Kindle Edition Amazon Category:  Memoir Publisher: Createspace ISBN-10:  1539105997 Type: Non-Fiction Pages: 296 Copyright: Sept 22, 2016 ISBN-13: 9781539105992 Price: $6.99 (eBook) After a dark family secret is revealed, Analie seeks out the help of a therapist and finds herself in a fight for her sanity and her life ... a shocking, true account of abuse by a therapist and the redemptive journey of recovery. Poetic - riveting! I was emotionally abused in therapy. This soul-killing experience left me shattered and my life, void of meaning. Reaching out for help, I came to understand that the world has no reference to understand this kind of abuse. Mending the Shattered Mirror explains in heart-wrenching detail, the realities of abuse from the hands of one trusted to help and to care. This is a story of despair, hope and eventual triumph. Overview: Analie Shepherd, the author, found herself in need of the support of a therapist after a tragedy in her life. Within the confines of this relationship, Analie suffered extreme abuse: verbal, physical and emotional. Finally able to leave the abusive therapist, Analie reached out to TELL, an international organization, whose purpose is to support victims in the struggle to regain their lives after abuse by a health care practitioner. Through TELL, Analie connected with responder Laurie, a retired Psychiatrist who was herself sexually abused in therapy for ten years. Contained within the book, is a four-year email exchange between Analie and Laurie, in which both of their stories are told--the tragedy and the triumph. Analie's story is complicated by the fact that she is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, also known as Multiple Personalities. Much of the abuse within her therapy, was perpetrated on her alter personalities, and their voices and stories are included in the book, as well as some of their original artwork. From the very first page, this story will enthrall you ... the conclusion of the book is amazingly beautiful and deeply satisfying.    Excerpt I was three when my mother packed her five little girls into a taxi with only clothes enough to keep us warm, in the wee morning hours of that cold Illinois January. Three years, and five days old. The night before the police had come once again. I can still remember one of the officers coming upstairs to make sure my sisters and I were okay. It’s strange, but I don’t remember any fear, either of the violent fight that brought them to our house, or of the dark figure blocking the light to my hiding place, reaching out strange hands to gather me up and put me back into bed. I had learned―even then―to stop fearing, go somewhere else, and let one of The Others live the reality of what was. I also don’t remember the cold of that night, as it flooded our house through the window broken by my father in his drunken rage. That it was cold, I know. That we had to leave, I accept. Leaving didn’t end the pain of those years. My father’s whiskey had ruled our lives, but in escaping, we would have to live by rules just as unforgiving of our children’s hearts. My mother’s family home, where we fled that January in 1960, proved to be a sad and lonely place. My sisters and I were no longer allowed to see our mother. My grandmother and aunt became an iron wall between her and us. She became the protected one, in my child’s mind, the dying one. But not by happenstance did I think that, as we were told, again and again, we were killing her. I never understood how I was killing her, and certainly not how to stop killing her. I simply accepted that to be me was to put my mother in great, great danger. I was told I had “bad blood” and must fight against it, against what was from my father within me. I learned, at a deep level, that I was bad. Certainly, there were innocent, playful moments in those early years. We were five creative, resourceful little girls and we learned to make our own world. I inwardly smile when I think of some of those lovely things … playing in the summer rain, my shiny red tricycle with streamers flying out behind, the wonder of the newly fallen snow and making snow angels to my heart’s content. I remember my grandmother burning leaves in the alley and the way the fire crackled and filled the air with autumn deliciousness. Oh, the fireflies … how I remember the fireflies on warm summer evenings, and the many hours of play on long summer days―the way children left to themselves can play―in the lovely embracing green of our big yard and garden. We were children, and we loved life. But I loved my mother, too. The grief of losing her was unbearable and never left me unless I simply became another me. I learned to become another me.

Loved it!
Reviewed by Chris Fischer for Readers' Favorite

Wow! Just, wow! That's exactly what I thought when I finished reading Mending the Shattered Mirror: A Journey of Recovery from Abuse in Therapy. This intriguing and horrifying true story of the abuse that author Analie Shepherd went through at the hands of her therapist kept me reading into the wee hours of the night; I was that engrossed in the story. Analie, a woman who suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder, sought the help of a therapist after suffering a terrible tragedy. What she found from her therapist, instead of help, was physical, verbal and emotional abuse. Finally freeing herself from this horrible person, she finds retired psychiatrist, Laurie, through an abuse survivor's support group, TELL. The book recounts their four-year email relationship and the healing that both women are able to achieve from the past wrongs they have suffered.

I loved Mending the Shattered Mirror: A Journey of Recovery from Abuse in Therapy. Loved. It. How's that for a review? Well, it is absolutely how I felt about this amazing book. This heart-wrenching story will definitely make you question the therapist and patient relationship, and realize how much harm a person with the wrong intentions in a helping profession can do to a vulnerable person. Author Analie Shepherd is clearly an amazing and resilient woman, and I thank her for being willing to share her very difficult story with the public. I could not give this book a higher recommendation, and I certainly hope that the author will consider writing a second volume that details her continuing life.



A triumph of a book!
Reviewed By Tracy Slowiak for Readers’ Favorite

In an absolutely heart-wrenching true story of betrayal and survival, Mending the Shattered Mirror: A Journey of Recovery from Abuse in Therapy, authored by Analie Shepherd, readers will find themselves engrossed in a gripping tale that will keep them reading from the very first page all the way through until the very end. The author retells the horror story of the abuse she endured at the hands of a manipulative therapist that she sought out at a time when she needed a great deal of help. The emotional, physical and verbal abuse that she suffered was horrible, and thankfully, Analie was able to break the bond with this therapist, reach out to TELL, an international organization that seeks to support victims of abuse at the hands of health care workers.

Through TELL, she is connected with Laurie, a retired psychiatrist who had suffered sexual abuse in therapy. An email relationship ensues, and the book recounts the support that the women shared. Analie also deals with dissociative identity disorder, and needs to flesh out the abuse suffered by each of her alter personalities in order to deal with exactly all she endured. While a difficult story, the book holds hope and an enlightening message that many will appreciate.

Mending the Shattered Mirror is a triumph of a book written beautifully by a woman who has encountered a great deal of trauma in her life. Any reader who loves a fascinating, heartbreaking and ultimately victorious true story should absolutely read this book. I am so pleased to be able to highly recommend Mending the Shattered Mirror: A Journey of Recovery from Abuse in Therapy and hope to see more from author Analie Shepherd in the very near future.

Worthy of critical aclaim!
Reviewed By Danita Dyess for Readers’ Favorite

I loved this memoir. The original emails were the perfect format for conveying the intimate details of the sensitive subject of abuse. It also provided proof of the presence of the "others." Analie's heartfelt poetry and beautiful drawings added authenticity. I learned about gas lighting, dissociative disorders, the purpose of therapy and other facts that debunked myths. This nonfiction work is Shepherd's first book, but it is worthy of critical acclaim. Mending the Shattered Mirror is a must-read for patients, families, and mental health professionals.