Running For Healing Blog

April 1, 2026

By Tom O'Connor

Mission

Running For Healing Blog is designed to inspire and motivate readers. It encourages them not to dwell on the negativity of their past but to focus on taking personal action and moving forward. By urging individuals to change and embrace what's ahead, the blog offers support to those looking to let go of their past and step into the future with confidence. 

Books

My first book, Discover Your Adult Child: Survival Skills With An Alcoholic, is my memoir, depicting my courage, discipline, and resilience as I overcome my childhood trauma related to my father's alcoholism. Merging my personal experience with meticulous research, I share practical knowledge and survival skills to help other adult children of alcoholics live happier lives.

My second book, Outrunning the Past: A Novel of Family Scars, Survival, and Redemption, is a fictional story about Pat Murphy, who grew up in a household marked by his father's struggle with alcoholism and his mother's tendency to overlook the chaos created an environment filled with suffocating expectations. He dedicates himself to track and field, becoming a standout athlete in high school. His talent and drive earn him a full scholarship to a prestigious college, opening doors his family never imagined. Over time, Pat builds a successful career, finds stability in his marriage, and raises a daughter who is bright, ambitious, and proud. As his family grows, Pat develops a strong bond with his two grandchildren.

Vital Voyage Blog

I am also the publisher and editor of the Vital Voyage Blog, a separate and successful website born from the authorship of Discover Your Child and this website. We now feature 70+ expert contributors, have over 650 global subscribers, and reach a growing audience of behavioral health professionals, individuals seeking recovery support, and families navigating addiction and mental health challenges. 

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Submit Your "Running For Healing Blog" Journey

Contribute to Our Blog. We invite you to write articles on our Blog about how you are specifically working to heal, whether running from your past.

Guidelines for Submission

• Share your personal experiences and detail the challenges you faced in the past.

• Describe the steps or actions you took to move beyond those challenges.

• Explain how these changes affected your life and any lessons learned that could inspire others.

• By sharing your story, you can motivate readers who might be on similar journeys. Your experiences and insights can offer hope and practical advice.