Night Bloomers

A clinical psychologist specializing in behavioral medicine presents a dozen practical approaches to transforming loss, pain, and suffering into positive growth and hope. Just as some flowers only bloom in the dark, so too, some people only grow by experiencing tough times. Each chapter explains an empirically based principle for handling adversity, followed by writing prompts designed to help readers experience the axiom personally. Tools such as self-reflection, meaning-making, narrative creation, benefit-finding, and inspired value-based action help readers move through their trauma toward a new exuberance for life. Michelle Pearce is an Assistant Professor and Clinical Psychologist in the Graduate School at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She is also an adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavior Sciences at Duke University Medical Center. In private practice, she specializes in behavioral medicine and spirituality and health. Dr. Pearce has developed numerous wellness workshops and groups, including Writing for Wellness, and she is the author of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Christians with Depression. She lives in Ellicott City, Maryland.