Whole ─ How I Learned to Fill the Fragments of My Life With Forgiveness, Hope, Strength, and Creativity

When Melissa Moore was 13 years old, her father said to her, “I know how to kill someone and get away with it.” At the time she chalked it up to his love of detective novels, but it didn’t change the fact that her father had always been someone who made her anxious. Two years later, in 1995, Melissa’s father was arrested for the murder of 8 women over a period of 5 years—the serial killer known nationally as The Happy Face Killer. The pain, trauma, and shame that followed her father’s conviction could have left irreparable damage, but Melissa has spent the following decades pursuing a path of healing. Today, she is a widely recognized trauma researcher, speaks regularly around the country on recovery, hosts a show on A&E, and is a regular correspondent for Dr. Oz.

Whole is the culmination of Melissa’s years of research, interviews, and personal experience: A step-by-step program to heal from trauma and live a full life no matter what or who is in your past. Just Elizabeth Kubler Ross identified the phases for coping with grief and death, Melissa spells out actionable steps for moving through the five stages of healing after a painful experience:

Watch the Storm (avoiding reactivity)
Heal your Heart (forgiveness as action)
Open your Mind (creativity in finding solutions)
Leverage your Power (using your pain to fuel your momentum)
Elevate your Spirit (paying forward gratitude, positivity, and love)

In each phase of the program, Melissa inspires readers how to embrace their past to find their own wholeness within their "broken" life. Readers who are stuck in the rut of a painful experience – whether by depression, trauma, pain, fear, addiction, or guilt – will find comfort and in Whole's advice, self-evaluation, and action plans.Whole blends together prescriptive advice with personal story and the result is a safe-zone for readers to find their own path toward healing, happiness, and health.

MELISSA MOORE is an internationally recognized expert and speaker on the topics of recovery from trauma, domestic violence and serial violent crimes.Moore was raised Melissa Jesperson, daughter of the infamous “Happy Face” serial killer, Keith Jesperson. Growing up in a small town in Washington state, she survived the escalating trauma from her home life and the man she called her father. Moore previously shared her inspirational story in the bestselling memoir,Shattered Silence. Today, she frequently shares her insight and background with other families and survivors seeking healing from violent crimes. For an article summing up Melissa’s experiences with her father, click here: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29835159. Melissa lives in Santa Clarita, CA.