Unshattered

$22.95

Description

What happens when your mother isn’t one person, but 123?

Emma Churchman’s extraordinary memoir follows her search for identity as the eldest child of a woman with one of the most extreme cases of multiple personality disorder (now know as dissociative identity disorder) diagnosed in the 1980s. Never knowing which of her mother’s alters would emerge—the playful child, the raging demon, or the suicidal depressive—Emma became the family’s anchor in an ocean of psychological chaos, raising her three younger brothers while navigating a mother who had no clear identity.

This gripping account captures a lineage of violence over generations leading to a family struggles with suicide, addiction, and mental illness. Emma reveals a landscape where reality is shattered: changing personalities, a mother locked in a padded room, a homeless father, a child asking for a bodyguard, alters too young to parent, and a daughter picking up the pieces.

Emma’s transformation leads to her role as a trauma chaplain and then a successful entrepreneur and demonstrates how our deepest wounds can become our greatest wisdom. With raw honesty and hard-won insights, she proves we can choose integration over fragmentation, wholeness over mere survival. This beautifully crafted narrative poses the fundamental question: Is identity predetermined by genetics and environment, or can character be born anew through selective choices?

For readers who loved Educated and The Glass Castle, this revolutionary story shows that healing isn’t just survival—it’s transformation in its most powerful form.

About the author

Emma Churchman is a beacon of resilience and transformation. With over 25 years of experience as a spiritual and business leader, Emma has guided thousands through the labyrinth of trauma to reclaim hope and strength. Her powerful work as a trauma chaplain and mentor is rooted in her own journey of overcoming acute childhood adversity. Her book, "The Deep End of Hope in the Wake of Hurricane Helene," takes readers on an unforgettable journey of spiritual resilience during one of nature’s most catastrophic events. Emma is a sought-after speaker and coach, teaching trauma recovery techniques that empower individuals and organizations alike. As a PhD candidate in Conscious Business Ethics, Emma bridges the gap between soulful leadership and practical strategies for navigating life's storms. From the picturesque mountain peaks of Gerton, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband Jeff and their dachshunds Winston and Leroy, Emma inspires people to find strength even in the darkest of times.

See more about this author...