Bethany Joy Lenz felt 'terrified' to write a memoir

Bethany Joy Lenz initially felt "terrified" about writing a memoir.

The 42-year-old actress contemplated writing a memoir for a long time, and she's ultimately found it to be a cathartic experience for her.

Bethany - who previously confessed to spending ten years in an unnamed cult - told E! News: "A memoir only comes, I think, when you've been through enough that you feel like you have something to share that would be meaningful for other people.

"So after having spent ten years in this high demand group, I went through another ten years of trauma therapy and recovery and figuring out how to heal from a lot of that. And in that time, part of my catharsis was writing."

Bethany came to the conclusion that she needed to share her life experiences with her fans.

The actress - who is best known for playing Haley James Scott in 'One Tree Hill' - asked: "What good are my stories if I can't find a way to share them in a way that is meaningful and helps people?"

Earlier this year, Bethany revealed that the cast of 'One Tree Hill' tried to "save" her from life in a cult.

The actress told Variety: "For a while, they were all trying to save me and rescue me, which is lovely and so amazing to be cared about in that way.

"But I was very stubborn. I was really committed to what I believed were the best choices I could make...

"The nature of a group like that is isolation; they have to make you distrust everyone around you so that the only people you trust are, first and foremost, the leadership and then, people within the group if the leadership approves of them, and isn’t in the middle of pitting you against each other, which happens all the time also.

"It built a deep wedge of distrust between me and my cast and crew."