Reviews & Letters 2008

Psychology Majors at Siena College with Dr. Cameron class in Psychology of Women

PLEASE NOTE: There are student reviews and other people reviews on these pages. Permission was given by Dr. Cameron to put student reviews on website as long as names were not revealed. Rose would like to say that "These Students are far more than numbers. They are inspiriting young people who will make a difference in this next generation."

Psychology of Women
Dr. Cameron
Siena College
Student #1

After reading the biographical book, Dance Beyond the Shadows by Rosemary Richards, I feel very enlightened to learn about the experiences she faced as a child. Although they were very traumatic, our childhood shapes who we are today. In the book, Rose discusses her struggle with childhood sexual abuse by her father, as well as her family’s history of mental disturbances. As a member of the family, Rose often wondered when her time would come and she would need to seek mental health treatment. When Rose came to visit our class, she joked that she was not affected by Bi-Polar Disorder like most of her family was, but instead she faced incest by her father; which was the worst of the two?

Rose brought up a lot of topics in the book that are often hard for people to talk about, even to their closest friends, relatives, or even therapist. I have been in and out of therapy most of my life and often times, I do not tell my therapist what is actually going on because I myself do not want to face my troubles, which is not a helpful situation for anyone to be in. As a child, I did not have abusive traumatic experiences, rather, just traumatic. I lost my younger sister at the age of three and a half; she was only a year old. Though I was young and had very little idea what was going on, I still knew. I have been in treatment for GAD on and off and have triggers that include fear of losing loved ones and not pleasing others.

I think Rose does an excellent job at expressing problems many people face and not offering judgmental advice, but hope instead. She talks very openly (both in the book and in person) about what living life as a sexually abused child is like and also having a dysfunctional family is like. From the family perspective, she talked about how it was like being inside the family, and also what it was like as an outsider looking in on her family. That is something that challenges those living in a semi-normal household, they just do not understand how people like Rose can live and function as a person. Even now, Rose seems to be doing very well-had a career in Nursing, has a wonderful husband, a family of her own-and it just shows the naïve people that life is still possible after a traumatic experience.

Rose expresses issues that women may face at any point during their lives. She starts in her early childhood, being abused by her father. She goes on through the book to talk about rape in the streets of Albany, being with abusive boyfriends (both her and her sisters) and having to be involved in the care of a mentally ill mother at many stages of her life. I think the broad variety of topics and ages will attract more people to her story. Many women who face one type of abuse are often predisposed into being in other abusive relationships, as I discussed thoroughly in my research paper.

By reading, and listening to Rose speak, I feel that there are others in the world that have similar worries as I do. Though we came from different pasts, many of the everyday struggles we face are the same. I feel that rose does a great job at expressing her feelings; giving details to make the story readable, but not too much where one might put the book down; and also providing hope to those reading the book that they may work through their troubles and blossom in their lives.

I like how the book is structured with the poems before each chapter. I also like the readability of the book and the way it flows. Overall, I enjoyed the book and speaking with Rose. She is a beautiful human being and I wish her all the best in everything she does.

Psychology of Women
Dr. Cameron
Siena College
Student #2


After reading the book “Dance Beyond the Shadows”, I wanted to wait to write my reflection paper until after I had met Rose. I wanted to place a face to the person I read about in the book. And I’m glad I did. While reading, “Dance Beyond the Shadows”, I was amazed of how much this woman went through and how in the end she remained so strong, it was truly remarkable. Her struggles were continuous, starting from an early childhood with her father’s sexual abuse into her adulthood when her first husband beat her partially due to his alcohol problem. And yet throughout everything she kept looking for the light, knowing that something better was out there and kept a strong head on her shoulders. When deciding to leave her first husband I found it extraordinary at the courage she was capable of to not only send the daughter Samantha to call the police, to finally defy “the vulture” (her first husband) but the strength she had to work so hard to support her five children all on her own.

While reading about Rose (“Amy” in the book) there were a few topics she discussed that jumped out at me that we had previously discussed in class. The fact that Rose never spoke about anything that had happened to her to anyone was the first major topic. It reminded me how most women who go through a traumatic experience feel that they cannot talk about what has happened to them, whether it is because they are embarrassed, the fear no one will believe them or that it was their own fault. Another topic was the first husband (also referred to as “the Vulture” or “This Man”) and the father dominating Rose. Men have always been stronger than women and they have always felt the need to try to control women. These two men in Rose’s life are the perfect example of men trying to dominate women, to keep some sort of control.

Above all I enjoyed reading this book, and greatly admired the strength Rose was capable of and was inspired by how no matter how bad things got for her she still believed there was a light at the end of the tunnel and that it was attainable. At parts the book was difficult to get through, not because of the writing but because of how awful parts of her life were, it was very depressing. After reading the end though about how Rose found her “Dragon Slayer” made it all worth while.

Psychology of Women
Dr. Cameron
Siena College
Student #3


Rosemary Richards is by far the most extraordinary person that I have ever read about. Every moment that she shard in, Dance Beyond The Shadows was real and truly hit home for me. Rose’s ambition to live and protect her children is a quality that most people tend not to think twice about. The experiences that she has been through are ones none of us would ever imagine being put into, and then to come out a survivor at the end is remarkable. Rose’s words, “I want them to feel strong and free and to be able to bring out into the light, the demons that can only exist in the dark,” was a recurring theme throughout her novel and one that she wanted her readers to learn from. By acknowledging your fears and battling them makes you a fighter as well as a survivor in your own life. Rose wanted her readers to understand that all her experiences made her who she is today and proceeded to be a lesson in which she learns from every day.

A unique way of describing Rose’s fears were calling them her “dragons.” I liked this analogy in her writing and felt that she was consistently looking for someone to rescue her from those dragons: this person will soon be Jack. Rose is lucky enough to have found someone in her life who can accept all the challenges and tragic events that have occurred in her past and still love her unconditionally. The struggles Rose has gone through in her life were far too over-bearing for a nine year old, leaving her to cope with problems because she was always told “never tell” and since this was a repeated action in her childhood, understanding life had become difficult for her. Rose always longed to belong. To read about a woman who has gone through a horror of a childhood and show up at the end of the tunnel a survivor, is considered a hero. I have much respect for Rosemary Richards who in the end, thought her problems were minimal, compared to others. There is a survivor in all of us, longing to come out on top. The challenge is for other to acknowledge this technique and rise above.

Psychology of Women
Dr. Cameron
Siena College
Student #4

Many people experience hardships throughout life, for some people these hardships can be very detrimental and can severely alter one’s mental or emotional state. “Dance Beyond The Shadows” is about the life of an incredibly strong-willed woman who had to deal with horrific events throughout most of her life. The woman who went through these torturous experiences, Rose, wrote the book about herself using a different name, Amy, to distance herself, emotionally, in order for her to write about what happened.

As a child, Rose knew that something was different about her family. Rose had two sisters, Meg and Lila. Meg suffered from Bipolar Disorder and Lila from depression. Her mother also had Bipolar Disorder, although not diagnosed completely at that time, and she would isolate herself from others, including her family. Her mother would always read books to take her mind to a different place. She was never emotionally there for Rose when she was growing up, and hardly ever spoke to her. Not being able to have a mother’s love, support, or guidance can be very traumatic for a child. However, for Rose what was more traumatic was the molestation she experienced until she was nine. Rose’s hero, her father, was a molester. Rose’s sister, Meg, later told her that their father molested her as well.

Rose did not have the necessary comfort or security from her family, so she would often times run off to the neighbor’s house to eat and visit with them. When rose’s father passed away, she no longer had even the presence of her family because they became separated. Her mother and oldest sister Meg were sent to a mental hospital and Rose and Lila ended up in foster care. Even though her father was no longer capable of physically molesting her, he left her with invisible scars that would last a lifetime.

In foster care, Rose lived with caring foster parents, Aunt Gladys and Uncle Frank, until rose’s mother was released from the mental hospital two years later. Rose was eleven at this point and was confused as to who she should live with. She chose to live with her mother and sister, Lila, in a small apartment located in Albany. Rose attended Albany High School, where she first encountered racism amongst people. She then switched to Averill Park High School, where she met Russ. Russ was a great friend to Rose and proposed to her when she was seventeen. However, Rose wasn’t ready to settle down, so she declined.

After school, rose became an LPN. One night when she went out with her friends, she met a man. He was an alcoholic, although she did not realize it at the time. They married a year later. Soon after Rose and “The Vulture” were married, the physical abuse started. He would throw her down stairs, hit her, and threaten her with a gun to her head. He even killed some of their pets. She wanted to leave him but there were children involved: four of her own and his daughter from a previous marriage. However, one night when her husband tried to choke her, Rose’s step-daughter Samantha called the cops. The “Vulture” was arrested and Rose and the children left for good. Rose struggled to protect and support the five children on her own. The “Vulture” told Rose that he wanted her and the kids to move back and that he would never hurt her again, but Rose stood up for herself and did not fall for his deceitfulness.

Rose did start dating men again; however, she kept her distance until one day she met a man named Jack. Jack also had a shaky first marriage. Rose and Jack took things very slow and eventually gained each other’s trust. Three and a half years later he asked her to marry him. Rose and Jack have been happily together for over 29 years.

Rose has dealt with horrific events in her past and kept most of them a secret for a long time, until she opened up to Dr. Patricia Cameron, who encouraged her to tell her story. Rose told her story so she could touch other people’s lives that have gone through similar situations. Rose emphasizes that it is important to tell others what they have been through, and they too will be able to overcome the evils that haunt their past.

More Reviews from Siena College Students