ected as the first place winner for nonfiction excellence at The Author Zone Awards for 2023 and as an American Book Fest Best Book Awards finalist for 2023. ***

Have you ever felt completely broken?

Like you're barely surviving each day, just existing?

Relying on something to keep you going ... but then it's gone.

And that's when you chose to rely on no one but yourself ...

Your dreams ...

Your drive ...

Your hope.

You discover it's all in your control and learn how you turn your pain into your power.

Author Jennifer Silbaugh was caught in a system she depended on to keep her alive, but reached the end of the road, looked around, and saw nothing but darkness.

When the mental health community ran out of options to help her, she chose to turn within. She decided to live fully, with hope, seeking joy, knowing that she needed to be in charge to create what she wanted in life.

And that's when she transformed her darkness into the most beautiful light.

Though she was once behind locked doors, looking for ways to stop the pain in her head, she was able to heal and find peace.

She discovered that the place where she'd suffered the greatest was the place where she was meant to work, to help others in the shadows. As a certified peer specialist, she could tell others she believes in them too, that they can recover like she did.

Join Jennifer on her journey from decades as a patient in the mental health system to becoming a person who helps others as they travel similar paths. She strives every day to maintain her recovery and make her wellness her number one priority.

If you've struggled with mental health-through depression, anxiety, despair, desperation-then know there really is hope for change.

And sometimes it lies within.

Jennifer's story inspires the reader to be their own advocate, friend, and hero on the journey from broken to belonging.

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"Through resiliency and the power of her will, she was able to heal and then, as a certified peer specialist, successfully dedicate herself to supporting other people with mental illness. Her story will certainly provide hope to others."

Boris Birmaher, MD

Professor of Psychiatry