Darkness Was My Candle: An Odyssey of Survival and Grace

Description

Born into poverty and violence, Lora's early life was one of extreme vulnerability. She was prostituted for the first time at the age of nine and suffered unspeakable treatment from those who should have protected her. Early trauma led to her institutionalization soon after she started college, an incarceration she would not have survived but for a courageous nurse who fought for her release. Fifty years later, with an advanced degree in clinical psychology, a long career as a successful mental health professional, a leading educator and sought-after public speaker, Lora revisited the grounds of the Illinois state mental hospital where she was once kept in inhumane, degrading, and life-threatening circumstances. This profound and compelling memoir traces her life as a survivor of child abuse, sex trafficking, illegal pharmacological drug research, and institutional abuse. Lora's experiences illuminate and validate the power of love and the strength of the indomitable human spirit that lives within each one of us. This is her story.

Lora DeVore is a visionary leader, sought-after speaker and powerful storyteller. She integrates her experience as a psychotherapist and educator in her role at PrairieCare in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For the past twenty years, she has also been a senior faculty member with the Washington, D.C., internationally recognized Center for Mind-Body Medicine.

"This book deserves to become a classic in the literature of trauma and healing. It should be required reading for all students and practitioners of the healing arts as well as for educators, who have more power to transform young lives than they may realize." Penny George, PsyD, Board Chair, George Family Foundation "Through Lora's courageous testimony, she invites us to look with clear eyes and awareness at what can happen in any system, including those designed to help, if we look away, refuse to listen or require accountability. This book belongs in the libraries and teaching labs for all people who desire to live and serve consciously." Gloria D. Karpinski, holistic counselor, spiritual director, teacher and author "[Lora's] journey to becoming an unwitting Sage has come full circle and as a result of this work, she has created a reverberation of hope for all those who sit in hopelessness and despair, those who have lost their voice and those who think there is no way to heal from the damage done to them over their lifetime. Those who read this work, will truly be forever changed." Dr. Rita Anita Linger, PhD, CPC, CMBP " Lora DeVore skilfully weaves together her memoir--a healing journey that embraces dreamwork, visionary experience, and a Kundalini energetic awakening. Trace the development of spiritual embodiment through the process of healing fractured and dissociated selves. This author is someone who truly embodies the soul of the world". Janet Colli, Ph.D., author of The Dark Face of Heaven