JB: Talk about having a full plate: All that study while you had three small children. I can definitely see the advantages, but I feel compelled to ask: Is there any downside having a counselor who's been so vulnerable him/herself?
DD: Here's the thing. You have to find someone who has ALSO had professional training. I am able to provide two very important things to my patients: personal experience and the empathy that comes with it, and a doctorate which gives me professional and clinical skills. I have a Ph.D. in school, and a Ph.D. in life!
JB: And how! Tell us more about this coloring book that you've put out. Aren't we a little old for that? And how does it work exactly?
DD: I have identified the words and concepts that I think are important for healing. I took each word and embedded it in a beautiful illustration. For example, the word "memory" is written in a picture of the perennials in my garden. Those flowers were planted in my first home with my first husband, and I have replanted those perennials in my new home with my new husband.
I feel that journaling can also be very therapeutic. I have included pages for journaling next to each illustration.
I have very carefully chosen my words, and feel that they can be like a blueprint for healing. This is a book, NOT about death and dying, but about hope and living!
Carl Jung was actually the first psychologist who utilized coloring with his patients. He noted that people became calmer and more centered by coloring mandalas (prayer wheels). So, coloring for adults has been around for a long time!
I belong to several adult coloring book clubs on Facebook. The coloring that some people can do is completely amazing.
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