Let Your Privates Breathe-

Let Your Privates Breathe is a young woman's message of hope and triumph after breaking a long cycle of addiction and unhealthy habits.

In her memoir series, Melissa Steussy tells of her struggles to find freedom after being raised in an unpredictable home environment, and trying to find love and stability in all the wrong places.

Melissa becomes sexually active at age 12, starts drinking beer at 14, and smokes crack at 17. She finally meets her biological father after he is released from prison, and rolls joints with her mom’s boyfriend during summer break.

When she is court-ordered to Alcoholics Anonymous after a DUI, Melissa is forced to take responsibility for her actions and her journey of self-love and healing begins. Melissa not only shares her trials and struggles throughout her recovery and active addiction, but celebrates her breakthroughs and the beautiful connection she develops with herself, her family, and her community.

Let Your Privates Breathe acknowledges the benefits of airing out the darkness we fearfully keep hidden behind closed doors. Through sharing her story, Melissa finds profound freedom and the strength to love herself fully.

"Once we let our truth out, we realize our biggest fears were only imaginative bogeymen in our closet."

Melissa Steussy grew up in Kent, Washington, home of Macklemore and Sir-Mix-A-Lot. She currently resides in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, home of Prince, Melissa’s third grade crush. She has two children, a husband and a domestic bunny named Syro.

You can find her writing as an active columnist on Elephant Journal where she has written over 100 articles this year alone. She has been sober for 23 years.