Coronavirus. Racial injustice. Insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Despite the dawn of a new president and a glimmer of hope of ending the pandemic as more and more people receive COVID-19 vaccinations, many people are struggling to manage their emotions. In her new book, “Night Bloomers: 12 Principles for Thriving in Adversity,” University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) clinical psychologist Michelle Pearce, PhD., aims to unlock the keys of transforming loss and grief into personal growth.

In the book, published in paperback by Ixia Press, Pearce presents a dozen practical approaches for transforming loss, pain, and suffering into positive growth and transformation. Just as some flowers only bloom in the dark, so too, some people only grow by experiencing dark and challenging times. Each chapter explains an empirically based principle for handling adversity, followed by insightful writing prompts designed to help readers experience the principle personally. In this hope-inspiring and compassionate guide, Pearce shares her clinical expertise and inspiring stories of other Night Bloomers to help individuals learn how to heal and transform their lives not in spite of their difficult times, but because of them.

“I've come to believe that the darkness affords us a unique opportunity to radically change our lives and our identities and to find or change our life's purpose,” says Pearce, who wrote the book several years prior to the pandemic. She is a Professor at UMB’s Graduate School and director of two graduate certificate programs, Integrative Health and Wellness, and Science Communication. “It doesn't happen automatically. The darkness is an opportunity for transformation, not a guarantee. The goal of Night Bloomers is to help you take full advantage of this unique time in your life. My hope is that you use your adversities to become the best version of yourself and to create your most desirable life.”

As stated in a review in The Washington Post: "Encouragement, real-world anecdotes and examples, and research-based strategies are braided together throughout the book, serving as a guide for those who want to turn their darkest moments into fodder for change...Night Bloomers maps a path through adversity...Pearce suggests, we can come to dawn with more than we had when evening fell."

Pearce is a clinical psychologist licensed to practice in Maryland, with a specialty in cognitive behavioral therapy, mind-body stress reduction methods, and coping with illness. She researches the relationship between religion/spirituality, coping, and health, as well as the integration of spirituality into the practice of psychotherapy. She is also an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center.

Her current research includes the development of Spiritually Integrative Cognitive Processing Therapy to treat moral injury and PTSD among veterans and active duty military service members. She is the co-developer of the national online training program for mental health providers called Spiritual Competency Training in Mental Health.

She is the author of the book Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Christians with Depression: A Practical, Tool-Based Primer andco-author of Religion and Recovery from PTSD. Pearce, whose clinical practice has continued unabated during the pandemic via an online portal, has also been offering her guidance to a wider audience as well. In 2020, she published “Psychologist’s 10 Tips for Staying Emotionally Healthy During a Pandemic” in the online magazine, Medium.

“As a clinical psychologist, I have had the honor of working with many Night Bloomers,” says Pearce. “Writing Night Bloomers was a way to share some of their remarkable blooming stories, as well as my own. Most importantly, it was a way to share the powerful principles and tools that have helped me and my clients--and will help many others--to bloom in the dark.”

Pearce received her PhD from Yale University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in cognitive behavioral therapy at Duke University Medical Center and a second fellowship in spirituality and health at the Duke Center for Spirituality, Theology, and Health.

She has a passion for the application of clinical research to improve patient care and quality of life. She is also committed to teaching and training students and health care professionals. In addition to teaching a number of graduate courses, she is also a faculty liaison at the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning at UMB where she helps faculty members improve their teaching skills and effectiveness in the classroom. Her life mission is to equip and empower people to prosper mind, body, and spirit.

Pearce lives in Ellicott City, Maryland, and when she's not writing, enjoys salsa dancing, hiking and reading.

She is available for media interviews. Please contact Senior Media Relations Specialist Mary T. Phelan at maryphelan@umaryland.edu or 443-615-5810 to coordinate.