Author Cheryl L. Eriksen featured on the Horse Industry Podcast!
Follow Me, Friend
a memoir of ptsd, horses, and healing by Cheryl L. Eriksen
If you were insane, would you know it? Could you hide it? How long could you keep that terrible secret? What would happen when everyone discovered the truth?
Follow Me, Friend is the true story of a young woman dealing with the daily struggles of living with undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder—and the healing she receives through the power of the horse-human relationship. Told through her experiences of suffering the effects of childhood sexual abuse while having no conscious memory of the abuse, Cheryl walks the reader through a life in which she believes she is crazy, and she has the voices in her mind to prove it. Spiraling deeper into depression and plagued by a destructive inner voice that takes on a personality all its own, Cheryl sees only one way out, permanently.
That is, until a small, thin, scraggly horse comes into her life and changes everything.
Follow Me, Friend is the true story of a young woman dealing with the daily struggles of living with undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder—and the healing she receives through the power of the horse-human relationship. Told through her experiences of suffering the effects of childhood sexual abuse while having no conscious memory of the abuse, Cheryl walks the reader through a life in which she believes she is crazy, and she has the voices in her mind to prove it. Spiraling deeper into depression and plagued by a destructive inner voice that takes on a personality all its own, Cheryl sees only one way out, permanently.
That is, until a small, thin, scraggly horse comes into her life and changes everything.
About the Author
Cheryl with her dog, Boedy
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While earning her master's degree in social work from Western Michigan University, Cheryl took a special interest in the effects of early childhood trauma on the developing brain. She then applied that learning, along with her personal experience as an abuse survivor in her latest work, a memoir, Follow Me, Friend.
Additionally, Cheryl has spent decades as an equine professional and extensively studied equine behavior and how it is influenced by what the human brings to the relationship. Through her work in the field of equine assisted psychotherapy and learning, Cheryl has seen and experienced firsthand the healing power of the horse-human relationship. Her books (current and upcoming) and her blog, Peace Horse Journey, explore this powerful relationship. more |
Cheryl with 2009 Preakness Stakes winner, Rachel Alexandra