One woman’s tale of her journey beyond perfectionism and people-pleasing to return to her authentic, wild self. The Other Side of Perfect is a brutally honest and revealing peek into the life of a woman whose multiple diagnoses and bleak prognosis would be the surprising source of her ultimate liberation. After trying everything she knew to recover from the physical damage of autoimmune diseases—medication, nutrition, fitness, reducing stress—Debbie found her health continuing to deteriorate and in the deepest depths of depression she’d ever experienced. In her desperate attempt to claw her way out of hopelessness, this people-pleasing perfectionist stumbled upon her greatest source of self-healing yet—resurrecting the past to heal the future.

The Other Side of Perfect: Discovering the Mind-Body Connection to Healing Chronic Illness is a memoir and practical guide to overcoming adversity. Debbie Emick resurrects her long-repressed past in order to heal in the present. By addressing this buried trauma she was able to begin the process of recovery from her own chronic illness.

This audiobook is ideal for those suffering from autoimmune disease and chronic illness(es) and/or other recovering perfectionists who want to live authentically and enjoy their best life here and now.

The author leads you through how following her intuition allowed her to finally process the repressed trauma of her childhood, ultimately healing her mind and body at once. Her story will show you that it was only through stripping away all the protections she surrounded herself in, to expose her most authentic, vulnerable self, that she was able to move beyond superficial health and toward something more meaningful and sustainable. Debbie takes us along with her in her own self-discovery that her adversity was her greatest gift, pointing the way to her freedom all along.

The author shares her unique, first-hand perspective with:

• The trauma and perceived helplessness of diagnoses of rare and serious diseases with poor prognoses—lupus, mixed connective tissue disease, relapsing polychondritis, pulmonary hypertension, tracheobronchomalacia, Raynaud's
• Trial and error navigating the more superficial aspects of healing—advice from medical experts, pharmaceutical interventions, etc.
• Coming to a more holistic approach toward healing (nutrition, exercise, etc.) that finally led to an internal search for mental/emotional health (meditation, energy/somatic work, calming my nervous system, etc.), ultimately creating less physical illness and pain
• Learning to move beyond the coping mechanisms and personality traits I’d attached to for survival that no longer served me or my health
• Living a less fearful life from a place of power that allows me to create the life I desire today, regardless of diagnoses, because none of us have a guarantee of tomorrow