The Poetry

There is a kind of unease that does not lift when the visible life is going well. The successful career, the happy family, the goals met and the checklists complete — none of it touches the ache, because the ache is not located where the external life is lived. It lies within. In 2012, when I had run out of options for managing it, I made a choice. I sought help.

The work I had entered into was Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy, the modality developed by Dr. Habib Davanloo, designed to work with the unconscious directly. Words began to arrive. Images appeared. The body began to offer what it remembered. The unconscious had begun to speak. The language it had chosen was poetry.

I had believed facing my pain would break me beyond recovery. To my complete surprise, the opposite happened. The more I faced it, the stronger I became. The stronger I became, the more fearless. The more fearless, the more I risked living as my authentic self. The more I risked, the more permission I gave myself to be who I had always been. That is when I actually started living. That is when transcendence began.

Each poem I wrote revealed more. First, the descent into the private hell of my unconscious suffering. Then, the slow but sure return to myself. Eventually, recording the reclamation of my true, indestructible self.

The poems bear witness to a journey from trauma to transcendence. They map it, like the data of a research project and the records of an expedition into uncharted territory. The first collection, Stripping: My Fight to Find Me, was published in 2018. I had thought it would be the only book.

The Way Back Home — An Anthology, my forthcoming book, follows Stripping. In it, six poetry collections composed as two trilogies, the Trilogy of Love and the Trilogy of Light, cover a crossing that spanned over a decade. The writing continues. I discovered, with the right practices, an unlocked unconscious stays accessible.

“Sunita Merriman’s book Stripping: My Fight to Find Me is of great importance to the future of dynamic psychotherapy and humanity.”

— Habib Davanloo, MD Founder of Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy Emeritus Professor, McGill University

 I did not set out to do anything like this. All I initially wanted was to be out of pain. But the process led to something more profound, more powerful, and nothing I could have imagined. That process became a body of work that was developed organically, iteratively, and from a place of wanting to share it with others, never according to a plan. The poetry came first. From sitting with its revelations and insights I gained over years, a daily practice, Self Love Self Care First®, emerged. Then a process map of the inner work, The Way Back Home Flywheel was reverse engineered. By the time I could see the whole of it, the whole of it had already been there for some time.

“Sunita masterfully explores the terrain of self-discovery through poetry. This book transcends mere verse to act as a guide for those grappling with our own narratives. The poems offer not just reflection but empowerment, and encourage readers to confront and embrace their vulnerabilities. For anyone involved in personal or professional growth, Merriman’s insights provide a valuable perspective on the healing power of articulating complex emotions. This book is a poignant reminder of how self-awareness can lead to profound transformation, making it a must read for those interested in personal development and emotional resilience.”

— Dorie Clark, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Long Game, Entrepreneurial You, Reinventing You, and Stand Out, Thinkers50 list of top global business leaders