What if the ending you feared was actually the beginning you deserved?
Tragically Funny. Unflinchingly Honest.
The D Word takes you on an intimate journey into the psyche of an empathic woman who begins to question the life she was taught to want. Rooted in the invisible conditioning of religion, family dynamics, and cultural expectations, it is a story of self-abandonment disguised as love. The slow, uncomfortable realization that sacrificing yourself to be “good,” “loving,” or “worthy” quietly erodes who you are.
“This book is for the empath who has contorted herself into unnatural shapes for the convenience of others...I hope it awakens the wild woman within you.” Dr. StephThrough the backdrop of divorce, this page-turner explores:
- How inherited shame distorts love and sexuality
- How people-pleasing masquerades as devotion
- How over-giving inside a marriage can feel like the right thing to do
What People Are Saying
Stephanie Nash writes with naked honesty about a subject all women know too well. Her willing vulnerability is dangerously captivating. This book is a must-read as well as a valuable therapy tool for anyone encountering the D word.
— Libby ChristiansonThe author doesn’t just liberate herself — she liberates other women who have also self-abandoned. A beautiful balance of sharing honestly from lived experience and teaching from a place of humility, revealing cultural conditioning and family modeling.
— Elizabeth ScutchfieldThe format gives me Carrie Bradshaw vibes in the best way — super personal and easy to get pulled into. Honest, raw, and so relatable. The way this book captures how hard choosing yourself is, and the guilt that comes with it, feels completely real.
— Rhi KatchthalerWhat You’ll Discover
The Courage to Let Go
How walking away from relationships can look like quitting, when from another perspective it’s opening up to your true path.
Ending Self-Abandonment
The insidious ways we lose ourselves in relationships. And the powerful reclamation that becomes possible when we listen to our own voice.
Redefining Love
How disentangling from self-sacrifice and perceived safety through partnership can reconnect us with source in nourishing ways.
The Power of Forgiveness
Embodying the grace and freedom of forgiveness, mostly of self for believing we weren’t good enough.
The D Word Is Resonating
“Compelling, real, funny — it feels like fantasy and reality and raw honest hard truth all at once. I was dying to know what comes next for our heroine. Phenomenal, truly.”
— Andrea Laxton“It reads like a mystery novel — I was on the edge of my seat. I felt it reverberate into something of my own past, especially as an empath who conforms to not cause trouble but inside knows she wants something different.”
— Samantha Santiago, PhD“I started reading and then couldn’t stop. The first chapter — the heaviness in the words, but mostly the words behind the words. It’s felt, palpable, and so heavy in the chest. You feel that crushing pain of obligation… beautiful.”
— Roberto Giannicola“The chapters made me feel very seen as a woman. This is a story of finding love within and having the courage and conviction to fight for it, above all else.”
— Merilee Smith“An engaging, easy read… thought-provoking and SO relatable. It kinda makes you feel like you’re learning someone’s secrets.”
— Dr. Missy Hillock“Captivating, with great pacing. I usually get lost in large paragraphs but I found this easy to read and impossible to put down.”
— Aileen Chou, PhD“Descriptive, poetic, and truly inspiring. This book conveys the cultural programming so many of us have lived — and shows immense courage to speak up and take care of self.”
— Faith Getty“The reader can really feel the author’s seeds of anger and disappointment without sugar coating… coming from a Christian background, the purity thing is spot on and heavily shaped the dysfunction of so many women.”
— Alli Cost“Powerful. The honesty about self-abandonment, shame conditioning, and the tension between appearance and inner truth deeply resonates — and will for anyone who has had similar experiences.”
— Lindsey Best“I felt like I was right there… I could relate to the internal dialogue — that feeling of being pulled between what we think we should want and what we actually desire but are afraid to articulate.”
— Jackie ColeyNo one is coming to save you… or live your life for you.
Dr. Stephanie Nash • The D WordDr. Steph
Dr. Stephanie Nash, PhD, OTR/L is a truth-seeker, spiritual mentor, and mystic. As the founder of Paradigm Expansions, she blends science and spirituality to guide empaths from over-giving to a life of genuine overflow.
Her work bridges the clinical and the cosmic in service of deep self-reclamation. When she is not writing, Stephanie can be found biking through city streets and tree-lined trails, engaging in soulful conversation, dancing in her kitchen, and exploring the natural world.
She lives in Pittsburgh, PA, with her beloved partner, Byron. The D Word is her first book.
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