Monday, October 3, 2011

BOOK RELEASE TODAY: An excerpt from A Legacy of Madness

My book, A Legacy of Madness: Recovering My Family From Generations of Mental Illness, was officially released by Hazelden Publishers today (Oct. 3, 2011).

Thanks be to all!

The book is available at major retailers and independent bookstores (Barnes & Noble apparently did not receive a shipment in its warehouse today, but I'm told the book will be on the shelves by the end of the week).

Information on signings and how to purchase is available at the book's website: http://www.legacyofmadness.com.

As a tribute to all those who made this possible, here's an except from the book (page 186) that speaks to the power of positive reinforcement:

The person who really saved me, at least during my teenage years, was Bill Borden. He showed up at my house in Point Pleasant in 1983 wanting to go to the beach. That visit made him my best friend forever, because he never did stop showing up at my house, unannounced, ready to have fun. He was my confidant. We had known each other before. But when we became closer, I learned more from Bill than I learned from anybody. I marveled at his ability to smile his way through problems. I was struck by his ability to go up to people and start talking to them. I was amazed that he was able to carry on a conversation with anybody ....

I was always too shy and cynical to be social. I felt insecure about the way I looked ... Bill had an awkward, but honest, even charming way about him.

Bill's mission was to have fun, to smile, and to live a good life; he just wanted to work hard, go to bed, and wake up the next morning and do it all over again.

9 comments:

Parwathy Narayan said...

"The Legacy of Madness" sounds like a powerful book. I look forward to reading it. I truly believe that forgiveness sets you free from the past. I plan to write a blog about the power of forgiveness in my own blog soon. Thank you for letting us know about the book:)

Unknown said...

Congratulations on the book! It is a terrific read and I have shared that on a few websites (B&N, Amazon, Goodreads). It is an important testament to getting help for mental health issues.

MG method said...

Nice work, suggest to everyone

noch said...

congrats on the book - just stumbled across this recently!
i'm working on a book about my experience in depression too. so it's encouraging to see someone having done it already!!!
:)

rugged breed said...

I think this is a pretty good book, I will recommend this to everyone!

Zero Dramas

Grandma said...

Wow. Congratulations. What an accomplishment. I hope to release my book within the next year. You have inspired me!

Donna said...

Good job. That must have been so hard to write!

Stanley Monroe said...

Hi - I am the director of a 60-clinician mental health practice in North Carolina. Legacy of Madness looks like a interesting story revolving around the issue of suicidality; in addition to being involved in "the biz," I have a personal experience with suicide in my family.

My practice recently started an online health store focusing on supplements and vitamins for now, but there is interest in selling books that cover mental health related topics. The link is goldensealwellness.com. If you had a promo-copy to spare and sent it to us at Carolina Partners in Mental HealthCare, Durham, NC 27707, Attn: Stanley Monroe, I would be happy to show the docs and see if we wanted to sell it in our store.

Thanks! - Our blog backlink is carolinapartner.com/blog

Marcia L. Caron-Besch said...

I am a clinical psychology doctoral student writing to invite you and your readers to participate in my dissertation research, an online survey about therapists’ emotional expressions. To be eligible to participate, you must:
• be at least 18 years of age, be able to read English, have internet access,
• not be an inpatient in a psychiatric hospital at present,
• and be receiving mental health services (i.e., be in therapy) at present.

If you are interested in participating in my research, you will need 10 to 20 minutes to complete an online survey. You will be asked questions about yourself, your experiences in therapy, and your opinions about how therapists express their emotions. All the information that you provide will be completely confidential, and you will not receive any feedback about your responses. If you would like to participate or read more about what participation entails, please go to the following link –
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/client-emotion-survey

If you have any questions, please contact me at 978-758-1144 or mlcaron@emory.edu or my research advisor Marshall Duke, Ph.D. at psymd@emory.edu. This study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.

Thank you for your valuable time! My hope is that the results of my study can help improve the quality of therapist training and client outcomes in treatment.

Marcia L. Caron-Besch, M.A.
Emory University, Department of Psychology