Understanding our histories helps us live more effectively today.

This is me:

After a twenty-plus-year career as a professional psychotherapist, I’m now semi-retired, currently working on a book about food addiction and the help I find in the 12-step recovery model. I provide habilitation services to an adult with a disability. And I offer personal coaching services. In all my roles, my themes are authenticity and releasing self-delusions, to create rewarding experiences and satisfying relationships. I believe in the presence of a loving God in the world whose purpose is to heal our lives, not condemn us, but your path and your perspectives are honored and valued. I respect the wisdom of the twelve steps and the principles of psychology, but each of us has a personal journey to find answers that are right for us. I’ve been dedicated to compassionate truth-telling for more than three decades, starting with my own personal transformation continuing over the years, and sharing my hard-won understanding as I’ve supported scores of seekers through self-discovery and growth. Find your own truth and release what holds you back, through personalized coaching sessions tailored to your needs. The most humbling of crossroads may open you to a new trajectory that illuminates your true worth and more fulfilling possibilities.

My Books:

I told the truth about how people really are, in a riveting, edge-of-your-seat fictional suspense story that is my coming-of-age novel, Sack of Wrongs, published in March 2024 on Amazon, and getting rave reviews. The events in the story are not reflective of any individual’s actual experience. And nope, the book includes no anecdotes lifted from the lives of people I have known. This can’t-put-it-down narrative puts flesh on the causes and effects of traumas, deeply intertwined and self-perpetuating. My novel vividly unfolds how people defend themselves from old hurts they keep anticipating. The characters in my story move toward a more hopeful future, as our stories can too.

I told the truth as I personally experienced it in my memoir, about overcoming years of childhood abuse, learning to value myself, and forging my own more peaceful life. In the Voice of a Child was first published in 1994 and re-released on Amazon.com in an updated 30th anniversary edition in January 2024.

My novel:

A literary coming-of-age novel set in the 1960s

He yearns for a world he can trust to do right. But he can’t even trust himself. When he fails the people who matter, will he become the very thing he hates?

Ben Keegan hasn’t felt safe since he was eight years old. His parents violate everything families are supposed to be, and still he struggles to be the guy his grandmother believed in, and protect his kid sister. But the teenager is shocked when he’s beaten to a pulp and cast out to survive on his own.

As his sister’s desperation haunts his dreams, Ben has to heal and get strong before he can help. But when his own mistakes set off unimagined consequences, every course open to him exposes innocent people to destruction.

While unseen forces manipulate events for a terrible purpose, can Ben’s truth prevent harm to the people he loves and bring about justice?

Amazon.com: Sack of Wrongs: 9798989843428: Emerson, Judy: Books

My memoir:

If you have been abused or are close to someone who has been abused, you need to know that you are not alone and there is hope for lasting healing. In the Voice of a Child takes you into the experiences of a survivor of sexual and emotional abuse and neglect, and helps you see how one woman discovered freedom and wholeness.

Judy Emerson’s journal begins with thoughts and feelings stemming from the first sessions of therapy as an adult. Gently and sensitively, her memories of past abuse are explored. She shows how her abusive history created shame and confused expectations that colored all her adult relationships and how the therapy process helped her come to terms with her past.

Beautifully written, this honest and vulnerable memoir speaks directly to the survivor of abuse. The author says, “Sexual abuse creates a festering wound that cannot heal in the atmosphere of shame and family secrecy that controls its victims. Speaking the secret and opening that painful wound is the only way to release its poison.”

Emerson writes of emerging awareness of how early life abuse of any kind required courageous efforts at stabilization but set up their own set of problems to be resolved by understanding and updated skills. She shares how, in the decades following her journal’s initial publication, she discovered more subtle layers of influence prompted by early deprivation and neglect in her ability to trust and value herself. Strengthened and renewed, she continues her healing journey.

This moving personal journal is a chronicle of healing and hope for victims of abuse offering a liberating view of one person’s healing process.

In the Voice of a Child: One Woman’s Journey to Healing from Sexual Abuse, 30th Anniversary Edition: Emerson, Judy: 9798989843404: Amazon.com: Books

Live in the present moment

That’s where our power is! Isn’t it time we found a way to set down that old sack of wrongs we’ve kept strapped to our back? Maybe we told ourselves we dealt with it already, let go of it long ago, and it didn’t matter anymore. But is somebody else’s transgression from yesterday or decades ago still taking up room in our heads? Did we just bury those feelings inside ourselves? Have they stayed buried? Could those old wounds have anything to do with why we have trouble with anger, or why we keep getting taken advantage of? Or why we can’t seem to make progress on our goals?

Understanding the strategies we developed early in our lives to cope with unwanted stress can help us see how to create healthier responses. It’s time to let go of the hope for a better past and make today a better place to live.

Honor your core self

Trying to live up to someone else’s expectations is so often at the center of anxiety, depression, relationship problems, and work challenges. Relationships require give and take, but if you’re always the giver, something is out of balance. When you can find the courage to stand up for what is important, you’ll gain strength to be a more effective participant in life. Every storm runs out of rain. What beauty we can find when the sky clears.

My personal coaching services:

Tailored to your needs

Life coaching is a collaborative process based on the principles of psychology and the study of human behavior, to assist an individual to cope with life experiences and to provide support in communication and making healthy choices.

You can establish goals that are meaningful and most significant to your own life, including your relationships, work, family concerns, sexuality and identity, and more. Your values, spiritual perspectives, and preferences will be respected as we explore what you need to grow and develop your life course.

Experienced

I have a quarter-century of experience as a psychotherapist, assisting people with boundary-setting, claiming their right to self-care, and healing trauma, grief and loss. I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in social work, and I’ve been a lifelong student of human behavior, sexuality, family dynamics, substance abuse issues, and how we heal. Now semi-retired, I’ve offered life-coaching since 2017. I speak from experience as a survivor of traumas myself, many years along the path of my own healing and freedom. It gets better. Helping helps!

Request private sessions

Private Zoom appointments can be arranged at a time convenient for you. No long-term commitment is required. Click on Contact me to request a session or scroll to the bottom of this page.

A one-hour session on Zoom is $80, payable by Paypal at the time of the service. (Please note VenMo option is disabled after fraud was suspected.) Click on QR code below for payments.

What people are saying

About Judy’s coaching:

“Judy helped me so much through some very hard decisions I had to make. She helped me stay calm and focus on my options, to evaluate the best path, the one that was right for me. She helped me slow down when my impulse was to rush to a conclusion that wouldn’t have been good for me. – M.K.”

“Judy is a great listener. She helped me feel safe to talk about difficult stuff I’d never told anybody, and I felt like I wasn’t alone. Her example of respecting me taught me how to care for myself better – I deserve it! -D.W.”

“Thank you for believing in me more than I believed in myself. I’ve never felt as though you judged me. You accept me for who I am. Thank you for creating a safe and protective environment. I’m taking it one step at a time, and things are really getting better! – H.A.”

“Thank you for letting God use you the way you do! I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am for your presence. You really make a difference in my life! – K.G.”

“Thank you so much for all your help, your patience, understanding, empathy and wisdom. I know I have a way to go, but my life is so different from knowing you. Blue skies, ocean waves, letting go. – A.D.”

“You helped me learn to be more forgiving of myself. I’m more aware of my perfectionism, and when it doesn’t serve me. I’m more confident about decision-making, and I’m facing problems more directly. – E. K.”

About Judy’s memoir:

“Reading and rereading Judy Emerson’s book is a healing experience. Her courage in sharing her story inspires me to face my own pain and shame and do whatever it takes to heal and grow. She helps me see myself in a more empathetic way. This book gives me hope. Of all the books I’ve read on sexual abuse, this is the one I would most highly recommend. -‘justme'”

“Thank you so much for sharing your ‘real self’ so well with us in your book. The fact that you were willing to be so vulnerable makes you all the more loveable. I would have hoped to like your book enough to tell you so, to make you feel good. But in all honesty, it is one of the most compelling, well-written, and captivating books I have ever read. Gratefully, S.L.”

“Judy has the amazing talent of getting feelings across in words! If you are acquainted with child sexual abuse or not, “In the Voice of a Child” will capture your attention. This book will have a profound positive influence on generations to come. It brings truth out into the light of day. It made me to know that what happened TO me was NOT my fault. An amazing book you won’t want to put down, but you won’t want to rush through. It helps us know that we are not alone, and may encourage us to share our story, find peace, and break whatever negative cycle we are in. -‘AZgecko'”

About Judy’s novel:

“Wow! I couldn’t put it down! I loved these characters – they were so alive and real, and I wanted them to be okay. I stayed up way too late reading because I wanted to know what would happen. The plot twists kept me guessing. Wonderful book. – K.L.”

“This story was riveting! I usually avoid books about kids in a tough situation, but I’m so glad I read it – it was so worth it. I loved the ending, and along the way I actually developed some new understanding. -M.D.”

“Ms. Emerson has written an engaging and suspenseful story about a troubled family that illuminates the characters in a relatable way that allows us to have understanding and compassion for them all. Even though it is heartbreaking to know that some of the scenes depict real abuse and suffering that some children experience, the book gives us realistic hope in the innocence and resilience of youth to overcome confusing and difficult emotional wounds. If you enjoy Charles Dickens and Barbara Kingsolver, you will enjoy this novel. A satisfying read! -M.G.”

“I loved Judy Emerson’s novel, Sack of Wrongs. Her characters are realistic and believable, which brought on so much emotion and the value of just letting it go, moving forward. Learning the background of the adult character’s childhoods helped me understand their actions. She also captured the time period so well which brought back memories of growing up in AZ back in the day. I couldn’t put it down every time I read it, 4 times! I’m sure I’ll be reading it again. – D.B.”