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  • Home
  • Inspiration
  • Poetry
  • My Blog
  • HuffPost blog
  • Events
  • Contact

Miriam Greenspan

Miriam Greenspan Miriam Greenspan Miriam Greenspan

HEALER, AUTHOR, POET

HEALER, AUTHOR, POETHEALER, AUTHOR, POET
About Me

Welcome

in the midst of grief, fear, and despair, there is an opening to spiritual power


In a world rife with traumatizing illness , death, and violence, multiple cataclysms, environmental destruction, and mind-numbing distractions, I welcome you to this website as a place of grounding and healing where you can return to your heart's innate wisdom and reconnect with your spirit, even in its darkest moments  



Read an excerpt from Healing Through the Dark Emotions: the Wisdom of Grief, Fear, and Despair


Read poems written from  the front lines of the opiate epidemic in my forthcoming book, The Heroin Addict's Mother (Atmosphere Press, January 28, 2021)


Be inspired by a gallery of photos and quotations  



what happens when you befriend grief, fear, and despair? the unexpected magic of emotional alchemy


      

  

Healing Through the Dark Emotions: the Wisdom of Grief, Fear, and Despair

Boston Globe Bestseller


Winner of 2004 Nautilus Award in self-help/psychology


  In an age of global threats and multiple  cataclysms, the dark emotions of grief, fear, and despair have become widespread and overwhelming. Our culture calls these emotions 'negative' and views them as symptoms of mental disorder or spiritual inadequacy, harmful unless controlled.

   This book takes a fresh approach to the three core dark emotions that humans most dread and devalue and makes the case that the avoidance and denial of these emotions, not the emotions themselves, have led to the epidemic of psychological disorders characteristic of our age: chronic depression & anxiety, psychic numbing, widespread addiction, and irrational violence. 

   By befriending the dark emotions, we discover their innate intelligence and purpose. We learn the alchemy by which grief turns to gratitude, fear delivers us to joy, and despair becomes a doorway to a more resilient faith in life. The wisdom of the dark emotions helps us to heal and transform our lives as well as to strengthen our connections to one another and the world.



Read an Excerpt

Praise for the Book

This is a book of remarkable depth. It is also engaging and wonderfully readable. The author is a brilliant thinker and a natural storyteller. Best of all, I loved the stories from her own life. I've read countless books about the difficult emotions. None is as interesting, helpful, and riveting as this one--or offer as much hope for our personal suffering and turbulent times. This book is exactly what the world needs.  

          Harriet Lerner, author of The Dance of Anger


Thoughtful and compelling...a crucial book...(that) teaches us to alter fundamentally our fearful and avoidant relationship to deep feelings. (This book) is a road map to using our own emotional darkness to understand and...change our world.

          LA Times 


One of the best spiritual books of 2003

          Spirituality & Health Magazine


Greenspan writes intensely and compassionately...a committed, serious look at the emotions most of us would rather sweep under the rug.
         Publishers Weekly


The gold standard of books on difficult emotions. This book has the power to heal your body and to change your life and the way you live it.
         Dr. Christiane Northrup, author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom


A modern day alchemist, Miriam Greenspan teaches us to turn pain into wisdom and fear and sorrow into energy to improve the world. She offers us a clear and profound analysis of what we must do as individuals and as a species to survive these troubled times.

          Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia:Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls


This remarkable book has taught me a whole new way of thinking.
         Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People


A beautiful piece of work, destined to be a perennial classic.
         Martha Beck, author of Expecting Adam and The Joy Diet


A beautifully written, deeply compassionate, and revolutionary approach to working with the most difficult human emotions. Miriam Greenspan teaches us how to trust our emotions and... listen to the truth they reveal...a practical guide that illuminates how the wisdom of the heart can heal ourselves, each other, and our world.
         Janet Surrey, co-author of Women's Growth in Connection.


...a profound and liberating book that helps us discover the life-redeeming power of the very emotions we most fear...and thus opens ways to both our integrity and our freedom.
         Joanna Macy, author of Widening Circles



 

buy the book

Testimonials

"I have turned to, and deeply benefited from, the wisdom and kindness and hope that you generously share in Healing Through the Dark Emotions.  Recently, surviving and recovering from hurricane Harvey has proven to be a trigger for the deep despair which has underpinned my life.  After wallowing and fighting and medicating for a month, your book, which sits on a shelf by my pillow, caught my eye. Thanks to you, I am back in my body, grounded, and restored to a state of gratitude, wonder and presence. There are no adequate words to express my gratitude."

     G. Gallaway, Santa Fe, Texas 


I'm reading Healing Through the Dark Emotions, for me a fiercely compelling book, because it's so evident that my troubles with addiction find their roots in not allowing the dark emotions of grief, fear, and despair into my life since early childhood...Already, I am less of a stranger to myself, and bless you for it. Thank you for this healing gift.

     Peacefulbird

About Me

Miriam is an internationally renowned psychotherapist, author, public speaker, workshop leader and poet. In all these capacities, she is  known for her unique combination of down-to-earth authenticity and inspiring eloquence. Her lifelong work is about encouraging people to discover that the darkness has its own light.


For more than 4 decades, Miriam worked as a psychotherapist specializing in female survivors of  abuse and trauma. Her first book, A New Approach to Women and Therapy, helped pioneer the fields of feminist psychology and psychotherapy--for which she has been honored as a 'Feminist Foremother.'
Her best-selling book, Healing Through the Dark Emotions: the Wisdom of Grief, Fear, and Despair won the 2004 Nautilus Award in psychology for “books that make a contribution to conscious living and positive social change" and has been translated into French, Mandarin Chinese, Dutch, and Korean. Her work has been featured in numerous magazines, including Psychology Today, Ms., Body & Soul, Shambhala Sun, New Woman, Tikkun, Spirituality & Health, The Sun, HuffPost, and LA Review of Books. 


The Heroin Addict's Mother, which will launch on January 28, 2021, s Miriam's latest book, a memoir in poetry that serves as a witness to the opiate epidemic that is ravaging millions of families throughout the United States.  It has been praised as "a gritty and stirring collection...emanating from the power of a mother's undying love for her addicted child...(that) will resonate with so many out in the world suffering from addiction." It is available at Amazon, Indiebound, and other online retailers.

  

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HAVING MIRIAM PRESENT A PROGRAM OR POETRY READING TO YOUR GROUP OR ORGANIZATION, CONTACT HER HERE: .

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