Psyche & Spirit: How a Psychiatrist Found Divinity Through Her Lifelong Quest for Truth and Her Daughter's Autism

Psyche & Spirit invites readers on a profound journey through Dr. Edwards' mind, heart, and spirit during her quest for the truth of life, first as a child of medical missionaries in a Mayan Indian village, then overcoming trauma and an eating disorder during her teenage years, and later navigating the challenges of medical training. Ultimately, she discovers the truth she seeks through her autistic daughter.

In this deeply personal memoir, readers embark on a journey into their own hearts, joining Dr. Edwards as she navigates psychotherapy, meditation retreats, encounters with spiritual teachers, transformative travels to India and immersion in spiritual communities. Through her intimate story, she shows us how everything in this world can serve as a doorway back home to the Love we all are.

Psyche & Spirit speaks to those:

embarking on psychological and spiritual journeys, seeking deeper meaning and purpose in their livesraised in fear-based Christian religions and who have experienced religious traumagrappling with eating disordersspiritual seekers who have encountered the wisdom and the blind spots of spiritual teachersphysicians scarred by the trauma of medical trainingfamily members, educators, and health care providers of autistic individuals who recognize the limitations of the traditional medical disease paradigm of autism

Dr. Edwards inspires each of us to recognize our individual experiences as paths back Home, to our Heart of hearts.

This fascinating, courageous, and keenly observed memoir moved and inspired me. Patient, doctor, mother, Edwards details her remarkable journey from the mountains of Guatemala to the storied halls of Stanford University and beyond. She describes a lifetime of spiritual longing that culminates with an awakening to the wonders of ordinary life, made possible in no small part by a not-so-ordinary little girl, her daughter Saachi. A captivating read and a triumph of the spirit.

-ANNA LEMBKE, MD, New York Times bestselling author of Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

Filled with search, struggle, discovery and compassion, Psyche & Spirit is a vulnerable telling of Melinda's ability to grow, shine and be an advocate for herself and her daughter.

SHARON SALZBERG, New York Times bestselling author of Lovingkindness and Real Change

In Psyche & Spirit, Mindy shares her journey from Love to Love. Her compelling story is a powerful reminder of the force of spirit.

-KRISHNA DAS, bestselling chant artist of all time; Grammy nominee; and author of Chants of a Lifetime

Melinda is one of those very rare people who takes what life brings her with acceptance and grateful joy. She truly understands the beauty of the autistic condition, and how, if we're willing to listen, it points to a way forward for us all. Her compassionate and insightful wisdom shine through.

-GUY SHAHAR, author of Transforming Autism and Founder