SAN ANTONIO – A local mother who says she survived an abusive marriage is turning her trauma into a resource for other women, publishing her first book to help survivors and struggling moms find a path back to themselves.
Abigail Reder, a former behavioral therapist and survivor, recently released “Joy Follows: Seven Paths Back to Yourself.” The book is part-memoir, part-guided journal, with writing prompts, calming practices, lists and scripts designed to help women ask for support.
“I believe that we get to rewrite our story,” Reder said. “We do not have to accept the hand that we were dealt.”
Reder said she left her marriage for her safety on July 31, 2024, while she was two months pregnant. Two years later, on that same date, she published her book.
“Instead of the day that I left, it’s now the day I became a published author,” she said.
Reder said she wrote the book for women who may be facing the same fear and uncertainty she once experienced.
“I wrote this for the women that are in that position now,” she said. “I wrote it for any woman who is struggling with their mental health, any woman who’s feeling unsafe and needs to find a way back to herself.”
The book is organized around seven paths and seven practices. Reder said the exercises are based on the tools she used during her own healing.
“These are the tools that I have used to pull myself out of and fight out of some of the most difficult places,” she said.
When asked how she found herself again, Reder said the first step was asking for help.
That step, she said, can feel overwhelming for people who have experienced abuse.
“We think it’s some mountain that we have to look at and tackle,” Reder said. “I talk about it like, break that mountain into pebbles.”
The book includes straightforward exercises meant to make healing feel more manageable, including pages readers can burn as part of the process.
There are guided lists to make, therapy-based calming practices, scripts for asking for help, goal-setting prompts, as well as Reder’s personal story told throughout.
Reder said her work is also shaped by motherhood and the example she wants to set for her daughter.
“I want her to know that women are capable of anything. Mothers are capable of anything,” she said through tears. “I want to raise a strong, resilient girl with grit and grace, and I want her to watch me do it.”
Reder also started a blog, Rosie Red Nest, named for her daughter, Rosie. The blog is aimed at overwhelmed moms and includes healing resources and simplified lifestyle help.
On that blog site is a page where anyone can buy her new book.
Reder said she hopes women who need support will reach out and know they do not have to navigate healing alone.
Any women who want to reach out to Reder directly can email her at hello@rosierednest.com.
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