Lorain native hopes book encourages mental health challenges amid pandemic

A native of Lorain credits her faith for activating healing in her first book.

Alia Worthy, 25, graduated from Early College High School in 2014.

Worthy is currently a social worker and mental health therapist in Cleveland.

“I love being able to encourage and empower people in their healing stages,” she said. “Not only can I tell my story, but I can also learn from them.

“Helping people from all walks of life to break down barriers and overcome them is really my passion. “

Worthy’s book “Courage to Live Again” details the story of his personal triumph.

“The book is about finding the courage to overcome trauma,” she said. “I also included my testimony of the trauma that led me to build a relationship with God and ultimately find hope.”

The book was published in November 2020, but due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Worthy was unable to organize any events.

“Due to COVID, I couldn’t host anything last year, so I recently had the chance to do autographs,” she said. “It was awesome.”

Worthy says her favorite part of the writing process is seeing your own growth.

“Sometimes we don’t really realize the impact of the trauma on us until we start to look back and get over these things,” she said. “It has helped me a lot to know that I am not the only one who has experienced this. “

She says she hopes her book will have an impact on the community.

“I just want to be a cheer,” Worthy said. “I would like to inspire others to relive, to overcome trauma, and to gain a relationship, or new understanding, with God.”

Worthy says “living again” requires responsibility.

“I took responsibility for my own healing,” she said. “I found hope and resilience in my relationship with God and that’s what allowed me to pick myself up and truly come back to life.

“Faith brought me here, with the relationships I built throughout the process and the community around me now.”

She says she encourages everyone to find a therapist or a trusted confidant.

“Knowing that there is someone out there who wants to help and is there to help can give us the courage to take the first step,” said Worthy.

To purchase Worthy’s book, log on to Amazon.com.