DAD SHAKING HANDS WITH THE MEN FROM THE BOYS CLUB WHERE HE WAS A MANAGER OF MY BROTHERS TEAM PLAYED IN A BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
Unlock the Story. Heal the Legacy.
When you were born into the world of therapy, the rules were different. Secrets lived in the shadows. Emotions were unspoken. You learned to believe in someone else — but not in yourself.
In this powerful memoir in verse, St. Louis author Dr. Gail Cloud invites you into the raw truth of growing up a therapist’s daughter. Through poetry and story, she explores the cost of silence, the patterns we inherit, and the courageous path to reclaiming our voice, our body, and our life.
DAD AND I RE-VISITING THE LODGE 15 YEARS AGO
Why you’ll want to read this:
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Experience a deeply personal story of healing and transformation.
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Recognize the invisible patterns you carry — and begin to shift them.
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Gain permission to embrace your own authenticity, no matter your past.
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Explore how generational legacies shape our lives — and how we can write a new chapter.
Ready to begin?
🛒 Buy your copy of Therapist’s Daughter today — available now on Amazon.
📩 Have questions or need support processing the material? Book a one-on-one session with Dr. Gail Cloud for guided reflection, integration, and healing.
Pass the Peas, Please (Meditation Book) $5.99
E-Mail Dr. Cloud at gail@bodypresencing.com after purchase for the password to download.
GAIL CLOUD
I am a therapist's daughter.
Therapist's Daughter delves into one woman's internal perceptions of her enigmatic father. Gail Cloud's memoir in verse chronicles the cost and consequences we suffer when we are taught not to believe in us but to believe in another—followed by the powerful journey back to ourselves— where we see and own our truths, and create lives of integrity and meaning.
Follow my Goodreads author profile here.
I have created a workbook, a valuable resource that is available to purchase directly from me. My book, Therapist's Daughter, can be difficult to work through on your own, as it can bring up difficult or challenging material. I am also available to work with you one-on-one, coaching you through the challenging issues. Don't hesitate to get in touch with me to set up your own personal consultation about how best to work together.
This workbook costs $8.00 (purchase by clicking the blue BUY NOW box below), and pricing for working together is to be decided individually. After your purchase, please e-mail me for your workbook.
I hope this journal has been helpful for you on your journey to health and wholeness!
Growing up in Topeka, Kansas,
then the seat of one of the best psychiatric schools and hospitals in America, I thought all fathers were psychiatrists. In our small neighborhood, most of the fathers went to Meningers where they were studying to be some form of mental health practitioner.
Into my twenties, I discovered that there truly is a particular genre that has many similarities, and that is children of psychiatrists. We know what it is like to be a type of guinea pig in our own homes.
This book is a revelation of my experience.
My father also used to say, “therapists really are rapists, such the name, the rapist.” What a concept, and what a way for a therapist to see one I believe he meant that a therapist “goes in” and helps to investigate a patient’s unconscious; yet his sense of it is a great invasion of the person’s psyche.
Such is the experience I had with my father: a great invader.
ME AS A LITTLE ONE SITTING ON MY DAD'S LAP WITH MY MOM AND TWO SISTERS
DAD COMING HOME FROM WORK
WITH HIS CHARISMA
MY SISTERS AND I
This book is my healing offering.
In your own personal way, how do you relate?
Therapist’s Daughter Featured by Greenwood 20s/30s Book Club
Therapist’s Daughter was recently featured by the Greenwood 20s/30s Book Club, a vibrant literary community based in Seattle, Washington, known for thoughtful discussion and meaningful engagement with contemporary writing.
The book has sparked heartfelt reflection and conversation among readers, who have been drawn to its emotional honesty, lyrical depth, and courageous exploration of memory, embodiment, healing, and personal truth. The Greenwood community also shared Therapist’s Daughter on their social media channels, extending its reach and inviting wider dialogue around themes of family, identity, and transformation.
“Your work embodies everything our community values: introspection, emotional truth, personal transformation, and the courage to reclaim one’s own story. It has truly been an honor to introduce it to readers who appreciate its wisdom, vulnerability, and purpose.”
— Ben Bordofsky, Organizer, Greenwood 20s/30s Book Club
Gail is deeply grateful for the care and attention the Greenwood Book Club has given Therapist’s Daughter, and for the meaningful conversations it continues to inspire across generations.
🔗 Learn more about the Greenwood 20s/30s Book Club:
https://www.meetup.com/greenwood-20s-30s-book-club/
2024 INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS FINALIST IN NARRATIVE POETRY
THERAPIST’S DAUGHTER
released July 31, 2024
ORDER TODAY!
part 1
HIM
she paints a sensory portrait of who her father was, not just to her, but as a complex soul we may come to empathize with through her memories of good times at breakfast, and his simple love of baseball. Tenderness offers contrast to early confusing, traumatic experiences affecting many father-daughter bonds.
part 2
ME
we meet Gail the daughter, the dancer, as well as her kindreds, and what it is like to be lied to while believing the lie.
part 3
COMING UNDONE
we witness her dad's demise, his fall into dementia, and her virgin encounter with the truth.
part 4
MY DANCE
this poet's verse carries us on the wings of her growth and indepen-dance, as she pirouettes to a place of acceptance and offers us all a new story of flourishing within.
reading guide:
I want to join the launch reminder and update list,
Therapist’s Daughter was released on July 31, 2024. You can- order now!
Sign up to receive an email reminders on update and invitation for a free online event to connect over this topic and the healing effect of “the dance” of sharing our stories:
GAIL AS AN ADULT POINTING TO LONG'S PEAK
author bio
After her first career as a dancer and ballet and modern dance teacher, Gail Cloud, DC, realized that she wanted a more service-oriented career. She chose a practice that kept her dancing for many years---chiropractic work. Today Gail is a practicing Chiropractor and an Inherited Trauma facilitator, working with somatic healing. She is also an astrologer, focusing on our growth and evolving selves, what gets in our way, and what strengths we possess to help us with our process.
Gail began writing this memoir in 2020 and, through writing, discovered that poetry was the best way for her to express her thoughts and feelings on such a personal and vulnerable subject. When not writing, she walks with her dog, continues her learning, enjoys time with her friends and husband, and even takes ballet lessons again.
