On Lemons and Living
Therapist mixes traditional with nontraditional to help people transform their lives.
(PRWEB) September 30, 2005 -- When life handed Jo Anne White, Ph. D., lemons, she made lemonade. When life handed her lemons a second time, she made lemon ice. The third time, she made lemon pie.
"In other words, I've designed and redesigned my life over and over again depending upon what life has handed me," says White, a professor at Temple University, national speaker, and therapist in Cherry Hill, N.J. By redesigning my life, Ive learned how to help people not only take charge of their lives but to change them in dramatic fashion."
For White, redesigning her life seemed to make total sense -- and now she's willing to share the secrets of the Total Sense® program with others. She will conduct a seminar on Saturday, Nov. 5, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Cherry Hill Library on Kings Highway.
The interactive seminar will introduce the tools and principles set forth in her five-step plan to successful life design. She combines techniques such as goal-setting, visualization and energy-enhancing exercises are with lessons from her own life experiences.
The program is ideal for people who are strapped for time but want satisfaction in their life. The problem is that most people dont know how to find satisfaction, says Dr. White. Attendees receive a proven, reliable way to assess their lives and leave with a blueprint for finding more satisfaction and happiness, she says.
According to Dr. White, attendees at the seminar learn to:
-Stop negative and self-defeating thoughts and beliefs in their tracks.
-Move past fears to act courageously.
-Create new values, beliefs and behaviors that correspond to the person you want to be.
"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade and lemon pie," says White. "That may sound trite, yet what I mean is that when something happens that takes you down a different road than you had planned, you need to take control of the situation and turn it into something positive. What may look like a catastrophe can end up being a wonderful opportunity."
Whenever life took her down a path she hadn't anticipated, Dr. White, who holds a master's degree in education and a doctorate in psychological studies in education, took control of the situation. Using traditional psychology, alternative healing and holistic self-help techniques, she reinvented herself at each new, unexpected turn.
That is a lesson she has learned repeatedly.
In her youth, she dreamed of becoming a dancer -- a dream that a knee injury derailed. That lemon turned sweet when the injury led her to study alternative healing methods. She chose a career as a movement therapist. When that plan had to be changed due to reinjury, she once again made the best of the situation by switching to a masters degree in education. Eventually, this led her to coursework in psychological studies and sent her on the long, winding and exciting road to where she is today.
After years of "making lemonade," Dr. White combined what she has learned and experienced and created the Total Sense® program, which will be published in a book soon, entitled Making Sense: Five Steps to Pump Up the Satisfaction in Your Life. She has already published papers and magazine articles, and her writings have been featured online. Dr. White has been a frequent guest as a life coach on televisions Your Morning show on CN-8. In addition, she has produced two self-help CDs: Focus on Success" and "Journey into Relaxation."
Many people make the mistake of reacting to situations rather than taking control of them, she says.
"In spite of catastrophes, we can still design our life ourselves," says Dr. White. The question is: Do we do it as sleepwalkers through life or do we do it with definite techniques and conscious intention?"
Dr. White tailors her program to help transform the sleepwalkers into life designers.
"The difference is between change and transformation," she explains. "Change is external -- a new hairstyle, new clothes, contact lenses. Transformation, on the other hand, is internal - it's change that happens from the inside out."
The program includes techniques Dr. White has been using successfully for many years in groups and in individual coaching/counseling as well as newer methods and research that have yielded excellent results in recent years.
For more information about Dr. White, her upcoming seminar, the Total Sense® program, and the self-help CDs, visit www.drjoannewhite.com or call 1-877-DOCWHITE.
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