I find the book most useful. It is almost as though Ms. Brooks has not only given me permission to grieve, but is encouraging me to an understanding that that grief is not something to be overcome or worked through, it is something that makes us human. The more we ponder and share, the more real we can become to ourselves and those around us.

So thank you, for this book. It has made a difference in my life.

[Amy Crowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sirens by Catherine Brooks is a deeply personal account of the traumas she has faced in her life. While experiencing even one of these challenges can be overwhelming, Brooks shares a list that includes the loss of a loved one, miscarriage, battling depression, natural disasters, and more. How does someone endure so much and still find peace? In this book, Brooks guides readers through her healing journey, emphasizing the role journaling played in her recovery.

What stands out is how she transforms her tragedies into a pathway of hope. Each chapter not only tells her story but also concludes with valuable resources and thoughtful prompts to help readers reflect and journal their own experiences.

Life can be harsh, and all of us face loss or tragedy in some form. Knowing how to navigate these challenges and move toward healing is invaluable. Brooks demonstrates that even in the most difficult circumstances, healing is possible, and there are resources and support available when we need them most.

[Lisa Plett · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this deeply personal book, Sirens, the author leads us through various profound traumas including the loss of a loved one, surviving a car accident, experiencing a miscarriage, battling depression, natural disasters and others. With raw honesty, she reveals how journaling became her primary healing tool, transforming painful experiences into a path of resilience and hope. Each chapter not only shares her intimate story but also provides journaling prompts and resources, making the book both a personal narrative and a practical guide for survivors. Her work powerfully demonstrates that trauma—whether it's physical injury, emotional loss, or unexpected life-shattering events—does not define a person. Through her book, Cathy, shows that healing is possible, and resources and support are always available, even in the darkest moments of one's life.

[Lynette Holt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sirens by Catherine Brooks is a first-person narrative nonfiction book that is captivating and well-written to help people unpack painful past experiences and lead them to better relationships, communication, and healing.

The author encourages and challenges the reader to take an in-depth look at their own life events and traumatic experiences. The author’s choice to put her most vulnerable self out there as an example amazed me.

Each chapter ends with resources available to help the reader if they want assistance navigating their distress or pain. In addition, the author urges and gives the reader space to write or journal their way to better understanding, insights, and healing.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to improve, comprehend and appreciate themselves and their life experiences to a transcendent degree.

[CassieLynne Valler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so well written. I was expecting heavy and hard to walk through, but Catherine has managed to bring up difficult situations from a place of wholeness and healing. Expertly, she brings you into her space and environment, and shows her own experiences while gifting the hope and wisdom of healing. It feels like sitting up late around a firepit with a wiser big-sister hearing the stories of life and hardship and hope. You will find hope and direction for your own journey, from experience and a place of compassion. Freedom from our past sirens is possible. I will be reading this again and again and buying copies to give away. It is a friend in a book- a hand to hold on a hard but worthy journey of healing.

[Jennifer Staley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Well written stories of prior life experiences of the author’s, with space at the end of each chapter for self- reflection and journaling of personal past troubling experiences. This book was helpful to me because the questions asked were questions that I hadn’t thought about before. Many of the chapters were familiar territory for me but none were more familiar than chapter 8, The Chad Story. It brought up many important questions about losing someone very close. It touched on the fentanyl epidemic in America, which unfortunately affects many, many families. I am looking forward to reading this book again and writing even more.

[Susan Shull · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really good. I love the way the author weaves in her personal stories as she shares important information about processing trauma. The added journaling prompts really make for an interactive experience. I am really enjoying the format and the "Thought to carry with you." This book will help a lot of people.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book for people recovering from trauma. If you have just begun your journey, Cathy will encourage you with good tips she applied to her life after many forms of trauma. I appreciate her storytelling and her gentle way of encouraging people to work through their pain and trust God to heal them from trauma.

[Kris Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author draws you into her world immediately, and you stay by her side the whole way. The book addresses some tough situations, but does so with careful consideration to lead you back to better days. I recommend it for anyone struggling with a challenge, no matter how big or small.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found my addiction front and center and I will be making changes. I appreciated how she gave resources to help you if one of the chapters resonated in our life. I felt her fears and trauma and God’s presence in her life. I loved the book and can see myself reading it again.

[Connie Hodde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cathy shares her own journey as an aid to working through trauma using journaling. Her stories are powerful and her experience gives validity to her recommendations for dealing with adversity and trauma. Very well written.

[jenni smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sirens is so relatable, captivating and well written. Catherine Brooks drew me in with her captivating stories and I loved the journal prompts at the end of each chapter to process my emotions and feelings. Everyone will be able to learn something new about themselves after reading Sirens.

[Laura Ekada · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! Cathrine Brooks looks back at her own life through a trauma-informed lens. She brilliantly shows us ways we can learn from her life. I am going to take the lessons with me forever.