From Tragedy to Triumph... One Woman's Inspiring Story of Healing and Resilience
Plus the companion resources, What Now? and ReKindled give you everything you need to know in the days and years to come… all in one place!



#1 New Amazon Release in Clinical Psychology
Rekindled
Healing Grief Through the Experience of
After-Death Communication
Is death the end?
Millions have felt the departed reach out, but skepticism remains.
And yet, perhaps an afterlife is provable after all.
A presence, vivid dreams, timely signs—known as after-death communications (ADCs), these moments comfort, heal, and assure us that death does not terminate; it transforms.
For those mourning, providing grief support, or wondering what awaits them on the other side, Rekindled builds a vital bridge between personal experience and science. NOW AVAILABLE!
Books by Jan Canty, PhD
WHAT NOW?
Navigating the Aftermath of Homicide & Suicide
Losing a loved one to homicide or suicide changes your life forever; . . .
. . . worse, it feels like no one is in your corner as your horrific to-do list lengthens.
But with this empathetic and practical guide, you won’t be alone.
Homicide survivor and psychologist Dr. Jan Canty has been there. Forced to navigate the unfamiliar and disconnected procedures, personnel, and organizations that bombard survivors following a violent death, she is now determined to help others find their way.
With input from experts and fellow survivors, What Now? gathers everything you need to know in the days and years to come, such as . . .
- Organizing your support community
- Facing the media
- Making burial decisions
- What to expect during a police investigation
- When you need a lawyer
- Understanding social changes
- How crime-victim advocates work for you
- Decisions about death-scene cleanup
- Protecting your physical and mental health
- Supporting the grief process in adults and children
- Understanding a homicide trial, sentencing, and parole
- Coping with PTSD
- And more
Complete with a glossary, index, and thorough list of resources, What Now? offers the support you need so you can focus more energy on what matters most: grieving your unimaginable loss and regaining your balance in a world without your loved one—a world few understand.
With Dr. Canty lighting your way, you can navigate this storm toward healing and more peaceful waters.
Inspector Gil Hill, head of Detroit Homicide Division, was the first to explain my husband’s indiscretions to me.
Hill bluntly disclosed that Al had led a double life for the previous 18 months in the notorious Cass Corridor (a red-light district in the inner city) using the name “Dr. Miller.”
We were probably broke.
He had been dismembered.
The press had questions.
Hill needed me at the morgue.
In those disturbing minutes, I not only learned truths about my unfaithful husband, I learned truths about life.
Sometimes we know shockingly little about the people we think we know best. And when it comes to marriage there are things known, unknown and known too late.
It verified that when adversity comes, you have three options.
- You can permit it to define you.
- You can permit it to destroy you.
- Or you can channel it to strengthen you.
I vowed then I would not become collateral damage.
What you have before you is a memoir of the darkest days of my life as a widow and so-called homicide survivor.
It is raw and detailed and deliberately subjective.
I want you to hear what I heard, see through my eyes, know what I thought.
A Life Divided will speak for the “invisible” families in the shadows of gruesome homicides who know all too well that headlines, sound bites, formalities, and trials are just the prologue to the story.
Though I can never claim to be unbiased, I rendered the contents as faithfully as possible and relied on many sources beyond my own recollections.
I returned twice to where the events unfolded, interviewed people who had a role, read eleven pounds of court testimony, examined old photos, poured over crispy newspaper articles, and carefully examined old video footage.
I left my redacted life of 30 years to release this account. Healing and insight do not happen overnight.
This memoir will transport you through an extraordinary experience in an otherwise ordinary life.
This is a cautionary tale as well as a true comeback story from a nightmare that never had to happen. The defendants had their say in court.
Now it’s my turn.
A Life Divided
A psychologist's memoir about the double life and murder of her husband - and her road to recovery
The first of course, which I will not delineate, is the story of Al’s descent into depravity, the characters involved and his subsequent horrific consequences. Jan outlines the people involved, ,and their background and personality traits.
Another story, or piece of the puzzle, is Al’s disloyalty towards her, his profession and to himself. How could he turn away from such a beautiful, intelligent and witty young woman and turn towards the depraved? How could he possibly neglect his patients or spend his mother’s life savings on the criminals involved? She explores possible issues, such as his upbringing, and, trouble connecting with others. Although, do not misunderstand me, the consequences he suffered are the direct result of the choices he made, all of which could have been avoided.
The last story however, and by far the most important, is how Dr. Jan Canty came through all of this. She remained tall in character, strong in principle, elegant and upright in her interactions with others. She wrote this book not only for herself, but for others struggling with similar traumas.
This beautiful book, as horrific as it is in many of its details, gives a sense of validation for others, hope for healing and peace for future well being. Highly unusual and shocking for someone who has been through so much. I highly recommend it."
Rekindled
Healing Grief Through the Experience of After-Death Communication
Is death the end?
Millions have felt the departed reach out, yet skepticism remains.
Grief psychologist, homicide survivor, and podcast host Dr. Jan Canty offers a deeply investigated, compassionate, and affirming exploration of spontaneous after-death communications (ADCs) by blending decades of clinical experience, personal insights, and riveting stories that counter the stigma of this almost-universal phenomenon.
As a clinical psychologist, Jan Canty did not believe in ADCs, even after she experienced one when her husband was brutally murdered.
But she could not ignore countless stories from her patients and podcast interviewees as they poured in.
A presence, vivid dreams, timely signs—these moments comfort, heal, and assure us that death does not terminate; it transforms.
For those mourning, providing grief support, or wondering what awaits them on the other side, Rekindled builds a vital bridge between personal experience and science by:
- Illuminating the historical, scientific, and cultural shifts that shape our understanding of ADCs
- Exploring how ADCs promote healing and restore connection
- Integrating insights from neuroscience and physics
- Highlighting a gap in grief intervention tactics and offering practical tools to caregivers and mental health providers
- Sharing firsthand accounts so no one feels alone in what they’ve seen, heard, or felt
Rekindled sheds light on the one experience that connects us all.
This is a must-read for fans of Dr. Eben Alexander’s Proof of Heaven, and an accessible and needed resource for the grieving, as well as counselors and psychologists, hospice workers, death doulas, and clergy.
Breaking the Silence: Voices of Survivors

This compilation of narratives embraces powerful and deeply moving journeys of 21 trauma survivors who have chosen to break the silence.
They have emerged from the shadows to demonstrate the resilience of the human spirit.
Together they represent a spectrum of human experience that is heart-wrenching and inspirational.
Breaking the Silence aims to serve as a beacon for those who suffer from the aftershocks of homicide, human trafficking, abuse and cults.
This anthology is a tribute to transcend, heal and ultimately thrive following the unimaginable
Why I Wrote The Books and What They Mean to Me
These publications were written with the full-on intention of
throwing a lifesaver to other homicide and suicide survivors.
I know too well the feeling of isolation, the struggle to find information, the wish to be understood, the fight to organize and prioritize tasks while searching for crumbs of hope. I felt like a wounded animal separated from the herd in deep, dark fog. (And so have many others who’ve been guests on my podcast.) I want to spare others from experiencing that abyss.
While no two murders or suicides are the same, I gradually understood there are common themes in the aftermath. Support fades. Friendships shift. Bills pile up. Health declines. Sleep is evasive. Anger simmers. Judgement abounds. We often feel let down by the very people and systems we assumed would rush to our side.
By disseminating this information, survivors realize they aren’t alone. They aren’t crazy. It’s not their imagination! Society does not know how to comfort us. Fortunately, we know how to comfort one another.
Another target for writing these books was to dispel myths. Closure is elusive. Arrests have fallen to a flip of the coin (for many reasons). Trials have been eclipsed by plea bargains. We aren’t wanted in the courtroom. Parole boards (where they still exist) don’t seek our input. And don’t even get me started on the exploitation we face from professional and social media.
Last, there is a more personal reason for writing these books: they are my legacy. I want to leave footprints for others in the hope it helps lead them out of the misery and confusion that is the reality of violent loss. If I made it. So can others.

