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Transition: One woman's journey from trauma to triumph

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An autobiography of Jo's life from the trauma and unpredictability of living in an alcoholic home, through self-development transformation to the more content, happy and successful business woman she is today. Jo shares her many insights into alcoholism and the effects on the family. An honest and brutal account of Jo's experience with her father's addiction to alcohol, she shares the highs and lows of life with an absent father and busy mother. After life hit an all-time low in adulthood she decided to turn her life around and start a journey of self-discovery. Jo transformed herself through therapy, self-help books, groups, events and more which she shares in the book. If you have experienced the challenges of living with someone's drinking, then you'll relate to Jo's experience and feel the connection with her story. If you are interested in an inspirational and motivational story, then you won't be disappointed. Within the book, Jo shares several techniques you'll be able to learn and use in your life if you really want the change you seek. Jo Huey is an inspirational & motivational speaker, coach and author. Jo gets up every morning wanting to help those with experiences like hers, those affected by someone's drinking. She connects the dots to form a new picture using practical tools & techniques with the aim that they would genuinely feel better about themselves and live a calmer and chaos free life.

290 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2017

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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Profile Image for Alison.
878 reviews68 followers
August 13, 2017
I went through a stage of reading ‘self-help’ books on various subjects or autobiographies that caught my eye but that has dwindled lately. Something about the cover of Transition interested me enough to have a look although I have no personal experience of alcoholism in my family I have worked in areas where it has been apparent.

Jo opens her heart and tells us what is was like as a child of an alcohol dependent father, how the family fractures and life is affected for all. Her mother was either too busy or quite likely keeping her head down, but as far as a child’s interpretation she was as absent as her father when she was young.

The book follows Jo as she matures, realises that she has to change her outlook and concentrate on herself. There are various parts that struck a chord .. how she reacts to being in control, lack of trust, OCD, anxiety .. all aspects that arise in mental health so from that point I was curious to see how her therapy, counselling, NLP, mindfulness could have an impact.

While she later forges a relationship with her mother and sister she really struggled to maintain any personal partnerships and that was quite sad. Her comment about not liking her dad but he was the only dad she had so she loved him was very intense.

I admire her for speaking out and raising awareness, the self-help tips will reassure people in the same situation that they are not alone.

My favourite parts of the book were actually when she ‘explored’ America .. I’m a huge fan of the USA and have travelled extensively so I found her experiences fascinating.

My thanks to Jo and Emma (TheLittleBookWorm) for my copy which I read and reviewed voluntarily.
Profile Image for Jennifer Gilmour.
Author 9 books80 followers
August 10, 2017
Absolutely fantastic forward written by Dr John McMahon who expresses the inspiration a survivor story truly releases into the world. Perhaps I am biased but on a personal note from my own survivor story and the release of my fictional novel it has helped so many, the messages I receive each week show that these stories are needed.

Jo’s prologue explains what she would like the book to do and I can again relate to her words. It’s refreshing to hear how she is in a calm and happy part of her life now. That you can reclaim your life and learn to live and be happy again.

Throughout the book you get to see photos from Jo’s life and of the people she refers to in the book. I didn’t feel it was needed when I started Transistion as I had visualised her and her family but it did bring home that this is her own story and this happened to her, it did break up the chapters and as the book went on it became more relevant.

I thought the insider tip and fact boxes worked really well within the book as it broke it down a little and re-enforced what the author was trying to tell us within her memoirs, it brought focus to a point you may have simply read over and not thought much into. Later on Jo introduced self help tips as well and these were also interesting to read.
One fact I wasn’t aware of was that if alcohol was re-classed today it would be a class A drug. I can say I have learnt a lot from this book on a subject that I am not fully educated in.
Jo said she felt like she lost her identity and I can again relate to this.

Later in her book Jo talks about what she learnt about mindfulness and I am currently working on my mindset, how to turn off from work, how to choose when to deal with certain subjects emotionally and that I can choose to put things aside and enjoy my weekend and address the problem or concern on a Monday or the day I choose. This specific line made me hault and I would like to remember in years to come, “our minds will always think about things; that is how the mind works, but it’s down to us to bring our thoughts back to the present moment until the next time we get distracted”.

Jo’s willingness to change her life is something others should look at. I am constantly working on my own self, trying to improve myself or upgrade myself. Jo expressed to others that those who say they can’t change isn’t exactly true, people choose to either change or accept its stagnation. Sometimes I get frustrated because I want those close people in my life to change their behaviour or the way they treat others because I can see the upset it causes but it isn’t my responsibility and over the years I have learnt to accept them for them. I would love them to read Jo’s book and have the realisation that even when you think you don’t need to change and you’ve dealt with what cards life has dealt you, this isn’t the case.

Jo has spent 20 years trying to re-discover herself and what a journey she has taken. I felt like a passenger on her journey as I read through her book. I have given Transition 5 stars for one main factor and that is that she speaks out it takes courage to uncover what has happened to Jo in her own life.

Thank you once again Jo for such an important message.
Profile Image for Books Beyond The Story.
33 reviews22 followers
August 27, 2017
This book is one of the most honest things I’ve read. There is no sugar coating, no easy- breezy flow of the story. No. Jo, the author, has opened up about her life as a child and the personal problems she faced in adulthood. The story covers it all from childhood abuse, emotional trauma, partners and relationships, friends, family and self discovery.
I think this book is very brave as I believe everyone has secrets and skeletons they’d rather not share with their next-door neighbour never mind the world. But as you read, you discover that the author wants to help others similar to those in her situation and to do that she has completely stripped bare her life for everyone to see.
I think people will connect to this book for a number of different reasons. Although not everyone is the child of an alcoholic, the mental health struggles such as anxiety and depression that Jo suffers from in the book are relatable to a lot of people. This raw telling of her story really moved me and every now and again I found myself reaching for the tissue box. I don’t want to put you off by saying this is a sad book because generally it’s not. The book is hopeful and looks towards solutions rather than the negatives. A personal triumph for Jo.
I couldn’t treat Jo like a character in her own book. She is real, has gone through every event written down, struggled and faced her problems. She is not a character but a wonderfully brave author who I think really helps people look beyond their past and face their fears.
extract and interview on my blog booksbeyondthestory.wordpress.com
I received this book in exchange for an honest review
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