When your heart is broken — whether it’s over the death of a loved one, a failed relationship, an abusive partner, or a family member’s substance misuse — your depths of sadness and despair, perhaps even anger, and of course, hurt, often overshadow any thoughts of hope, let alone possibilities of actually healing your broken heart.

But without healing, a broken heart can derail one’s life — sometimes for a very, very long time.

So when I learned about The Hurt Healer author, Carolyn Hughes’, new book, How to Heal a Broken Heart, Let go of pain and learn to love again, I contacted her about an interview. I’ve know Carolyn for several years now and based on our friendship and the inspiration, positivity, and heart-felt sharing I’ve found in every one of her blog posts, I am excited to share my interview about her new book with you (and can’t wait to read it, myself!).

Please tell us a bit about yourself and your work and what prompted you to start writing The Hurt Healer

The Hurt Healer started originally as a name. For twenty years I called alcohol “The Hurt Healer”—it helped me numb the pain of the past, gave me confidence to deal with the present, and took away my fears for the future. Abandoned by my mother as a young child and abused by my father I grew up feeling unloved and unlovable. Regularly drinking to self-medicate soon led to addiction, and following an alcohol induced suicide attempt in 1998 I was admitted to rehab.

A six month stay in rehab enabled me to start a successful journey to recovery. Over the past 18 years I have found freedom in sobriety and overcome that depression. And today, “The Hurt Healer” means faith, love, serenity, joy, positivity and creativity.

It’s also the name I’ve given my business. Through The Hurt Healer website and blog, my aim is to help others with their addiction and mental health issues. I do this through writing articles, running workshops and offering mentoring via Skype and FaceTime.

Why did you decide to write this book, “How to Heal a Broken Heart?”

Since starting The Hurt Healer blog a couple of years ago I have been very fortunate to have built up a loyal following of readers. By far the most popular and revisited post is one called ‘How to heal a broken heart?’. Combining this with a growing request for a book based on many of the areas covered on the website – loving yourself, forgiveness, gratitude, serenity and loving others, I decided to write a Healing Hurt series, starting with ‘How to Heal a Broken Heart – Let go of pain and learn to love again’.

All of these life issues are particularly important to those who struggle with alcohol, particularly if this takes the form of self-medication. And for anyone is recovery, learning to let go of past pain whilst embracing the possibilities for tomorrow can be essential to sobriety.

 

Tell us a bit about it and the audience you’re hoping to reach.

‘How to Heal a Broken Heart is for anyone who has had their heart broken in the past or who is going through a heartbreak. Whether it’s the loss of a loved one, a failed relationship, an abusive partner, or a family problem such as addiction, the hurt is real.

Healing is a process. It takes courage to heal, but over time it is possible to move from that place of pain to one of peace. When you act from a place of peace you make informed decisions and choices, you take responsibility for your life, you let go of the anger, and you learn to forgive.

In doing so, you release yourself from the darkness of your past to move into the light of a new beginning. You move from feeling powerless to powerful.

How to Heal a Broken Heart can help you make the transition from broken-hearted to whole-hearted so that you are free to love again.

What is the most important thing you hope readers will take away from reading it?

As someone who battled for two decades with alcoholism caused largely by my own experiences of heart break I have learnt the importance of acceptance, forgiveness and gratitude in sobriety. Instead of living in a past-filled with hopelessness I now live in the peace-filled present. I have hope for today and look forward to tomorrow and all that the future may bring.

I would love readers to take away that same sense of hope that can come from positive change. At the end of each chapter is a ‘Healing Hurt’ suggestion which is intended to guide you to the next step of emotional healing and personal restoration.

There is also an inspirational quote, reflective thought or affirmation for each day to help you live your life as the person you were meant to be.

Most of all though I hope that each reader takes away something that will benefit them in their own journey and to know that it is always possible to love and be loved.

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Thank you so much, Carolyn! To learn more about Carolyn and her work, check out her website, The Hurt Healer, and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.