American SPCC Highlights We Were a Nice, Normal Family

We are honored to share that the American Society for the Positive Care of Children (American SPCC) recently featured Dr. Patricia A. Grenelle's award-winning memoir, We Were a Nice, Normal Family: A Memoir of Recovery from C-PTSD and the Trauma of Narcissistic Abuse. In their article, American SPCC explores the lasting impact of childhood trauma, the realities of Complex PTSD (C-PTSD), and the hope that healing and recovery are possible.

The article highlights Dr. Grenelle's unique perspective as both a survivor and a retired forensic psychologist, emphasizing her courageous journey of confronting childhood abuse, emotional neglect, and narcissistic family dynamics while finding a path toward healing. It also recognizes the book's message of validation and hope for survivors who may still be struggling with the effects of trauma decades later.

We are grateful to American SPCC for helping bring greater awareness to childhood trauma, C-PTSD, and the importance of compassionate support for survivors. We invite you to read the article below and learn more about how healing can begin when survivors feel seen, understood, and no longer alone.

Article:

Healing After Childhood Trauma: One Survivor’s Journey Through C-PTSD and Recovery

At American SPCC, we often hear from adults who spent years believing their childhood “wasn’t bad enough” to call trauma.

Many grew up in homes that looked loving and stable from the outside. There were family photos, routines, birthdays, dinners, and moments that appeared normal to everyone around them. Yet underneath the surface, many children were quietly carrying fear, emotional neglect, abandonment, manipulation, shame, or abuse they did not yet have words for.

Some were told they were “too sensitive.” Some learned to stay silent to keep the peace. Some grew into adults who constantly questioned themselves, struggled in relationships, felt emotionally unsafe, or carried anxiety they could never fully explain.

And many spent years wondering:

Was it really that bad? Why do I still hurt so much? Why can’t I just move on?

These are deeply human questions we see reflected every day in the work of prevention, parenting support, and trauma awareness. They are also the kinds of experiences courageously explored in Patricia A. Grenelle’s memoir, We Were a Nice Normal Family: A Memoir of Recovery from C-PTSD and the Trauma of Narcissistic Abuse.

From the outside, Dr. Grenelle’s childhood appeared ordinary — a farm, parents, sisters, routines, and what seemed like a “nice, normal family.” But beneath that familiar surface lived childhood sexual abuse, emotional neglect, abandonment, and wounds that followed her long into adulthood.

What makes Dr. Grenelle’s story especially powerful is that she writes not only as a survivor, but also as a retired forensic psychologist who spent decades studying trauma professionally.

This is not someone observing trauma from a distance.

This is someone bravely turning toward her own story and saying: This happened. This mattered. And healing is possible.

At American SPCC, we believe one of the most important things we can offer survivors is validation. So many adults grew up without anyone recognizing their pain, protecting them, or helping them understand that what they experienced was not their fault.

Childhood trauma often lives quietly inside the body and nervous system long after childhood ends. It can shape self-worth, relationships, emotional regulation, parenting, trust, and the ability to feel safe in the world.

Many survivors become highly independent because they had to. Many become caregivers to everyone else while quietly neglecting themselves. Many carry shame that never belonged to them in the first place.

Dr. Grenelle’s memoir gently helps readers connect those dots with compassion rather than judgment.

Throughout the book, she explores the lingering impacts of trauma — failed relationships, anxiety, self-doubt, emotional confusion, and the symptoms of C-PTSD she later came to understand. Yet woven through every chapter is another message that survivors so deeply need to hear:

Healing is possible.

Not perfect healing. Not linear healing. But real healing.

The kind that begins when someone finally feels seen, understood, and no longer alone.

Her website tagline captures this beautifully:

“You’re Not Alone. You’re Not Broken.”

For many survivors, those words can feel like permission to finally exhale.

At American SPCC, we know healing-centered conversations matter because trauma does not only affect childhood — it can echo across generations when families are unsupported, overwhelmed, or carrying unresolved pain themselves. That is why our mission focuses not only on awareness, but on prevention, education, compassionate parenting support, and helping families build healthier emotional foundations.

Dr. Grenelle’s work aligns deeply with that mission.

Her memoir also honors her sister Josie, whose parallel suffering reflects the reality that many survivors never had the opportunity to tell their stories out loud. In honoring her sister, Dr. Grenelle honors countless others still carrying invisible wounds in silence.

One reader shared:

“For me this book is about poignant struggles and resilience of the author’s childhood and life beyond. I find it would be helpful to anyone trying to cope with and understand childhood trauma and how that trauma can affect life choices, especially with regards to relationships.”

We Were a Nice Normal Family has already received significant recognition, including being named the Best Selling Trauma Recovery Memoir in the United States for 2026 by Best of Best Review and receiving the International Impact Book Award for Outstanding Literary

Achievement.

For adult survivors of childhood trauma, individuals navigating C-PTSD and narcissistic family systems, parents trying to better understand the long-term impacts of adversity, and trauma-informed professionals supporting others through healing, Dr. Grenelle’s memoir offers something deeply meaningful:

Hope. Validation. Understanding. And the reminder that survival was never weakness.

We are also deeply grateful for Dr. Grenelle’s longstanding support of American SPCC and for including our organization within the resource appendix of her book as part of her commitment to helping survivors and families find compassionate support resources.

You can see the original article here.