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Juanima Hiatt writes from Oregon whenever she can grab precious silence. She is a member of Willamette Writer’s Group and the critique group, Scribophile. Juanima has a special place in her heart for kids - especially teens - and a fervent desire to help people. She loves movies, fly-fishing, hunting, nature, and any activity with her husband and two daughters. Her memoir, The Invisible Storm, portrays her battle with PTSD and what it takes to overcome the disorder. She also enjoys writing screenplays, children’s books, and novels, and is currently working on a YA series.
Reviewed by Alice DiNizo for Readers' Favorite
Author Juanima Hiatt was raped and molested repeatedly as a young girl, beginning with abuse by her uncle when she was only seven years old. Molested and then threatened by her stepfather Ron when she was a young teenager, and then sexually assaulted by both boyfriends and strangers in subsequent years, Juanima has long suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. In her journey, however, she has worked herself back from an inability to reach out. Her strong marriage to Michael Hiatt who patiently and lovingly stood by Juanima and her two daughters, Lacey and Jordan, is testimony to the life Juanima now claims as her own. Opening the "black bag" of memories was not easy for Juanima and she tells of her voluntary hospitalization at Lake Chelan Hospital and her gradual acceptance of the horrors that had happened to her, learning to not dissociate or separate herself from the traumas of her past, but face them head-on. Juanima advises the reader that "there is no magic remedy to heal PTSD, but if you are willing to work hard, commit to it, and have patience; you will get there."
In "The Invisible Storm", Juanima Hiatt's honesty in her long struggle with PTSD will tug at the reader's heart as she tells of her battle with the effects of being sexually abused and molested in her childhood. The author writes clearly throughout this memoir of her difficult life. She holds nothing back in her retelling of dealing with family members and therapists as she fought against her suppressed memories and how she brought them to the surface of her mind and began dealing with them, bringing healing into her life. "The Invisible Storm" is a good book for readers everywhere, whether they have suffered from childhood sexual abuse or not. It is a real eye-opener about PTSD and healing.
