Posts Tagged ‘Book Review’

Are You There Alone? is written by Suzanne O’Malley, an investigative reporter. She followed the tragedy in real time. She was present through Andrea Yates’ 5 weeks of court proceedings. To write this book, she read all of the transcribed trial testimony, 2000 pages of Andrea Yates’ medical records and interviewed nearly 100 people, including Ms. Andrea Yates and Mr. Rusty Yates, her ex-husband, to write this book.

Electroboy: A Memoir of Mania

Dyane Leshin-Harwood, mother, professional freelance writer and thriving! Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder after the birth of her second daughter. Photo courtesy of Dyane Leshin-Harwood.

Dyane Harwood is my June 2018 shero.

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Helping Children Cope When the Family Has Infant Loss

A pregnancy loss is a primal, deep loss. And often these parents have young children who were looking forward to having a little brother or little sister. Even in their time of pain, parents need to find ways to answer their surviving children’s questions about death and help them cope with their emotions. Miscarriage is a family event. In my previous article there is some information about how to talk to children about infant death.

Children best express their emotions using right-brain activities like play, drawing and story-telling. Books are a great resource for parents to help their children sort out and express their feelings.

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Dancing on the Edge of Sanity

asks once again

How Often Must We Ask for Sensitive Care?

It’s easy to connect with Ana Clare Rouds’ personal story of the reality of motherhood in her book, Dancing on the Edge of Sanity. She shares her personal story about her experience with postpartum depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and she eloquently brings out several issues.

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My colleague, Dr. Christina G. Hibbert, has been a leader in Maternal Mental Health for many years.

From the outside, her life looks kinda like a modern day fairy tale!

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I love this book. The co-authors seamlessly intertwine a full spectrum of education and complex issues associated with living with and the treatment of bipolar 1 disorder within the story of their true emotional and personal lived experiences.

It’s an important work. It contributes to the conversation about the reality of the existence of mental illness, the deplorable lack of  available adequate professional treatment, and the skewed social policies and civil rights laws surrounding the care of those with mental illness in the United States.

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Many people in my psychotherapy practice struggle with coming to terms with childhood sexual abuse. Flashes of their silent past and the effects of the splitting of the self in order to survive, intrude on their present day life, so they come for support. I’m humbled to witness their heroic, creative work through their inner labyrinth of pain and love gradually towards integration and wholeness.

Istock/SergeyIT

Post-Traumatic Growth, Spiritual Development and Development of the Self

When I saw this book advertised by Hay House, I was instantly attracted. After a quick look at Lillie Leonardi, the author’s, website, I immediately Kindled her book and read it straight through.

For me, the transcendent themes of post-traumatic growth, the process of soul retrieval, the restoration of a sense of wholeness, and personal spiritual growth emerged. Many people in my psychotherapy practice struggle with post-traumatic growth, the integration of differing aspects of the self, to restore a sense of wholeness.

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I met Ivy at Postpartum Support International’s Conference in 2011. She had such a nice feeling about her. Her accessibility, strength, humility and intelligence were quite strongly evident. Of course I had to kindle her book when it came out.

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