For years, Katie Baker wore the mask of a woman who had it all together. On the surface, she was a successful professional, a loving mother, and the embodiment of relentless perseverance. But beneath that carefully crafted facade, the cracks were deepening into fractures too wide to ignore. Haunted by a childhood of instability—marked by alcoholic fathers, sexual, physical, and verbal abuse, a lack of protection, and exposure to addiction—she carried her pain like an invisible weight. Pressured by societal expectations to “buck up,” she buried her wounds under achievement and resilience, holding onto pain and shame well into her late 40s.

In this raw and unflinching memoir, Katie takes readers on her journey from rock bottom to radical transformation. Guided by courage and therapeutic psychedelics, she confronted the darkness she had spent a lifetime outrunning—unraveling the shame, guilt, and addiction that had stolen so much from her life. Through profound medicine journeys, she unearthed the lost pieces of herself and reclaimed the life she was meant to live.

But this is more than a story of healing—it’s a story of rediscovery. With vulnerability, grit, and humor, Katie reflects on the childhood that shaped her, the courage it took to rebuild, and the light that emerges when we finally face our deepest wounds.

For anyone who has ever struggled to find their way back to themselves, When The Universe Holds Your Hair Back is a beacon of hope, redemption, and the powerful reminder that healing is not a destination—it’s a journey home.