Surviving a Dysfunctional Family
Therapist/Author Offers Practical Tips.
According to the Surgeon General, one in four Americans will experience some form of severe mental imbalance in their lifetime. Suzanne Gold offers ten simple principles that can help members of dysfunctional families to cope and use painful experiences to draw on their innate wisdom, reawaken their dreams and spark change in their lives and relationships.
At 7 P.M. on April 8, 2002, at Robin's Bookstore, 108 S. 13th St., Philadelphia, PA (Contact: Larry Robin, 215-735-9600--Admission is free), therapist and author Suzanne Gold will offer tips from her book-in-progress, "Surviving a Dysfunctional Family," illustrating with readings from her critically-acclaimed novel, "Daddy's Girls," a story of love, spirit and redemption in a troubled family.
According to the Surgeon General, one in four Americans will experience some form of severe mental imbalance in their lifetime. "The other three are likely to be their families," says psychologist and author Suzanne Gold, herself a survivor of a family with mental illness. Gold will share ten simple principles that can help members of dysfunctional families cope by using painful experiences to draw on their innate wisdom, reawaken their dreams and spark change in their lives and relationships. Gold says, "If we approach difficult circumstances as an opportunity to discover meaning in our lives, we can deepen our capacity to love and make a difference both personally and in society. In these difficult times, when the whole world seems like a dysfunctional family, this useful information can help make life easier."
Sample topics to be presented:
1. Set a new course-- Imagine that your life can get better.
2. Trust your intuition-- When you hear "that little voice," listen.
3. Take a step back-- Noticing destructive patterns is the first step in breaking them.
4. Don't keep score -- What really counts is realizing your potential.
5. Look for a silver lining-- Search for a positive interpretation in every situation.
Suzanne Gold (BA, MA, Clinical Psychology, Temple University) has worked in residential psychiatric and drug treatment centers and in private practice, and has taught junior high school, human potential workshops and meditation. She co-founded a self-help group for women in public housing Marin City, CA, and an environmental grantmaking fund with the Marin Community Foundation. Author of "Daddy's Girls," and "Being Yourself: Twenty-Four Ways to See the Light," Gold is also an award-winning vocalist and songwriter, and is available for consultation and speaking events.
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Photos available.
For more information, visit Suzanne's website at http://www.SuzanneGold.com
For a copy of Suzanne's article, "Ten Ways to Survive a Dysfunctional Family," see
http://www.SuzanneGold.com/tenways3.html
For bio/resume, go to http://www.SuzanneGold.com/bio3.html
Praise for "Daddys Girls" by Suzanne Gold:
"The best book I've read since 'The Hours' by Michael Cunningham (Pulitzer Prize, 2000). I was up until
4 A.M. and woke again at 8 to finish this marvelous book. It's not light reading, but will speak to you on many levels, alter your perception of the world, broaden your horizons, and urge you to think outside the box."
-Terry Mathews, Midwest Book Review
"Writing from personal experience can be cathartic. Writing from the heart with the prowess of a good storyteller can also be good fiction. "Daddy's Girls" is both a tragic story of loss, blame and anguish, and a heartening tale of love's resurrection against all odds, lending a new dimension to an old story."
- Anne DeGrace, Nelson (BC) Daily News
"Fascinating layering of meaning. Frightening, yet very funny. You really must read this book to find a new way of looking at a patriarchal society, at families, at women, at death and life and hope and especially madness."
- Fran Gillespie, MentalHelp.Net
Read Chapter One of Daddy's Girls at http://www.SuzanneGold.com/chapterone3.html
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