I am so happy to bring you an excerpt from Transition by Jo Huey as part of the blog tour organised by Emma Mitchell. Let’s learn a little about the book before we get to the excerpt…

 An autobiography of Jo’s life from the trauma and unpredictability of living in an alcoholic home, through self-development transformation to the more content, happy and successful business woman she is today.

Jo shares her many insights into alcoholism and the effects on the family. An honest and brutal account of Jo’s experience with her father’s addiction to alcohol, she shares the highs and lows of life with an absent father and busy mother.

After life hit an all-time low in adulthood she decided to turn her life around and start a journey of self-discovery. Jo transformed herself through therapy, self-help books, groups, events and more which she shares in the book.

If you have experienced the challenges of living with someone’s drinking, then you’ll relate to Jo’s experience and feel the connection with her story.

If you are interested in an inspirational and motivational story, then you won’t be disappointed. Within the book, Jo shares several techniques you’ll be able to learn and use in your life if you really want the change you seek.

Jo Huey is an inspirational & motivational speaker, coach and author.

Jo gets up every morning wanting to help those with experiences like hers, those affected by someone’s drinking. She connects the dots to form a new picture using practical tools & techniques with the aim that they would genuinely feel better about themselves and live a calmer and chaos free life.

Time to Reflect

 

From 1991 to 1993 there was a lot of trauma going on in our lives, not only the death of Jake but Mum and Dad’s divorce, me having to move out and Dad’s drinking got a lot worse.

 

This is a significant amount to have to deal with for anyone in a relatively short space of time and I think it’s fascinating to know that it’s something my mum, Daisy and I survived. Sometimes we are stronger than we realise. It’s only recently that I have realised that we probably faced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) because of what happened but back then labels weren’t as common as they are now.

 

At the time, it was very unsettling and a lot to cope with and very much a daily struggle, but when you reflect you can see how you were able to get through the tough times and survive it. I think that is testament to how resilient we have become.

 

Having family to support you through the difficult times is exactly what you need and whilst everyone can be in a different place with it mentally, you do all have similar things in common which you can relate to.

 

Understanding and expressing emotions can be very difficult and often those emotions are shown in an angry way, a retaliating and hurtful way because if you don’t know how to healthily express your feelings then you do it the only way you know how. Sometimes you can withdraw because it’s easier that way. Not facing things helps you think that it’ll go away and you won’t need to face it.

 

The difficulties we all faced were dealt with in a practical way and we did talk to each other about what was happening, but I don’t think any of us knew how to say, “I’m really confused, hurt or angry”, we just didn’t know how to do that. It would have been a sign of weakness so in the absence of feelings we just ‘got on with it’, acted and carried on regardless.

I can see that Jo hasn’t been afraid to show us that there is no such thing as a perfect family and those of us who have grown up in a bad situation, regardless of what it is, are able to see that we are not alone.

I am hoping to read this book soon and if I do I will get a review posted!

 Jo is an inspirational speaker, coach and author. She is also an adult child of an alcoholic and shares her personal story of living with an alcoholic father for 16 years and how that has impacted her adult life.

Jo is brutally honest about her experience, explaining how she coped as a child in an alcoholic home and the self-development journey she took in her twenties to overcome the trauma.

If you’ve experienced the impact of living with a heavy drinker, someone’s addiction or mental health problem you’ll relate to Jo’s story. For those of you that haven’t experienced what an alcoholic home brings it will give you an insight into the damage it causes to the family.

Jo shares her story for two reasons, the first is to connect with those that have been affected so they know they aren’t alone and the second to educate and inform others about this very hidden problem.