What if there are people, just like some flowers, who require the dark to bloom?
When we are plunged into the dark and difficult times in life, one of three things can happen next: the darkness can destroy us; it can leave us relatively unchanged; or it can help to transform us. In this hope-inspiring guide, clinical psychologist, Michelle Pearce, PhD, provides practical tools and wisdom for transforming and thriving in adversity and loss. Just as some flowers require the dark to bloom, there are some people who do their best growing and becoming during dark and challenging times. With a compassionate voice, Pearce shares her clinical expertise, her own journey through the dark, and inspiring stories of other Night Bloomers to help individuals learn how to heal and transform their lives not in spite of their difficult times, but because of them.

"Encouragement, real-world anecdotes and examples, and research-based strategies are braided together [in Night Bloomers], serving as a guide for those who want to turn their darkest moments into fodder for change."
--Erin Blakemore, The Washington Post

“Reading Night Bloomers is like having a dear friend right alongside you for support when most needed. Through stories, strategies, and writing prompts, Pearce provides powerful tools for building resilience, confidence, and joy. She reminds us that like plants, we don’t bloom just once, as she gently, masterfully paves a path for us to enjoy a lifetime of growing and blossoming. A ‘must-read’ for anyone seeking some light in the darkness.”
--Caroline Welch, CEO and cofounder of the Mindsight Institute and author of The Gift of Presence

“A gem of a book! Michelle Pearce has written an enlightening guide for anyone trying to find the path through a dark time in life. Through the wisdom gleaned from psychological research and practice and the lessons learned from her own personal encounter with pain and loss, Pearce points the way to growth and transformation when hope is in short supply. Down-to-earth, compassionate, and inspirational, Night Bloomers should be on everyone's bookshelf.”
--Kenneth I. Pargament, Ph. D. author of Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy

“Dr. Pearce’s Night Bloomers is an essential guide on how to shift your perspective to find meaning in the mess that accompanies the crises in our lives. Filled with practical wisdom and easy to follow exercises, this book is sure to serve as a roadmap through and out of the darkness for all who find themselves on the journey of transformation.”
--Michelle Bailey, MD, author of Parenting Your Stressed Child

“Michelle Pearce, Ph.D. is uniquely qualified to teach readers how to thrive in the face of grief in a way that captivates and illuminates. Night Bloomers is a therapeutic tool for healing based upon the transformative power of rewriting our stories of loss. Night Bloomers inspires readers to use sorrow as the soil in which to grow something beautiful.”
--Laura J. Oliver, author of The Story Within

“In Night Bloomers, Dr. Pearce offers a very practical, evidence based, journaling approach to productively cope with the challenges of adversity. She uses her own personal adversity story and professional experiences as a psychologist to clearly outline steps and strategies to transform difficulties into transformation towards healing and resilience. A must read for many trying to find a way out of the dark night of the soul and into some much needed light.”
--Thomas G. Plante, Ph.D., ABPP, Professor and Director, Applied Spirituality Institute
An Ixia Press Original.

Table of Contents for Night Bloomers: 12 Principles for Thriving in Adversity
CONTENTS

Preface
Introduction: Writing Yourself Through the Dark and into a New Perspective
Chapter 1: Setting an Intention to Bloom
Chapter 2: Grieving before Growing
Chapter 3: Supporting Your Bloom
Chapter 4: Being in the Dark
Chapter 5: Expanding Courageously
Chapter 6: Keeping Your Mind on Blooming
Chapter 7: Wrestling with the Diving Gardener
Chapter 8: Fertilizing with Love and Gratitude
Chapter 9: Mining the Mess
Chapter 10: Accepting and Letting Go
Chapter 11: Waiting and Watering
Chapter 12: Celebrating and Sharing the Harvest
Conclusion
How to Start Your Own Blooming Group
Acknowledgments
References