LOS GATOS, Calif., June 12, 2019 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Model, actress, and recovery coach Dona Speir announces the publication of her autobiographical memoir, “Naked Truth: The Fall and Rise of Dona Speir” (ISBN: 978-1939282422). Co-written with well-known author/journalist Chris Epting, this memoir reveals the hard truths, personal struggles, and eventual triumph over abuse, sexual exploitation, and addiction that have shaped Speir’s life.
From all outward appearances, Dona Speir had an idyllic childhood growing up in Southern California in the 1960s. She was talented, beautiful, and raised in a middle-class home—but this happy façade concealed an often-chaotic world of physical and emotional abuse.
After Bill Cosby was convicted, Dona realized the time was right to write this book. “I want women to know that it’s okay to speak out and stand up without guilt and shame,” she said. “I didn’t know how to say ‘no’ back then because at 16 years old, I wanted to feel loved, accepted and feel worthy.”
During her teens, Dona’s life seemed to move in two directions at once. While she pursued success as a model, she found herself the victim of predatory grooming (by celebrity Bill Cosby at the age of 16), sexual manipulation and abuse. And though her career moved forward, her emotional life was in disarray. Just 4 months after her 18th birthday, Dona checked into a drug rehab. She’d already been abusing alcohol and pills and had recently begun freebasing cocaine. Despite this early attempt at recovery, her alcohol and drug use would continue, on and off, until she was 23.
Sobriety allowed Dona the strength and support she needed to grapple with the demons that had tormented her since childhood. It also allowed her the stability to continue modeling and to pursue a successful acting career.
Since conquering her own addiction thirty years ago, Dona has dedicated her life to helping others. In 2003, she was selected as ‘Woman of the Year’ by the Yellowstone Foundation, a non-profit Women’s Recovery Group of Homes. And in 2005, she founded Lynn House, one of the first no-charge Recovery/Detox centers for women in California. From 2004 to 2006, Dona served on the Board of the W.I.N. Foundation (Women in Need)—a non-profit recovery, education, and empowerment program.
In her riveting book “Naked Truth,” Dona recounts her story as an abuse survivor and addict and shares the insights she has gained from recovery. She details how the lessons she’s learned in recovery assist her daily in helping others through what for many is the greatest challenge of their lives—conquering addiction. Whether it’s coping with family, or just figuring out how to survive life sober, she’s helped hundreds of people.
Currently, Dona is CEO of Recovery Coaching Experts, and works as a Nationally Certified Recovery Coach and Nationally Certified Interventionist. Learn more about Dona here: https://www.donaspeir.com/.
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News Source: Dona Speir