RAISING FIRE IGNITING RESILIENCE AND BECOMING WHOLE

"Lee-Ann F. O'Brien writes from the places most people are afraid to go — and brings you back stronger for having followed her there."
Raising Fire From the award-winning author of Breaking Trail: From Complex Trauma to Command.
What if the fire that nearly broke you was never meant to destroy you? What if it was always meant to rebuild you?
In Raising Fire, Lee-Ann F. O'Brien doesn't offer you a polished version of resilience. She offers you the truth of it — raw, hard-earned, and deeply human. Drawing from her lived experience as an Indigenous woman, trauma survivor, mother, and senior police leader, Lee-Ann takes you inside the moments that forged her: the childhood stings, the squad room silences, the grocery store parking lot where she finally broke open — and the long, deliberate journey back to herself.
At the heart of this book is a powerful concept: your Head Fire — the inner flame of resilience, clarity, and purpose that, once tended, changes everything. Not the kind of resilience that performs toughness and calls it strength. The kind that allows you to fall apart, feel it all, and rise — not the same as before, but steadier. Wiser. More whole.
Through deeply personal stories, neuroscience-backed tools, and reflective practices, Raising Fire will help you:

• Calm your nervous system and find your footing again.
• Move from overwhelm to clarity — one intentional step at a time.
• Build resilience that lasts — not armor that isolates.
• Reclaim your identity, your purpose, and your joy.

This is not a book about being unbreakable. It's about being honest. It's about laying down the armor — one piece at a time — and learning what it means to live with intention.
Because you were never meant to just survive. You were meant to rise, rebuild, and burn with purpose.