Writing Through the Wreckage: How I Turned My Trauma Into a Memoir That Set Me Free
By Brooke Deanne, Author of Shattered, Broken & Beautiful
I never set out to write a memoir.
I set out to survive. To simply make sense of the shattered, and broken pieces of my life.
To piece myself back together after years of religious oppression, narcissistic abuse, childhood trauma, and deeply buried sexual abuse that shattered my nervous system, my sense of safety, and my identity. Writing was never the plan. But at some point, surviving wasn’t enough anymore — I needed to understand. I needed to find the thread in the chaos.
So I wrote.
Messy, nonlinear, raw.
I wrote in fragments, in flashbacks, in floods of memory that knocked the wind out of me. I wrote the truth my body had been holding onto long after my mind had forgotten. And somehow, through that process, my pain transformed into a book. A memoir. A reclamation.
That book became Shattered, Broken & Beautiful.
It’s more than a story of survival — it’s a soul-mapping. It’s the unflinching account of what happens when everything you believe about yourself, your God, your family, and your world is torn down — and you choose to rise anyway.
The Writing Wasn’t Cathartic — It Was a Reckoning
There’s a common myth that writing a memoir is healing. And it can be. But before the healing, there was grief. Rage. Guilt. Dissociation. Days when I stared at the blinking cursor, unsure if I was allowed to tell the truth. If I’d be punished. If the people who hurt me would come back to silence me. The religious programming runs deep — especially for women taught to submit, suppress, and stay silent.
I wasn’t just writing about trauma — I was still living inside of it. Still unraveling my identity after leaving a high-control religion that warned me from childhood that Satan and his demons were everywhere, waiting to devour me. I had lived in fear of this, and fear of disobeying God my entire life, because disobedience could mean my very life. Still reconciling with the memory that my father — the man I was taught to trust without question — had been my abuser.
Writing wasn’t a release. It was a resurrection.
Giving Voice to the Silenced Self
One of the most powerful things writing gave me was voice. Not just metaphorically — but somatically. Trauma had shut down my throat. My nervous system was in a constant freeze state. For years, I couldn’t speak the truth — not out loud, not even to myself.
But when I sat down to write, my voice returned, word by word.
I wrote about the nights I numbed with alcohol and Xanax. I sat with the reality of the many times that I had been abused by my husband. Suffocated, slapped, or spit on, and I had to allow myself to just say it like it was. It was difficult to see what I had suffered through, believing that I didn’t deserve more. I had to mourn those versions of me.
And then I wrote about my healing.
About reclaiming my body, and my voice. It was so powerful to finally be able to use my voice to say how I felt, no longer afraid of making others uncomfortable. To express my needs, my wants, and my desires with no apology. I wrote about reconnecting to my inner child, who had waited so long to be seen, held, and freed.
Writing allowed me to walk beside her. And in doing so, I learned how to walk beside others.
When I began writing, I thought I was the only one. The only woman raised to fear her body. The only daughter gaslit into silence. The only mother trying to heal while raising children of her own.
But something happened when I shared even small parts of my story — women came forward. Survivors. Seekers. Brave souls who whispered, “Me too,” and “I thought I was alone.” That’s when I realized my memoir wasn’t just about me — it was about us.
Writing this book allowed me to move from survivor to witness.
And witnessing others in their pain, their healing, their truth — that’s where the real power is.
Letting It Be Messy
One of the biggest challenges I faced was letting go of perfection. Memoirs don’t follow a linear path — and neither does trauma. I wrote chapters that felt like poems. I left things out and then circled back. I cried mid-sentence. I doubted every word. And still, I kept writing.
I wrote from the body. From the gut. From the rage. From the reclamation.
There was no tidy arc. But there was truth. And for memoir, truth is the holy grail.
Some people asked why I would share so much. Why I’d speak about abuse, cults, sex, or generational trauma so openly. But for me, the real question was:
How could I not?
Silence never saved me.
Denial never healed me.
What saved me was truth. And spirit. And allowing myself to remember, feel, and transmute what had once been unbearable.
Shattered, Broken & Beautiful is not a polished narrative tied up with a bow — it’s a cracked-open offering. A portal. A permission slip for others to remember that their brokenness doesn’t disqualify them — it reveals them.
If you are in the process of writing your own story — don’t wait until it’s perfect. Don’t wait until it’s pretty. Start with what you’re ready to say today, and trust that more will come.
Memoir is a spiritual act.
A sacred remembering.
The words you’re afraid to write are the exact ones the world needs to read.
🔥 A Raw and Unflinching Memoir of Breaking Free, Finding Faith, and Reclaiming Power 🔥
Born into a third-generation Jehovah’s Witness family, Brooke Deanne was raised in a world of strict religious control, conditioned to obey, and shamed into submission. Torn between faith and personal truth, she felt like an outsider—yearning for connection, love, and a sense of self. But when her world began to crumble, she faced the painful reality of her upbringing, her marriage, and the patterns of narcissistic and emotional abuse that shaped her life.
💔 From Religious Oppression to Spiritual Awakening 💔
For years, Brooke endured psychological, emotional, and domestic abuse, trapped in cycles of pain and manipulation. She was shunned, divorced, and left to rebuild from nothing—but in her darkest moments, she found the light. Her spiritual awakening ignited the courage to break free from guilt, trauma, and toxic relationships. Through deep healing, she reclaimed her faith, psychic gifts, and self-worth, proving that even in the depths of despair, transformation is possible.
✨ A Story of Resilience, Healing, and Finding Your True Self ✨
In this powerful and deeply personal memoir, Brooke shares her journey of escaping religious indoctrination, overcoming abuse, and rediscovering faith on her own terms. Shattered, Broken & Beautiful is an inspiring testament to the strength of the human spirit, offering hope, healing, and empowerment to anyone struggling to break free from a life that no longer serves them.
🔹 Perfect for readers who love:
✔️ Religious deconstruction & faith transitions
✔️ Survivor stories of overcoming abuse
✔️ Spiritual awakening & self-discovery
✔️ Healing from trauma & reclaiming personal power
📖 If you’ve ever felt trapped by religion, relationships, or your past, this book will show you that freedom, healing, and joy are waiting on the other side.
⚡ Start your journey of healing today—grab your copy of Shattered, Broken & Beautiful now! ⚡
Brooke Deanne is a Trauma Recovery Coach, RTT therapist, and founder of the Thriving After Abuse Summit and Goddess Rising Podcast. Her memoir, Shattered, Broken & Beautiful, is available now. She helps women heal from religious trauma, narcissistic abuse, and deep-rooted conditioning to reclaim their voice, their body, and their soul.
Find her at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brooke-kekos-253905231
https://www.instagram.com/lifecoachinggoddess
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075036248909
https://www.facebook.com/brooke.kekos/
https://www.youtube.com/@Lifecoachinggoddess
https://www.tiktok.com/@brookekekos?_t=8UL4XMCBiu3&_r=1
Grief Monster: https://a.co/d/hck4
Shattered, Broken & Beautiful: https://a.co/d/aqqUjwH
Website: https://www.lifecoachinggoddess.com/
Category: Contemporary Women Writers
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