In many ways, Kristen Elliott is a normal, seventeen-year-old girl. Kristen loves her family. She works hard academically, and tries to please her mother. She takes on the additional responsibility of caring for her twin siblings, Nick and Alison. She idealizes her best friend, Lexus, who not only seems to lead the perfect life, but also catches the attention of John, the boy Kristen secretly loves. However, as is the case with many teenagers, Kristen feels frustrated, isolated, and confused. In other ways, Kristen is not like other kids her age. She knows something is wrong with her. Kristen feels like an utter failure. She is unable to please her abrasive mother, and scared to confront Jack, her abusive stepfather. She is also unable to protect Nick from Jack, making her feel all the more helpless. Adding to her problems, she knows she will never be as beautiful as her best friend Lexus. Kristen finds solace in self-injury, and the company of Mr. Sharp, her imaginary friend who encourages her feelings of self-loathing. After a failed suicide attempt, Kristen is placed in the Bent Creek mental hospital, where she is diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. While in the hospital, she meets a group of peers suffering with their own mental illnesses, and a compassionate staff of doctors and counselors. From there, Kristen begins her journey to survival. She discovers the circumstances that brought her to this breaking point, struggles to understand her mental illness, and fights to be a survivor against her own worst enemy: her self-blame. Kristen's tale of endurance illustrates the complex illness of Borderline Personality Disorder. Readers - including those suffering from BPD and their friends and family - can glean insight into BPD from Kristen's humanity. Her story is an example of how, if we try to push the past away, we are either doomed to repeat it or let it haunt us to our graves.

There Are Many Faces to Domestic Violence....Here's My Face This book will take you on a journey through thirteen faces of emotions. Each emotional face gives you a detailed glimpse into my world as a victim of domestic violence. There are thoughts that prompt me to never forget although I have forgiven. "You know what your problem is? You don't know how to treat a man because your dad wasn't in your life." "You wouldn't even think by looking at him he would do something like that to you, besides you have always been so strong and independent." "How could you get involve with someone like that?" "Why don't you just leave?" "How did I get here?" "God why me?" "This is my day to stop hurting " "You are wiser after you have been truly tested and stronger from having endured the experience." "How do you forgive someone who was determined to destroy you and called it love?" Since my experience, I have found that sharing my story has encouraged and even inspired other victims and survivors of domestic violence. This book gives a very different perspective to the battered woman. It provides a glimpse into the experience, the emotions and the escape of a woman who endured thirteen years of abuse. In addition, this book shares mind boggling adaptations to living through and surviving the abuse. Felicia Johnson is an educator in the 3rd largest school district in Houston, Texas. She is an only child, a mother of two boys and a native of Little Rock, Arkansas. Ms. Johnson received her BS in Psychology from Campbell University and MA in Human Relations with an emphasis in counseling from the University of Oklahoma. This book was inspired by her love to write and the overall impact of this life altering experience.

There Are Many Faces to Domestic Violence....Here's My Face This book will take you on a journey through thirteen faces of emotions. Each emotional face gives you a detailed glimpse into my world as a victim of domestic violence. There are thoughts that prompt me to never forget although I have forgiven. "You know what your problem is? You don't know how to treat a man because your dad wasn't in your life." "You wouldn't even think by looking at him he would do something like that to you, besides you have always been so strong and independent." "How could you get involve with someone like that?" "Why don't you just leave?" "How did I get here?" "God why me?" "This is my day to stop hurting " "You are wiser after you have been truly tested and stronger from having endured the experience." "How do you forgive someone who was determined to destroy you and called it love?" Since my experience, I have found that sharing my story has encouraged and even inspired other victims and survivors of domestic violence. This book gives a very different perspective to the battered woman. It provides a glimpse into the experience, the emotions and the escape of a woman who endured thirteen years of abuse. In addition, this book shares mind boggling adaptations to living through and surviving the abuse. Felicia Johnson is an educator in the 3rd largest school district in Houston, Texas. She is an only child, a mother of two boys and a native of Little Rock, Arkansas. Ms. Johnson received her BS in Psychology from Campbell University and MA in Human Relations with an emphasis in counseling from the University of Oklahoma. This book was inspired by her love to write and the overall impact of this life altering experience.