Bloodlines: A Memoir of Self-Harm and Healing Generational Trauma

It should have been Tracey Yokas’s time to heal. With the recent death of her mother, she was given a brand-new chance to redefine herself and her happiness on her own terms. But just as she prepares herself to spread her wings, Tracey discovers that her only child, Faith, is battling issues of her own--carrying forward the legacy of disordered eating, depression, and self-harm Tracey is so desperate to leave behind.

Tracey is determined to save her daughter, but she has no idea how to reach her--and as their fragile family navigates a medical system and a societal fabric that fails innumerable families in need, she and Faith become near strangers to each other. Ultimately, it’s only when Tracey begins the hard work of standing up to her own history of rejection, low self-esteem, and longing does healing--for both mother and daughter--become possible.

Carrying a message made urgent by the epidemic of mental health challenges now besetting millions of American teens each year, Bloodlines is a story about how waking up to the power of love can allow us to reimagine the past--and fortify the present.