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Scientology's Real Hold on Families – A Novel's Eye-Opening Reveal

Most conversations about Scientology focus on secrecy, celebrity, or controversy. What often gets less attention is the way a high-control system can settle itself inside a family and begin shaping every relationship from the inside out.

In Shattered Faith, A. L. Beck brings that reality into sharp focus. The novel does not treat Scientology as a strange subject best observed from a distance. It shows how its influence reaches into ordinary routines, private loyalties, and the emotional bonds that are supposed to make family life feel safe.

By following Quinn Ryan, a young man raised inside the Church, the book reveals that Scientology’s real power is not just institutional. It is deeply personal. It changes how people speak to one another, what they are allowed to feel, and how much of themselves they can safely reveal at home.

When a Church Becomes the Family Language

For Quinn, Scientology is not an outside force pressing in on family life. It is the language his family already speaks. Terms like “Ethics,” “stats,” and “Suppressive Persons” are not unusual to him. They are part of how the world is explained.

This is one of the novel’s strongest insights. A high-control group does not need to destroy the family in obvious ways to take hold of it. It can become woven into the family’s everyday logic. Parents and children begin measuring loyalty through the institution’s standards. Love gets filtered through rules. Concern gets expressed through correction.

Once that happens, home stops being a place where a person can fully rest. It becomes another extension of the system. Quinn is not just trying to remain in good standing with the Church. He is also trying to remain legible to the people closest to him inside it.

Love Becomes Conditional

A painful truth runs through Shattered Faith: family love in a high-control environment can start to feel conditional, even when it is sincere.

People may care deeply, yet still place the institution first. They may believe they are protecting a loved one by repeating the Church’s teachings, reporting troubling behaviour, or pushing someone back into compliance. The result is heartbreaking because the affection may be real, but the conditions around it are harsh.

For Quinn, belonging is not simple. To be accepted, he must stay useful, obedient, and spiritually “safe” by the Church’s standards. Any part of him that falls outside those standards becomes a problem. Family connection, in this kind of structure, is no longer rooted only in love. It is also tied to control, fear, and approval.

The novel captures how devastating that can be. A person does not only fear punishment from leadership. They fear losing emotional safety with the people who matter most.

Fear Keeps Families in Line

Fear is one of the strongest tools any high-control group can use, and Shattered Faith shows how effectively it works inside families.

Fear of outsiders. Fear of being spiritually corrupted. Fear of asking the wrong questions. Fear of association with the “wrong” people. Fear of disconnection.

These fears do more than keep individuals obedient. They also teach families to police themselves. A parent may watch a child differently. A child may hide parts of themselves to avoid causing alarm. Honest conversations become harder because every doubt carries consequences beyond disagreement. In a healthier family, conflict might lead to tension, discussion, or distance. In a Scientology-shaped family system, conflict can threaten belonging itself.

Beck makes clear that this kind of fear does not always arrive dramatically. It settles in slowly, until caution feels normal and silence feels wise.

Identity Becomes a Family Crisis

One of the novel’s most powerful dimensions is the way Quinn’s personal identity collides with the structure around him. His queer identity is not treated as a private part of growing up. It becomes a point of danger.

This is where the family theme becomes especially painful. Questions of selfhood should unfold with care, privacy, and support. Inside a high-control environment, they can become moral emergencies. A young person is no longer simply figuring out who they are. They are navigating how much truth their family, shaped by the Church, can tolerate.

The emotional cost is enormous. Shame enters the home. Silence deepens. Love starts sharing space with fear. Quinn’s struggle shows how families caught inside controlling belief systems often do not know how to hold a loved one’s reality without seeing it first through institutional rules.

Why the Damage Feels So Real

What makes Shattered Faith hit so hard is its refusal to reduce family control to caricature. No one is written as a cartoon villain. The pain comes from something more believable. People can love each other and still cause harm when a powerful system has shaped their thinking.

This is why the novel feels eye-opening. It shows that Scientology’s hold on families is not only about doctrine. It is about emotional structure. It teaches people what loyalty should look like, what danger sounds like, and what kind of sacrifice proves love. Over time, those lessons can distort family bonds so deeply that relatives stop meeting each other as people and start meeting as roles within the Church.

Readers do not just learn that Scientology affects families. They see how it rearranges the emotional terms of family life itself.

Shattered Faith matters because it brings the family cost of Scientology into view with compassion and clarity. Instead of treating control as abstract, A. L. Beck shows what it feels like when a church moves into the emotional centre of a household and begins deciding what love, loyalty, and safety are allowed to mean.

Quinn’s story is personal, but its insight is broader. Institutions do not only hold power through rules and leadership. They hold power when they reshape the most intimate bonds in a person’s life.

Seen through the lens of this novel, Scientology’s hold on families becomes impossible to dismiss as a side issue. It is the story.

Grab your copy today.

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[noah098]

How to Heal from Childhood Trauma and Finally Believe You’re Worthy

Healing from childhood trauma is rarely a straight path. It is layered, emotional, and deeply personal. For many, the hardest part is not just processing what happened—but learning to believe, often for the first time, that they are truly worthy of love, peace, and purpose. In A Word of Encouragement, Apostle Elaine E. Robinson speaks directly into this struggle, offering faith-centered guidance for those ready to move from brokenness to belief.

Childhood trauma has a way of shaping identity. Whether it comes from neglect, rejection, instability, or emotional wounds, its effects often linger into adulthood. Many people carry an internal narrative that says, I am not enough. This belief can quietly influence relationships, confidence, and even one’s sense of purpose. Apostle Robinson’s message gently but firmly challenges this narrative. She reminds readers that their worth is not defined by their past, but by God.

At the heart of Apostle Robinson’s approach is the practice of self-encouragement. While it may seem simple, learning to speak life over yourself is a powerful step toward healing. Trauma often leaves behind negative self-talk—voices of fear, shame, and doubt that replay over time. Apostle Robinson encourages readers to replace those voices with truth. Through prayer, Scripture, and intentional affirmations, individuals can begin to reshape how they see themselves.

This idea is deeply rooted in biblical teaching. Apostle Robinson draws inspiration from moments like David’s in 1 Samuel 30:6, when he found strength in God during a time of overwhelming distress. In the same way, readers are reminded that even when external support is absent, they are never truly alone. God’s presence becomes a steady source of restoration and strength.

Healing also requires confronting pain rather than avoiding it. Apostle Robinson does not present a quick fix or a surface-level solution. Instead, she emphasizes persistence, choosing, day by day, to move forward despite emotional setbacks. Her words encourage readers to acknowledge their wounds while refusing to let those wounds define their future.

One of the most transformative aspects of healing is learning to believe in your own worth. For trauma survivors, this can feel unfamiliar or even uncomfortable. Apostle Robinson addresses this with compassion, reminding readers that worthiness is not something to earn; it is something already given by God. Accepting this truth can be the turning point in a person’s healing journey.

Practical steps throughout the book make this message accessible. Readers are encouraged to start small: speak one positive truth each day, reflect on moments of strength, and remain consistent in prayer. These actions may seem minor, but over time, they build a foundation of confidence and spiritual resilience.

Apostle Robinson also highlights the importance of letting go, of guilt, of self-blame, and of the need to carry past pain into the future. Forgiveness, both of others and of oneself, becomes a key part of reclaiming emotional freedom. It is not about forgetting what happened, but about releasing its hold.

Ultimately, A Word of Encouragement offers more than comfort; it offers direction. It guides readers toward a place where healing and self-worth can coexist with faith. Apostle Robinson’s voice serves as both a reminder and a reassurance: your story does not end where your pain began.

For anyone struggling with the lasting effects of childhood trauma, this message is both timely and powerful. Healing is possible. Growth is possible. And perhaps most importantly, believing in your worth is possible, too.

You are not defined by what you went through. With faith, encouragement, and persistence, you can begin again and step fully into the truth that you are, and always have been, worthy.

Learn to accept this truth, visit truewurshippublishing.com

[noah098]

Navigating Love with an Airline Pilot’s Perspective

Have you ever read a romance where the travel details feel too natural to be accidental?

In Six Hearts One Island, flying shapes the way the story moves. It affects the way people connect, separate, wait, and decide what kind of future they want.

Chase Logan writes with the eye of someone who understands life in the skies. As an airline captain, he brings firsthand experience into the novel by using aviation as part of the emotional world of the story.

Flights, layovers, schedules, distance, and timing all become part of the romance.

A Story Where Distance Matters

Vickie’s story begins with distance long before she ever boards a plane to Hawaii.

Her marriage to Ryan has been shaped by his life as a pilot. On the surface, his career sounds exciting. Travel, movement, different cities, and a life above the clouds all carry a certain appeal. But inside a marriage, that lifestyle can also create silence.

Ryan is gone often. His work keeps him moving. Vickie is left with the emotional weight of a relationship where the two of them are no longer imagining the same future.

The tension is not only about his job.

It is about what happens when two people keep living beside each other while slowly moving in different directions.

The Pilot’s Mindset and the Marriage

One of the strongest parts of the novel is how Ryan is written with restraint.

He is not a loud villain. He is not cruel in an obvious way. He feels controlled, practical, and emotionally distant. Those qualities make sense for someone used to making decisions in a profession built around procedure, timing, and composure.

In the cockpit, control is necessary.

In a marriage, too much emotional control can become a wall.

Ryan’s way of handling difficult conversations hurts Vickie because he treats life-changing choices with a level of calm that feels cold. His distance makes the marriage feel even lonelier. For readers, this creates a believable kind of conflict. The relationship does not fall apart in one dramatic explosion. It breaks because the emotional gap has been growing for years.

How Real Aviation Experience Shapes the Book

Chase Logan’s background as a captain gives the aviation elements a natural rhythm.

The story does not pause to explain every detail. It simply lets aviation exist as part of the characters’ lives. Readers feel the influence through the way pilots talk, the way travel affects relationships, and the way people who live around departures understand timing differently.

This is where firsthand experience matters.

A writer can research planes and airports. But the smaller things, the humor, the banter, the crew energy, the strange intimacy of layovers, and the feeling of living between destinations, come through more clearly when the writer knows that world from the inside.

In Six Hearts One Island, those details help the romance feel grounded.

Hawaii as a New Flight Path

When Amber and Sam take Vickie to Hawaii, the trip becomes more than a getaway.

It is a change of direction. Vickie is no longer sitting inside the same rooms, the same memories, and the same hurt. She is moving toward a place where life feels open again. The flight to Hawaii becomes the first real step away from the marriage that has kept her emotionally stuck.

Once she arrives, the story shifts.

Waikiki, Duke’s, Hanauma Bay, and the island energy give her a new rhythm. Then the women meet James, Michael, and Daniel, and the trip takes on a completely different meaning.

Aviation, Navy Life, and Romantic Tension

The aviation influence does not stop with Ryan.

Michael’s role as a pilot adds another layer to the book’s romantic world. His connection with Amber carries the tension of someone whose life is built around duty, movement, and uncertainty. The Navy setting also brings in questions of distance and commitment.

Love feels exciting in Hawaii. The harder question is whether it can survive once real life returns.

This is where the book finds its strongest tension. The island gives the characters chemistry, laughter, and possibility. Their real lives bring schedules, careers, distance, and emotional risk.

People arrive in each other’s lives at certain moments. Some people leave when they should stay. Others show up when someone needs hope the most. Aviation gives the book a natural language for all of this.

Departures matter. Arrivals matter. Choosing where to land matters most of all.

Six Hearts One Island uses Chase Logan’s aviation background in a way that feels personal and believable. The flying world shapes the story through distance, timing, career pressure, and the emotional challenge of loving someone whose life is always in motion.

For Vickie, the journey begins with a marriage that has lost its direction.

But once she boards that flight to Hawaii, the story opens into something brighter.

A new place.

A new group.

A new chance at love.

And this time, she is not waiting for someone else to decide the destination.

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Dr. Shawn Phillips’ Darkened Demigod: Weapon of War, Tells a Tale Where Faith Becomes Power

The first book in the Darkened Demigod trilogy introduces Lohannes, a former president transformed by belief, sacrifice, and the desperate hopes of a collapsing world.

Dr. Shawn Phillips invites readers and listeners into a bold new post-apocalyptic universe with Darkened Demigod: Weapon of War, a gripping science fiction and fantasy novel now available in audiobook format.

Darkened Demigod: Weapon of War follows Lohannes, the first and last modern-day demigod. Once a president created to defend his nation, Lohannes becomes something far greater and far more dangerous after the faith and sacrifices of his followers begin to transform him.

Phillips grounds the concept in a unique blend of science, belief, human behavior, and post-apocalyptic tension. In this world, power grows from devotion. Worship becomes force. A leader becomes a symbol. Then the symbol becomes a weapon.

The story follows a question that feels both imaginative and unsettling: what happens when people stop seeing a leader as human and begin treating him as the answer to everything they fear?

“Lohannes is powerful, but the story is really about what power costs,” said Dr. Shawn Phillips. “I wanted to explore what happens when belief, expectation, and desperation reshape someone into what others need him to be.”

The audiobook adds a new layer to the experience, bringing Lohannes’ rage, pain, memory, and dark humor to life through voice performance. The story’s opening draws listeners into an underground prison, where Lohannes is chained, watched, and pushed to recount the events that turned him from president to demigod. Across the journey, listeners meet Bookworm, a sharp and persistent figure whose conversations with Lohannes reveal the human story beneath the power.

Phillips, who calls his genre “fant2sci,” uses science to merge fantasy and science fiction into a world that feels strange, grounded, and emotionally charged. His background in chemistry, propulsion research, and leadership in rocket science and technology gives his storytelling a distinctive edge, blending large-scale ideas with human consequence.

Before Darkened Demigod: Weapon of War, Phillips wrote the young adult fantasy novel Dillon’s Dream: Water in Earth and the adult paranormal fiction novel The Doppler Affect. With this new trilogy starter, he expands his creative universe into a darker and more ambitious story about identity, belief, and the danger of turning human beings into symbols.

Darkened Demigod: Weapon of War is designed for readers and listeners who enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction, morally complex heroes, political tension, and stories that ask bigger questions beneath the action.

About the Author

Dr. Shawn Phillips is the author of Dillon’s Dream: Water in Earth, The Doppler Affect, and Darkened Demigod: Weapon of War. He earned his chemistry degree from Hope College in 1992 and completed his doctorate in chemistry in 1997. After a brief role at DuPont, he began his career as a civil servant for the United States Air Force. As Director of the AFRL Rocket Lab, he has spent more than two decades conducting and directing research in liquid, solid, and in-space propulsion systems. Phillips continues to develop his fant2sci genre, where science helps bridge fantasy and science fiction.

[noah098]

You Were Kept for This Moment — Now It’s Time to Believe in You!

Life often leaves scars—some visible, others hidden deep within the heart. Childhood trauma, abuse, and rejection can make us doubt our worth and purpose. For those seeking encouragement and inspiration, the hardest battle is often internal: the voice that whispers, “You are not enough.”

But what if that voice is wrong?

In A Word of Encouragement by Apostle Elaine E. Robinson, readers are reminded of a life-changing truth: God believes in you, and it’s time for you to believe in yourself.

Turning Pain into Purpose

Many people carry invisible wounds from abuse or neglect. Apostle Robinson’s story reflects this deeply personal struggle. She was the only one of her mother’s five children to survive past birth. Enduring extreme physical and psychological abuse, she spent much of her youth confused and hurting, often questioning why God allowed her to live while her siblings did not. At times, the pain was so overwhelming that she longed for heaven, wondering if her life had any meaning.

Yet through it all, she was being preserved for a greater purpose.

Discovering God’s Perfect Love

The core message of A Word of Encouragement is that true healing comes when we move from knowing about God’s love intellectually to experiencing it personally. A personal revelation of His love transformed Apostle Robinson’s understanding of herself and her life. She realized that God had not rejected her; He had kept her. This revelation became the foundation of her ministry, inspiring her to help others experience God’s love and healing.

Healing and Encouragement

Encouragement can change the course of a life. For Apostle Robinson, encouragement from her aunt, father, and cousins helped her believe in herself during her darkest years. Today, she seeks to be that voice for others. The book offers hope to anyone struggling with:

Low self-esteem

Childhood trauma or abuse

Feelings of rejection

Spiritual confusion or self-doubt

It reminds readers that healing is possible when they embrace God’s perfect love.

From Survivor to Servant

Despite her traumatic upbringing, Apostle Robinson pursued education and personal growth with remarkable determination. She earned a Bachelor’s in History, a Doctorate in Juris Prudence, and a Certificate in Achievement in Music. She is also a U.S. Air Force veteran, a single mother, and a creative force behind four gospel plays and numerous songs.

Her journey proves that the past does not define destiny. Every survivor can step into the purpose God designed for them.

Believe in Yourself

The message of A Word of Encouragement is simple yet profound: you were kept for a reason. Every trial, every moment of doubt, has prepared you for your purpose. Believing in yourself begins when you see your life through the lens of God’s love, letting go of shame, fear, and self-doubt.

Apostle Robinson’s testimony encourages everyone to embrace healing, restoration, and hope. God believes in you—now it’s time for you to believe in yourself.

Discover more about Apostle Elaine E. Robinson and her ministry at TrueWurshipPublishing.com and allow her story of faith, resilience, and hope to inspire your journey today.

[noah098]

What Makes Someone a Hero? The Surprising Truth behind Courage and Sacrifice

When we think of heroes, we often picture extraordinary people wearing a cape, saving lives and performing impossible feats. Popular culture has taught us that heroism is loud, dramatic and reserved for the fearless. But what if the greatest acts of courage happen quietly, away from the spotlight?

Douglas Berry's memoir PALADIN offers a different perspective. Rather than focusing on grand achievements, it explores the everyday choices that define true courage. Through the eyes of a child growing up amid fear, family conflict and danger, Berry reveals that heroism is often born from perseverance rather than perfection.

One of the book's greatest strengths is its refusal to present its characters as flawless. Instead, readers encounter ordinary people forced into extraordinary circumstances. A protective mother, siblings learning to navigate a complicated home and a young boy trying to make sense of a confusing world all demonstrate that courage is rarely about feeling fearless. It is about doing what is right despite fear.

Throughout PALADIN, Berry experiences situations that no child should have to face. Yet even in moments of uncertainty, he continues searching for goodness in others. His curiosity, compassion and willingness to believe people can change become acts of quiet bravery. Those qualities make his story far more compelling than that of an invincible hero who never doubts himself.

The memoir also reminds us that sacrifice is not always dramatic. Sometimes it means protecting those you love. Sometimes it means carrying emotional scars without allowing them to define your future. And sometimes it means choosing forgiveness instead of bitterness, even when life has given you every reason to do otherwise.

Perhaps the most surprising lesson in PALADIN is that resilience often grows through adversity. Berry does not ignore the painful realities of childhood trauma or family dysfunction. Instead, he demonstrates how difficult experiences can shape character without determining destiny. His journey shows that surviving hardship is not the end of the story. Healing, growth and purpose can follow.

Readers looking for an inspirational memoir will find much more than a personal history. They will discover a thoughtful exploration of courage, faith, resilience and the choices that ultimately shape a life. The memoir encourages us to rethink our own definitions of heroism and consider the quiet strength found in ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges.

Real heroes are not always celebrated. Many never receive recognition at all. They are the people who continue moving forward after heartbreak, who choose hope over despair, and who refuse to let the past dictate the future.

PALADIN is a powerful reminder that true heroism is measured not by fame or glory but by resilience, compassion and the courage to keep going when life seems determined to knock you down. In the end, the greatest heroes may simply be those who survive, heal and inspire others to do the same.

[noah098]

The Music Business, Young Ambition, and the Search for Something Real

The music business can look glamorous from the outside, but inside SongMaker by John Calu, it becomes a place where ambition is tested, talent is used, and one gifted musician begins to question what he is really chasing.

For Paul Castellano, music is not a hobby or a passing interest. It is the gift that places him inside recording studios, commercial work, artistic circles, and the restless world of people trying to make something of themselves. But as he moves deeper into that world, he begins to see that being talented and being fulfilled are not the same thing.

A Young Musician Inside an Adult World

Paul Castellano already has talent in his hands. He knows music. He understands melody, timing, and feeling. He can sit in a studio and create something that works. For many people, that would be enough. A young musician getting paid for his gift sounds like the beginning of success.

But SongMaker does not present the music business as a clean dream. Paul is not stepping into a world of pure creativity. He is stepping into an adult industry shaped by pressure, ego, deadlines, money, image, temptation, and compromise. Music may be the reason he is there, but business controls the room. A song is not always treated as art. Sometimes it is treated as a product that has to sell.

Ambition Opens the Door

Paul’s ambition is understandable. He wants to create. He wants to be known. He wants his gift to matter. Like many artists, he is drawn to the possibility that music can give him a future larger than the one expected of him. His work in studios gives him access to people, places, and opportunities that make success feel close.

This is one reason his story feels relatable. Ambition often begins with hope. It tells a person to keep going, to take the job, to accept the opportunity, to prove they belong. Paul’s ambition pushes him forward, but it also places him in situations where he must ask what he is willing to give up for progress.

The Business Turns Music Into Product

Inside the commercial side of music, Paul sees how easily creativity can be shaped by someone else’s needs. A melody can be adjusted to fit an advertisement. A sound can be changed to satisfy a producer. A gift can be praised when it makes money, then ignored when it asks for meaning.

This creates one of the central tensions of SongMaker. Paul can make music that works for the market, but he is not satisfied with simply being useful. The more he moves through the business, the clearer it becomes that talent without purpose can still feel empty.

The Search for Something Real

Paul is not only looking for a career. He is looking for something real beneath the noise. The applause, money, nightlife, and industry attention may offer excitement, but they do not answer the deeper question inside him. What should music do? What should his gift serve? What kind of man does he become if he gives his life to sound without meaning?

SongMaker explores these questions through Paul’s inner conflict. He wants success, but he also wants his music to carry truth. He wants to be heard, but he also wants to understand why he needs to create in the first place. This is where the novel moves beyond the usual artist’s struggle. It is not only about getting a break. It is about finding a reason.

Music Becomes a Mirror

As Paul’s journey continues, music becomes more than work. It becomes a mirror that reflects his hunger, confusion, desire, and hope. The business may teach him how music is sold, but life teaches him what music can mean. Through relationships, travel, loss, and spiritual encounters, he begins to recognize that his gift is connected to something deeper than ambition.

Paul Castellano’s story speaks to anyone who has ever chased a dream and discovered that success alone does not make the dream feel complete. SongMaker understands that ambition can move a person forward, but purpose is what gives the journey weight.

The music business gives Paul a stage. His search for something real gives him a reason to sing.

Get your eBook now on Amazon.

[noah098]

Why We Stay Silent: The Guilt and Shame of Family Betrayal

What do you do when the person who raised you—the one who was supposed to love and protect you—ends up being your greatest source of pain?

Many of us, especially women, stay silent.

We keep the peace. We bite our tongues. We pretend everything is okay.

Why? Because speaking the truth about our family, especially our mother, can feel like a betrayal. The guilt and shame run deep. But sometimes, the only way to heal is to break that silence. And that's exactly what Raquel G. did in her powerful new memoir, This Is Not My Mother (I Was Raised by a Narcissistic Mom and Didn't Know It).

When Motherhood Is Conditional

Growing up, Raquel sensed something wasn't quite right. Her mother's love didn't feel safe or unconditional. Instead, Raquel became "orbital." Everything she did had to revolve around keeping her mother happy. She had to perform well for her, but never better than her. She had to look good, behave right, and meet expectations that constantly shifted depending on her mother's mood.

Raquel lost her sense of self, trying to earn love that should have been freely given. When she hurt, she stayed quiet, feeling guilty just for needing comfort.

Like so many daughters of narcissistic mothers, she internalized the message that she was the problem. Raquel felt isolated and ashamed, unsure of what was real.

"You're too sensitive."

"You always make things about you."

"I never said that."

If those phrases sound familiar, you're not alone. As therapist Dr. Karyl McBride has noted, daughters of narcissistic mothers often feel like they "flunked childhood." When a parent won't take responsibility, the child learns to carry the blame. That misplaced guilt becomes a lifelong burden—a major reason we stay silent.

For a long time, Raquel didn't know what to call it. But once she discovered the term "narcissistic parenting," the puzzle pieces fell into place.

Her story captures the slow, confusing realization that sometimes, your parents' love was never really about you—it was about control, image, and keeping you in your place. And once you see it for what it is, there's no going back.

So Why Don't More of Us Speak Up?

Because guilt and shame are powerful silencing tools.

Guilt whispers, "She tried her best. Maybe you're being unfair."

Shame says, "You're the only one with a broken family."

Fear warns, "No one will believe you. You'll look ungrateful."

Especially for women of color, the pressure to honor and protect the family at all costs can be overwhelming. Cultural expectations often tell us to "be strong," "let it go," or to "forgive and forget." But healing doesn't come from silence. Healing starts when we speak the truth.

Choosing Yourself Anyway

This Is Not My Mother reflects the quiet struggles many women live through with narcissistic mothers but never talk about.

Raquel writes candidly about how her mother's narcissism affected her confidence, her ability to trust herself, and her journey as a single mother raising her own daughter. She had no roadmap and no mentor. What she had was the courage to question everything she was taught—and rebuild her sense of self from the ground up.

Even as she doubted her intelligence, her worth, and whether her story mattered, Raquel chose to write this book. Not for revenge. Not for pity. But for healing and connection.

"I wrote it because I know I'm not the only one. I wrote it so other women like me wouldn't feel so alone."

— Raquel G.

If you've ever sat in silence, wondering if your pain was real…

If you've ever felt invisible in your own home…

If you've ever struggled to explain the invisible wounds left by a parent who said they loved you…

Raquel's story is for you.

Her book reminds us that we are not responsible for fixing broken parents. And that it's not "betrayal" to tell the truth.

This Is Not My Mother (I Was Raised by a Narcissistic Mom and Didn't Know It) is a story of truth-telling, letting go of guilt, and reclaiming your voice. It's for women who are tired of carrying their pain in silence. It's for anyone who has ever felt unseen in their own family.

And it's proof that your story—no matter how painful or messy—is worth telling.

[noah098]

New Book Shows Addiction is Just One Simple Mistake and How Young Adults Can Dodge It

What if addiction isn’t some big, scary monster, but just a mix-up in how we handle risks? That’s the fresh take from retired counselor Patrick N. Moore in his new book, How to Develop an Addiction Or Not. This quick-read guide uses simple illustrations and step-by-step tips to help young adults spot and avoid the trap before it starts.

Every year, millions of young adults in the U.S. face real risks from drugs and alcohol. In 2025, about 9.8 million people ages 18 to 25 needed help for substance use, but only 1.6 million received it. Even with teen use staying at historic lows for five years, young adults still face significant challenges: 5.1 million struggled with alcohol problems, and 6.1 million dealt with other drugs last year alone.

Moore says it’s not about blame, it’s about making smart choices. “Addiction feels like winning because it tricks us into thinking we’re in control,” he writes. “But it's dependence dressed up as freedom. Fix the mix-up, and you stay free.”

The book breaks it down simply. Addiction follows five stages, from fun experiments to out-of-control habits. Moore flips the script: stick to two safe steps, judge risks first (what he calls constructive paranoia), and try new things wisely. Follow these steps, and you build patterns for a strong, thriving life, not just survival. No fancy therapy needed, just a clear view of what works.

It’s all about prehab, preparing before problems start. Young adults get the spotlight: “Addiction can’t exist where young adults are empowered.” Groups like RIZE Prevention praise the approach. Executive Director Martine Helou-Allen says, “This model is brilliant! It helps kids see risks and change their mindset for life.”

Moore, a licensed professional counselor with years of experience, built this guide on his 2016 research. The ebook is short and includes tools like a quick self-check to track your path. It’s not a cure-all or a substitute for medical advice. If you’re struggling, reach out to a friend, family member, professional, or call 911/988. Moore’s reminder is clear: “Do not kill yourself. You will be killing the wrong person. You are not who you’re going to be yet.”

Grab How to Develop an Addiction Or Not. today. Visit prehabmapp.com for free videos, tips, and to connect with Moore.

About Patrick N. Moore, LPC

Patrick N. Moore is a retired counselor, researcher, and author based in Sun City, South Carolina. His work focuses on spotting addiction risks early so people can thrive. Learn more at prehabmapp.com.

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Escaping the Grip: How Scientology Shatters Lives in Shattered Faith

Every institution that wants to keep you forever uses the same trick: it convinces you that your survival depends on staying inside.

In Shattered Faith by A.L. Beck, that trick isn’t abstract. It’s daily life.

Quinn, the young protagonist, has been raised to believe that the Church is the only road to meaning, safety, and a “better” self. That belief is wrapped in constant measurement: stats, conditions, ethics status, so that faith becomes performance. When leadership celebrates growth and expansion, Quinn feels pride and pressure to erase anything in himself that doesn’t fit the script. 

That’s the first fracture the book explores: belonging that doesn’t feel like belonging. It feels like probation.

Control That Looks Like Care

Scientology in this story rules by systems.

Quinn is surrounded by mechanisms designed to keep him transparent and afraid—especially the confessional auditing and invasive “Sec Checks.” They aren’t framed as punishment. They’re framed as help. But the questions never end, the needle is always watching, and the only safe answer is the one that protects the organization. 

The novel makes that dynamic painfully clear: when a church becomes the judge of your inner life, you stop having one.

The Price of Doubt

Quinn isn’t rebellious. He’s the kind of believer who tries harder when he feels lost. That’s what makes his decline so unsettling—you’re watching someone sincerely reach for salvation inside a structure that keeps moving the goalposts.

Even being connected to the “wrong” person puts him under suspicion, because in this world, proximity is treated as guilt. 

So doubt doesn’t need to be proven. It only needs to be suspected. And once suspected, you learn to fear yourself.

Extraction Disguised as Mission

One of the smartest things Shattered Faith does is show the business logic behind the spirituality.

People are discussed as “pre-clears,” “PTS,” or, when they’re rich enough, potential “whales.” The language drains humanity out of relationships and replaces it with utility. 

In that context, love, grief, and identity become problems to “handle,” not experiences to respect. The Church’s mission is always stated in moral terms, but its behavior reveals a more practical goal: keep bodies in, keep money flowing, keep authority unquestioned.

Why Escape Hurts So Much

The most devastating kind of control isn’t the kind that locks doors. It’s the kind that rewires conscience.

Quinn is taught that leaving isn’t just a choice—it’s betrayal, spiritual suicide, and harm to everyone still inside. The organization doesn’t have to chase you if it can make you chase yourself back.

That’s why the book’s title lands. Shattered Faith isn’t about one shocking moment. It’s about a slow collapse under pressure.

And without giving anything away, that’s the core tension of the novel: What happens when a person raised to obey starts wanting a life that belongs to him?

Beck’s story doesn’t preach. It shows. And what it shows is a system that doesn’t merely crack people—it teaches them to tighten the grip on themselves.

That’s the real prison in Shattered Faith. And it’s why escaping it is both terrifying and necessary.

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Can We Learn Life Lessons from Famous Personalities? 

Even in today's era of information overload, real insight is hard to find. In times like these, learning from famous historical, spiritual, or even fictional figures remains a powerful source of life lessons. 

Frank Passalaqua's Even Jesus Has a Booth at the Better Life Convention is a brilliant source of wisdom, blending humor, drama, and insight into a story that doubles as a modern-day parable of life. 

The book takes us to the Better Life Convention, where legendary figures like Einstein, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, and Jesus share their wisdom. This setting isn't just a "what if" scenario—it's a framework for reflecting on the values, challenges, and truths that unite us across time. The story incorporates these lessons with relatable struggles, making abstract wisdom feel attainable and grounded. 

Why Look to Famous Figures for Lessons? 

Historical and cultural icons have gone through extraordinary challenges and achievements. Through their experience, figures like Edison teach us the value of perseverance; Mother Theresa

embodies compassion; and Einstein reminds us of the boundless potential of curiosity. If we explore their paths, we find reflections of our struggles and aspirations and, perhaps, solutions for global issues. 

But Passalaqua's book pushes us further. It suggests that the true wisdom lies not in the grandeur of these personalities but in our willingness to engage with their ideas, however, they reach us—through stories, books, or even imagined conventions. 

The Timelessness of Parables 

A parable isn't just a story; it's a mirror. Even Jesus Has a Booth at the Better Life Convention captures this essence by allowing readers to see themselves in the journey of its characters. As the book cleverly shows, life's most valuable lessons often come from unexpected places—a delayed flight, a fleeting conversation, or a seemingly impossible gathering of the world's greatest minds. 

How to Apply These Lessons Today? 

1. Curiosity Over Judgment 

The characters in the book approach the convention with skepticism but remain open-minded. This mindset is a crucial takeaway—curiosity fosters growth, while judgment stifles it. 

2. Relate the Extraordinary to the Everyday 

Passalaqua's use of famous figures reminds us that greatness isn't limited to historical titans. It can be found in the small, consistent actions we take daily. 

3. Embrace the Journey, Not Just the Destination 

As one character quips, "It's not the destination. It's the journey." This timeless adage, paired with the book's rich storytelling, emphasizes that our steps often matter more than where we end up. 

Frank Passalaqua's work is an invitation to reflect. By drawing wisdom from the lives of iconic figures and viewing them through the lens of modern challenges, we uncover universal truths that resonate with our shared humanity. 

Even Jesus Has a Booth at the Better Life Convention is "a parable of life for modern times," reminding us that every encounter, every lesson, and every story holds the power to change our lives. 

Grab your copy now. 

[noah098]

New Book A Pilgrim's Process by Michael Frati Invites Christians to Exchange "Plan B" Living for God's Perfect Plan "A"

A compelling blend of unforgettable storytelling, personal testimony, and practical faith offers readers a refreshing alternative to traditional Christian books. For many Christians, the greatest struggle is not believing in God—it is surrendering completely to His direction. Author Michael Frati, in his newly published book, A Pilgrim's Process: Exploits in Christ – God's Plan "A", explores this timeless challenge through engaging stories, honest vulnerability, and decades of personal experience.

Unlike many Christian books that lean heavily on theological discussion, A Pilgrim's Process reads like a captivating journey. Frati transforms profound biblical truths into relatable, entertaining stories that make even the deepest spiritual concepts accessible to everyday readers.

At the heart of the book is one unforgettable idea: God has a Plan "A" for every life. Everything else is Plan "B."

Through personal triumphs, failures, lessons, and moments of unexpected grace, Frati demonstrates how choosing our own way often leads to frustration and mediocrity, while surrendering to God's purpose leads to lasting peace, fulfillment, and spiritual growth.

"I wanted readers to experience these truths, not simply read about them," says Frati. "My own Christian life has been a classroom. Every success, every failure, and every lesson has pointed me back to God's faithfulness."

Frati's remarkable life brings authenticity to every page. Over the course of his career, he has served as a successful business owner for 27 years, a New York State magistrate judge for 17 years, a pastor, missionary to Africa, church builder, accomplished salesman, public speaker, songwriter, husband of more than four decades, father of five, grandfather of nine, and lifelong student of Scripture.

That rich life experience gives A Pilgrim's Process a voice that is both wise and approachable. Readers won't find dry lectures or abstract theology. Instead, they'll discover a book filled with humor, honesty, compelling storytelling, and practical wisdom that inspires lasting transformation.

Whether someone is new to the Christian faith or has spent decades walking with God, A Pilgrim's Process offers encouragement to let go of self-reliance, embrace complete dependence on Christ, and experience the freedom found in God's Plan "A."

The book reminds readers that surrender is not about losing themselves—it is about becoming the person God always intended them to be.

About Michael Frati

Michael Frati is a successful entrepreneur, former New York State magistrate judge, Christian pastor, teacher, missionary, songwriter, theologian, public speaker, and gifted storyteller. With a lifetime devoted to business, ministry, family, and serving others, Frati combines biblical wisdom with real-life experience to encourage believers to pursue a deeper, more authentic relationship with God.

Availability

A Pilgrim's Process: Exploits in Christ – God's Plan "A" is available now through Amazon.

[noah098]

How Raising More Caring Children Can Help Build a Kinder Future

A kinder future sounds like a big dream. Less violence. Less hate. Less division. More patience. More understanding. More people who can disagree without losing sight of each other’s humanity.

But where does that kind of future actually begin?

Ronald Goldman, PhD, offers a thoughtful answer in The Empathy Evolution. A more caring society does not begin only in courtrooms, elections, schools, hospitals, or public campaigns. It begins much earlier, in the way children are cared for, comforted, heard, and emotionally supported.

Children do not learn kindness only because adults tell them to be kind. They learn it by experiencing care themselves. They learn it when someone notices their fear, responds to their needs, helps them calm down, and shows them that feelings can be understood instead of ignored. Over time, these early experiences help shape how children see themselves, how they respond to others, and how they carry empathy into the world.

Caring Children Are Not Born by Accident

Every child has emotional needs. They need safety, attention, affection, consistency, and connection. They need adults who do more than feed, clothe, and instruct them. They need adults who recognize their inner life.

A child who feels seen is more likely to notice others. A child who is comforted is more likely to understand comfort. A child who receives patience is more likely to practice patience. This is how empathy begins to grow, not as a lecture, but as a lived experience.

The Empathy Evolution encourages readers to think about empathy as something shaped through development. Caring is not just a personality trait. It is built through relationships, especially with the mother in the earliest years of life. When children are treated with sensitivity and respect, they begin to understand that other people have feelings, needs, fears, and dignity too.

Empathy Starts with Emotional Safety

Children cannot become emotionally generous if they are always in survival mode. When a child feels unsafe, ignored, shamed, or emotionally alone, their energy often goes toward protection. They may shut down, become defensive, act out, or learn to hide their needs.

Emotional safety gives children room to grow. It teaches them that they can feel upset without being rejected. It shows them that mistakes can be corrected without humiliation. It helps them understand that relationships can include conflict, repair, forgiveness, and trust.

This matters because the way children handle emotions becomes part of the way they handle life. A child who learns to name feelings may become an adult who can discuss conflict without cruelty. A child who learns repair may become an adult who can apologize. A child who learns compassion may become an adult who does not easily dehumanize others.

A Kinder Future Depends on More Than Good Manners

Many adults teach children to say please, thank you, and sorry. These habits are useful, but kindness goes deeper than politeness. A caring child does not only follow social rules. A caring child begins to understand impact.

They learn that words can hurt. They learn that other people’s pain matters. They learn that strength does not have to mean control, aggression, or emotional distance. They learn that being human includes needing help and offering help.

Goldman’s work points toward an important idea: if society wants less violence, racism, corruption, and emotional suffering, it must care about the emotional roots of behavior. A child who grows up with empathy is more likely to see people as people, not as objects, enemies, stereotypes, or obstacles.

Parents and Caregivers Need Support Too

Raising caring children is not only the responsibility of individual parents. Families need support. Caregivers need rest, guidance, community, and access to resources. Many adults want to be patient and emotionally present, but stress, financial pressure, trauma, isolation, and lack of support can make caregiving harder.

A kinder future requires a culture that values caregiving instead of treating it as invisible work. It requires schools that support emotional development, health systems that take early childhood seriously, and communities that help families before they reach crisis.

Blame does not build empathy. Support does.

Children Become the Emotional Climate of Tomorrow

The children being raised today will become tomorrow’s parents, teachers, leaders, neighbors, workers, voters, and decision-makers. Their emotional development will not stay private. It will shape homes, workplaces, communities, and institutions.

If children are raised with fear, disconnection, and emotional neglect, society may later see the effects in anger, numbness, distrust, and division. If children are raised with extended maternal care and body contact, responsiveness, and empathy, society gains adults who are more able to connect, cooperate, and consider the well-being of others.

This is why raising caring children is not a small goal. It is a long-term investment in public life. It requires paid maternity leave.

Building Kindness From the Beginning

The Empathy Evolution invites readers to think about prevention, not only reaction. Instead of asking how society should respond after harm appears, Goldman encourages a deeper question: how can we raise people who are less likely to cause harm in the first place?

A kinder future begins in ordinary moments. A parent comforting a crying child. A teacher listening instead of dismissing. A caregiver helping a child understand anger without shame. A community choosing support over judgment. These moments may seem small, but they help form the emotional foundation of a person’s life.

Raising more caring children will not solve every problem overnight. It will not erase history, policy failures, or social conflict. But it can change the kind of people who inherit the future.

A society becomes kinder when its children learn, early and often, that care is real, feelings matter, and other people are fully human. That lesson may be one of the most powerful gifts one generation can give the next.

[noah098]

Healing from a Narcissistic Parent: A Journey to Self-Worth

Many people grow up without knowing they were emotionally abused. Narcissistic parents often hide their behavior behind discipline, rules, or control. They may provide food and shelter but withhold affection, empathy, and support. This causes deep emotional damage in children.

As a result, children in these environments learn to stay silent. They avoid conflict and try to meet impossible expectations. Over time, they lose their sense of identity. However, Raquel G, raised by a narcissistic mother, decided to break this pattern. She tells her story in her book, This Is Not My Mother (I Was Raised by a Narcissistic Mom and Didn't Know It), describing the hurt she faced and how she overcame it.

She Identified the Problem

The first step in healing was recognizing the truth. Raquel's mother used control, blame, and withdrawal to maintain power. No matter how much effort was given, nothing was good enough. Raquel was labeled as disrespectful or disobedient anytime she spoke up.

This wasn't normal parenting. It was emotional abuse. When she found the right words for her experience, she stopped doubting herself. Naming the abuse gave her clarity and helped her understand the impact.

She Let Go of the Fantasy

Raquel wanted a loving, supportive mother. She hoped her mother would change, say sorry, or treat her differently. But that day never came. Waiting for that moment kept her stuck.

She accepted the truth. Her mother would not become the parent she needed. Letting go of that dream was painful, but it created space for peace. She no longer chased approval from someone who refused to give it.

She Rebuilt Her Confidence

Once she stopped trying to fix the relationship, she focused on rebuilding herself. She stopped apologizing for who she was. She stopped blaming herself for how she was treated. Her thoughts and feelings mattered, even if her mother dismissed them.

She found new ways to cope. She wrote, prayed, and reflected. She built supportive relationships with people who respected her. Over time, she learned to trust herself. Her worth was no longer tied to someone else's opinion.

She Set Clear Boundaries

Raquel chose distance when needed. She no longer explained or defended her choices. She no longer accepted silent treatment, guilt trips, or false stories about her character. She said "no" when it protected her peace.

These boundaries were not for revenge but for safety. They allowed Raquel to feel stable and in control of her life.

She Moved Forward

Raquel did not let her past define her. She used it to grow. Her pain gave her insight. Her story gave her purpose. She now lives with clarity, strength, and self-respect.

Her healing journey reminds others that recovery from emotional abuse is possible. It requires truth, courage, and patience. It also requires the belief that healing is deserved.

People who grow up with narcissistic parents can heal. They can break the cycle. They can live with purpose and peace. Stories like this one offer a path forward for anyone ready to start their own healing.

Click here to learn more. 

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Trapped in the Pain Cycle? This Christian Perspective Offers a Different Way Forward

For millions of people, chronic pain becomes more than a medical condition.

It becomes a lifestyle.

A constant calculation before every movement. A fear of waking up in pain again tomorrow. A silent exhaustion that affects work, relationships, sleep, faith, and emotional well-being. Over time, many people stop asking, “How do I heal?” and begin asking, “Will this ever end?”

Now available, Christian Medicine and Pain: The Etiology and Treatment of Suffering for All Who Call Upon the Name of Jesus by Dr. Christopher Kolker offers a compassionate and deeply thoughtful approach to one of modern medicine’s most challenging experiences: chronic pain.

Part medical guide, part spiritual reflection, and part roadmap for holistic healing, this book challenges the idea that chronic pain can be addressed through prescriptions and procedures alone. Instead, Dr. Kolker invites readers to consider pain through a broader lens, exploring the physical, emotional, mental, social, and spiritual dimensions of suffering.

Why So Many Pain Treatments Fall Short

One of the central ideas explored in Christian Medicine and Pain is that modern pain management often focuses on symptoms while overlooking the bigger picture.

Many patients find themselves moving from:

physician to physician,

medication to medication,

injection to injection,

while continuing to search for lasting answers.

Dr. Kolker explains that chronic pain is not simply an isolated injury. Over time, it can influence the nervous system, emotions, thought patterns, stress levels, sleep cycles, and even personal identity. Pain can change how people experience daily life and how they see themselves.

That is why temporary solutions may not always address the deeper challenges associated with long-term suffering.

Dr. Kolker explores this reality through the story of “Poor Joe,” an ordinary man whose back injury gradually pulls him into the frustrating cycle of scans, specialists, medications, and uncertainty. His experience reflects the struggles many chronic pain sufferers face as they search for answers and a way forward.

A Holistic View of Healing

What makes Christian Medicine and Pain unique is its effort to bridge science and spirituality.

Dr. Kolker examines important aspects of chronic pain, including:

inflammation and pain chemistry,

opioid dependence,

stress responses,

nervous system sensitization,

sleep,

exercise,

nutrition,

mindfulness,

and emotional health.

At the same time, he explores the role of spiritual life in navigating suffering.

This is not a simplistic message that pain disappears through faith alone. Instead, Dr. Kolker presents faith as a source of peace, endurance, transformation, and hope during difficult seasons.

Throughout the book, he emphasizes that progress often happens through many small changes working together:

healthier habits,

improved thought patterns,

meaningful relationships,

spiritual grounding,

and intentional physical care.

Dr. Kolker compares this process to building a wall one brick at a time. No single brick creates the entire structure, but together they provide strength and stability.

That metaphor reflects one of the book’s central messages: lasting change often comes through consistent, intentional steps.

A Compassionate Message for Christians in Pain

Many Christians silently wrestle with difficult questions when suffering continues:

“Why hasn’t God healed me?”

“Am I lacking faith?”

“Am I being punished?”

“What am I doing wrong?”

One of the important themes explored in Christian Medicine and Pain is the rejection of the belief that ongoing pain automatically reflects weak faith or divine punishment.

Dr. Kolker reminds readers that suffering is part of the human experience and that faithful people throughout history have faced illness, hardship, and pain.

This perspective can bring encouragement to those who have carried guilt alongside their physical struggles.

Rather than focusing on shame or self-blame, Dr. Kolker points readers toward grace, hope, perseverance, and a deeper understanding of how faith can sustain people through suffering.

More Than Physical Relief

At its heart, Christian Medicine and Pain is not only about managing symptoms. It is about helping readers rediscover purpose and hope while navigating chronic pain.

Dr. Kolker encourages readers to examine:

the environments they live in,

the relationships they build,

their stress levels,

their daily habits,

the messages they consume,

and the beliefs they hold about suffering.

He explores how fear, isolation, negative thought patterns, and hopelessness can affect the way people experience pain.

At the same time, he offers hope that transformation, resilience, and renewed purpose are possible even while facing ongoing challenges.

Who Should Read Christian Medicine and Pain?

This book is especially valuable for:

Christians living with chronic pain,

caregivers supporting loved ones through suffering,

church counseling ministries,

readers interested in whole-person wellness,

healthcare professionals,

and anyone searching for a deeper understanding of pain beyond conventional approaches.

By combining medical insight with spiritual encouragement, Dr. Kolker provides a perspective for readers seeking both practical understanding and emotional reassurance.

A Timely Resource for Those Searching for Hope

Chronic pain affects millions of people who are navigating complicated treatment decisions, emotional exhaustion, and uncertainty about the future.

For those searching for an approach that considers more than physical symptoms alone, Christian Medicine and Pain provides a thoughtful exploration of what healing, resilience, and hope can look like.

Dr. Kolker’s message is not about quick fixes or unrealistic promises. It is about understanding suffering, embracing whole-person care, and discovering how medicine, faith, and daily choices can work together in the journey toward healing and restoration.

A Book That Understands Suffering

There are many books about pain. Few explore the loneliness, frustration, and spiritual questions that often accompany chronic suffering.

Dr. Christopher Kolker writes from the perspective of both a physician and someone deeply aware of the human experience of pain. This combination gives Christian Medicine and Pain a rare sense of compassion and credibility.

For readers searching beyond temporary solutions, this book offers a meaningful faith-centered perspective that considers the whole person: body, mind, and soul.

Christian Medicine and Pain: The Etiology and Treatment of Suffering for All Who Call Upon the Name of Jesus is now available for readers seeking a deeper understanding of chronic pain and the relationship between faith, medicine, and healing.

Discover Dr. Kolker’s compassionate approach and explore a new perspective on living with pain, hope, and purpose.

[noah098]

Why Violence, Racism, and Mental Illness May Share Deeper Emotional Roots

Violence, racism, and mental illness are usually discussed as separate problems. One belongs in conversations about crime. Another belongs in conversations about prejudice and social injustice. Another is often treated as a private struggle inside one person’s mind.

Ronald Goldman, PhD, looks at these issues from a deeper angle in The Empathy Evolution. He asks readers to consider what may be happening beneath the surface before harm becomes behavior, belief, or emotional suffering. His answer centers on empathy, early emotional experience, trauma, and the human need for connection.

The book does not suggest that violence, racism, and mental illness are the same. Each has its own causes, history, and consequences. Still, Goldman’s work raises an important idea: some of society’s most painful problems may share emotional roots when empathy is weakened, when people feel disconnected, and when early needs are not fully met.

Empathy Is More Than Kindness

Empathy is often treated as a simple virtue. Be kind. Care about others. Try to understand. But The Empathy Evolution presents empathy as something much more important. It is part of how people relate to one another, regulate their emotions, and recognize the humanity of others.

When empathy is strong, people are more likely to pause before causing harm. They are more likely to notice another person’s fear, sadness, or pain. They are also more likely to care about fairness, dignity, and emotional safety.

When empathy is weakened, the opposite can happen. A person may become less aware of the pain they cause. They may see others as threats, labels, enemies, or objects. They may also struggle to understand their own feelings, which can lead to numbness, shame, anger, isolation, or emotional distress.

Goldman’s point is powerful because it shifts the conversation. Empathy is not only something people are taught through words. It is something they begin learning through experience.

Early Care Shapes Emotional Life

Children learn what the world feels like starting with birth. Comfort, affection, responsiveness, and a secure connection with the mother help an infant feel safe. These experiences show the infant that needs can be met, feelings can be handled, and the relationship with the mother can be trusted.

When an infant experiences fear, neglect, harshness, emotional distance, or repeated distress, this is traumatic, and the results can be very different. The infant will shut down, defend, withdraw, or suppress feelings. Over time, these patterns can affect how the infant responds to stress, conflict, intimacy, difference, and pain.

This does not mean every wounded infant becomes harmful. Most do not. It also does not excuse violence, racism, or cruelty. Instead, the book encourages a prevention-focused approach. If emotional disconnection and traumas contribute to a later likelihood of behavioral problems, then maternal care, attachment, need satisfaction, and emotional safety deserve more attention in American culture from families, schools, health systems, and communities.

Violence and Emotional Numbing

Violence often involves a break in emotional connection. A person who can fully feel another person’s fear or suffering is less likely to harm without restraint. Many violent actions are tied to anger, humiliation, fear, trauma, or emotional numbness.

Society usually responds after violence happens. It talks about punishment, security, and control. Those responses may be necessary, but Goldman encourages readers to also ask what could have happened earlier. What early and current emotional pain of the perpetrator was ignored? What distress was never understood? What patterns formed before the crisis became visible? Goldman explains the adverse effects of early traumas, unmet needs, and disrupted bond with the mother.

Racism and Dehumanization

Racism also depends on reduced empathy, a consequence of early traumas, unmet needs, and a disrupted bond with the mother. It becomes easier to mistreat people when they are reduced to stereotypes, groups, threats, or political symbols. Once a person’s full humanity is ignored, cruelty becomes easier to justify.

A more empathic society would not pretend that history, systems, or prejudice disappear through kindness alone. But it would make dehumanization harder. It would encourage people to see others as fully human, with feelings, families, fears, and dignity.

Mental Illness and the Need for Connection

Mental illness is often described as an individual problem, but Goldman’s approach invites a wider view. Emotional suffering can also be connected to early experience, trauma, isolation, unmet needs, and a disrupted bond with the mother.

A person may seem functional while carrying fear, numbness, sadness, or shame inside. Healing, then, cannot only be about managing symptoms. It must also involve understanding, connection, and care, starting with recognizing the origins associated with adverse early life experiences. With proper maternal care, mental illness can be prevented.

The Empathy Evolution invites readers to look beyond surface-level reactions. Violence, racism, and mental illness may appear in different parts of society, but they may also reflect deeper wounds connected to disconnection and reduced empathy.

Goldman’s message is not about blame. Parents do the best they can based on what they know, their personal histories and experiences, unmet needs, trauma, what the culture supports, and other factors. If people are shaped by early care, then creating a more compassionate society begins earlier than most people think. It begins with how we respond to children, how we support families, and how seriously we take the emotional roots of human behavior. Let’s have love and compassion for ourselves and each other.

Grab your copy today and learn how our behavior today affects the world tomorrow.

[noah098]

Helping Children Feel Less Alone When Life Feels Scary

What should a child do when the world suddenly feels too big, too quiet, or too hard to understand?

Childhood is often described as simple, but children carry real fears. They worry about school. They miss people they love. They feel nervous around new faces. They struggle when friends are unkind. They may feel scared at night, sad after a loss, or unsure how to explain the heavy feeling sitting inside their chest.

For adults, these moments may seem small. For a child, they can feel enormous.

Ask the Angels: Let the Magic Begin by Salva G. Ahmed speaks directly to that tender place in a child’s heart. The book opens by acknowledging children who feel alone, sad, frustrated, or scared, then gently reminds them that comfort is available and that they can ask for help in many ways. Its message is simple, warm, and reassuring: children do not have to carry hard feelings by themselves. 

Big Feelings Need Gentle Support

Children do not always know how to say, “I am overwhelmed.” Instead, they may cry, stay quiet, act out, become clingy, or avoid the thing that frightens them. A child who refuses school may be anxious about making friends. A child who becomes angry may be hiding sadness. A child who keeps asking the same question may be looking for comfort, not just an answer.

This is why emotional support matters. Children need to hear that their feelings are real. They need adults who listen without rushing. They need stories that help them understand fear, sadness, hope, and courage in a way that feels safe.

In Ask the Angels, each story gives children a relatable situation. John misses his grandfather and later grieves the loss of his cat, Ben. Neo feels nervous before starting fourth grade at a new school. Betty wants to help her friend feel less afraid before a play. Nicole deals with bullying and asks for protection. Through these short stories, children see that everyone needs help sometimes. 

Children Need Words for What They Feel

One of the most helpful things adults can do is give children language for their emotions. A child may not know the difference between fear, sadness, frustration, and loneliness. They only know that something feels wrong.

A parent might say, “It sounds like you feel nervous about tomorrow,” or “Maybe you are missing someone today.” These simple sentences help children connect their feelings to words. Once a feeling has a name, it becomes easier to talk about.

Books can make this process easier. After reading a story, a parent can ask, “Have you ever felt like Neo before school?” or “What would you do if a friend felt scared like Dotty?” These questions help children reflect without feeling pressured.

Asking for Help Can Become a Habit

Many children think being brave means handling everything alone. Ask the Angels gently challenges that idea. The book shows that asking for help is not something to be embarrassed about. It is something children can do when they feel scared, sad, unsure, or worried.

The children in the book ask for help in different ways. John asks silently. Neo prays. Betty writes to her angel. Nicole meditates and calls upon Archangel Michael. These examples show young readers that comfort does not have to look the same for everyone. A child may pray, write, draw, breathe quietly, talk to an adult, or simply ask from the heart. 

Comfort Can Be Found in Small Rituals

Children often feel safer when they have something familiar to do. A bedtime prayer, a quiet breathing moment, a note tucked under a pillow, or a drawing made after a difficult day can become a source of comfort.

These small rituals do not erase the problem, but they help children feel less powerless. They give children a way to pause, express what they feel, and believe that help is near.

The closing poem in Ask the Angels reinforces this sense of comfort. It encourages children to close their eyes, breathe, trust, and remember that they can ask for guidance when they feel lost or blue. 

A Soft Reminder for Every Child

Children need to know that fear does not make them weak. Sadness does not make them difficult. Needing help does not make them less brave.

Ask the Angels: Let the Magic Begin gives young readers a comforting reminder that support can be asked for, received, and trusted. Through gentle stories and simple spiritual reassurance, the book helps children understand that they are never truly alone in their hardest moments.

For parents, caregivers, and teachers, the book can also open meaningful conversations about emotions, faith, friendship, grief, and courage. It gives children a language of hope they can carry with them into school days, lonely nights, difficult friendships, and moments of loss.

When life feels scary, children need more than instructions. They need comfort. They need a connection. They need a reminder that help is always worth asking for.

Grab your copy today and show your child safe ways to express their emotions.