Françoise Maricle was born two months prematurely in a Japanese internment camp in Indonesia during World War II. After the war, she and her family left the tropics they loved so much to return to cold, damp, and overcrowded Netherlands; not welcomed by the European Dutch. Françoise knew that she needed to find peace and tranquility somehow, somewhere, when she met her husband in Germany and later immigrated to the United States, which brought her happiness and gratitude. While counseling women in abusive situations, Françoise found that she needed to share her story to be able to connect with them. After hearing what she had endured they were much more willing to work on their own problems.