It is the inevitable human experience that we will encounter pain and trauma throughout our lives, but that doesn’t mean we must suffer an existence devoid of passion, joy, and healing. You deserve to feel genuinely alive, even when life seems overwhelming and hopeless.
After spending more than half her life slumped under the heavy weight of depression, and anxiety—numbing herself just to get through each day— E.K. Richards knew something was terribly wrong, but just couldn’t put her finger on it. In her quest for understanding, she uncovered extensive childhood trauma and emotional wounds. Through therapy, self exploration, and a huge heap of brutal honesty, she discovered how to connect with what she refers to as her “darkness” and finally began to truly experience life.
With powerful and gentle perception, the author guides you through your own personal deep dive in the search for true and lasting emotional freedom. Discover how to:
Live inside a moment instead of living through it. Use creativity to process and heal from trauma. Recognize, embrace, and explore the dark sides of your soul.
I feel confident that if I would have read this book 10 years ago, it would have made me realize sooner that I needed therapy, or perhaps even started me on a journey that negated the need for therapy. Rarely have I heard personal stories so traumatic and vulnerable that didn’t also negate my own experiences or make my trauma feel like not as big of trauma as someone else. Richards shares her experiences in ways that don’t illicit pity but instead open up the reader’s heart to look within to accept and embrace their own traumas. I loved the exercises she includes in practicing being present, creative, and identifying and listening to the deeper and darker parts to ourselves. Though I’ve read lots of self help books and done years of therapy, I appreciate how not overwhelming this book is. This holistic and gentle but real approach to healing from trauma synthesizes everything in one profoundly simple package.
This book was incredible. I usually don't ever read a self help style book but I am happy I picked this one up. Regardless if you have experienced trauma or not this book has a lot of insight for everyday best practices on being your authentic self. My favorite part talks about fulfilling our purpose. That section put a lot of things into perspective for me. Sometimes I feel like I have to be ok and this book taught me that I might not be ok and that's normal. I will be suggesting this book to everyone I know because I haven't found such a relatable book covering so many hard topics until now.
Wow! This book is amazing. So well-written and useful. The author opens up and shares her stories that will help readers on their own journeys.
Brimming with personal insight, E.K. Richards lovelingly guides us to embrace our darkness so we can learn to shine. Packed with useful exercises, Decoding Your Darkness, gives us tools to live life authentically--the way we are meant to.
⚫️🌸⚫️🌼⚫️🌷⚫️ DECODE YOUR DARKNESS by E.K. Richards⚫️🌸⚫️🌼⚫️🌷⚫️
What a beautiful book, inside and out. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌸Written in an honest, comforting, and trusting voice, E.K. Richards takes her readers on a journey through personal darkness and resurrection.
🌼Readers will find their authentic self and become comfortable normalizing their feelings brought in by stress or trauma—big or small, past or present, visible or invisible.
🌷Using the 20 Deep Dive activities as a workbook of sorts, readers are able to decode their darkness along the way, and Richards is there every step of the way, doing the work herself.
🖤Even if you’re thinking, “I don’t have darkness or trauma,” Richards can help you identify it.
📓Here are some peeks at what’s inside:
⚫️Trauma thresholds are different for everyone. 🌼Pain should exist—it needs the proper outlet. ⚫️Your darkness already knows everything about you. 🌸Your darkness can’t communicate on its own. ⚫️Maybe you’re the dragon AND the princess. 🌷Life is about taking those detours…and hopping back on the path to purpose. ⚫️The only thing you can’t truly control are your thoughts. 🌼Find and be proud of your core values. ⚫️Your subconscious thrives on consistency because it’s safe. 🌸Creativity gives your emotions an outlet. ⚫️Passion is the air that creativity breathes.
E. K. Richards does a fantastic job putting things into words that I had never thought deeply about before but that are so important and lifechanging. Her story and insights will help you both identify and work through both big T and little T trauma and start to accept yourself as a whole—darkness and all. Through it all, the author is realistically positive and approachable. Grab a journal to combat pain with creativity, and get ready to cry the best cathartic tears.
Ohmygosh! I’m half way through this book already! 📖 I started reading it right away, as soon as I saw that my preorder had arrived. I love the way the author invites the reader to accept all the parts of oneself as a natural part of our human adventure — light and dark. She show how to not only embrace the darkness within each of us, but to listen to it and learn from it, such that it adds texture and depth and drives us toward meaningful purpose in which we uniquely shine our light authentically. If you’ve burdened with shame for dark thoughts or impulses, felt you needed to hide parts of yourself from the world, in order to be loved or approved of, this book is for you! Pick it up today. You’ll be thanking yourself for it!
This book is intriguing and insightful from the very beginning. The author gives a beautiful language to a topic that most deal, and struggle, with on a daily basis. Her raw vulnerability is brave and her example is needed. Definitely a “Must Read” for all! Thank you to the author for her wisdom and bravery. It does not go unnoticed or unappreciated!!
Cannot say enough good things about this book. I am a creative person too and so much of it resonates with me. If you're looking for an actionable plan to process your pain, this is it.