Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Married and committed couples; people whose previous fighting has ruined relationships; and couples contemplating marriage and parenthood. Divorced people who want to figure out what went wrong, and make the next relationship better. Dating couples who want to get their relationship started on the right path.

Q: What is the book about?
A: Money, Sex and Kids are the big three conflicts that can erode even the strongest marriages. This prescriptive, practical guide shows partners how to deal with their differences in these critical areas and to resolve them before they take the toll on the relationship. As a licensed psychotherapist and marriage counselor in private practice, Dr. Tessina offers struggling couples a fresh look at what it means to be married — and what it takes to stay that way. Any willing pair can learn to build a happy relationship if they have the tools taught in this book.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I’m a California licensed marriage counselor in private practice with thirty years’ experience counseling couples, and teaching them how to make their marriage struggle-free. Because I help couples solve their problems every day in my private practice, I have real experience in what goes wrong and how to fix it.

I have also been divorced and then happily re-married for twenty-five years, so I have lived through the destruction of one marriage, and learned to create a happy second partnership. My personal experience informs my professional expertise.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: Because I’ve helped so many couples solve the problems and create loving marriages, my book provides real dialogs of married couples showing how they changed their interactions, guidelines and exercises which teach couples how to fix problems, and cogent explanations and information about what works and why it works. Throughout the book, you’ll follow couples as they struggle and learn to solve their disagreements. Couples can use the easy-to-follow guidelines and exercises to stop fighting and start having a good time together.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: If you’re having trouble with any of the ‘big three’ marriage issues; if you’ve already had the awful experience of a ruined relationship; or if you’re contemplating marriage and worried about struggling; Money, Sex and Kids will be your guidebook to success in your relationships. It offers you a fresh look at what it means to be happily married –and what it takes to stay that way. It’s all you need to defeat marital stress, cease the fighting, and build a peaceful, fulfilling life together.

Visit my website: http://www.tinatessina.com to browse books or get my free newsletter: “Happiness Tips from Tina.” Also, check out the Dr. Romance Blog and the “Dr. Romance” column on Yahoo! Personals.
Coming out from Adams Press: Money, Sex and Kids and The Commuter Marriage.

Published books:
It Ends With You: Grow Up and Out of Dysfunction
How To Be a Couple and Still Be Free
The Unofficial Guide to Dating Again
Gay Relationships
The REAL 13th Step
The Ten Smartest Decisions a Woman Can Make After Forty
The 10 Smartest Decisions A Woman Can Make Before 40

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Those who are:
• Family members of those who are ill and bereaved individuals
• Healers: healthcare professionals, caregivers, volunteers, spiritual care providers, member of the clergy, social workers, etc.
• Individuals interested in overcoming their fears around death and the afterlife.
• Those interested in learning more about how to combine holistic approaches with end-of-life and grief care.
• Anyone interested in growing spiritually – spiritual seekers.

Q: What is the book about?
A: The Last Adventure of Life is an inspirational resource book that weaves together some of the best stories, poetry, scripture, prayers, and guided meditations that I have found to help those facing death or grief in their lives. It also includes chapters on grief and healing resources. This book also serves as an overview of hospice from a spiritual perspective; some have even said that it is one of the best introductions to hospice that they have ever read.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I am uniquely qualified to write this book because I grew up in Japan and am bilingual and bicultural. I was gifted with a broad, multi-cultural perspective and a curiosity about life that has made me delve into all kinds of material related to heath and healing through my professional and personal life.

After serving as a United Church of Christ minister for a decade, I served as a hospice spiritual and bereavement care provider for eleven years, so I developed a deep appreciation for hospice and how it can change your life. I have found that doing hospice counseling work for over a decade has given me an expanded view of life – not unlike a person who has had a near death experience. My work shares some of this material in a smorgasbord fashion.

As a healer, I am also passionate about wellness and have developed a body-mind-spirit perspective. Therefore, the last chapter of the book has a great deal of information on many of the complementary and integrative therapies such as: Aromatherapy, acupressure, acupuncture, massage, music, guided meditations, hypnotherapy, shamanism, and the like.

The material is presented in such a way as to be particularly helpful to those who are preparing to die or who are grieving. However, a person working toward their physical healing and wholeness could also benefit from reading my book.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: The Last Adventure of Life is a very comprehensive book. It covers a great deal of territory compared to most books on this topic. For example, it honors and shares material from many faith traditions and spiritual perspectives.

Most books covering hospice or these topics are either medically or religiously based. However, I share from a very broad spiritual base, so many faith perspectives are shared firsthand. Also, since there is a lengthy chapter introducing some complementary therapies at the end of the book, this also makes my book unique in its scope.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: The Celtic philosophy is that you need to die before you die so that when you die, you don’t need to die! In this vein, my book is actually meant to be a guide for someone who is ready to bring death back into their life.

Ideally, this book needs to be read by someone who is not directly facing death, but would like to deal with their fears and questions around it. Here is what Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, an expert in conscious aging had to say about my work: “Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross once had a patient who said to her ‘I want to live through my dying.”

Anyone who shares that sentiment will find The Last Adventure of Life a way to expand their consciousness and to prepare for that moment.”

Here is a list of Chapter titles from the book and some frequently asked questions that my book could help answer:

1. TRUTH: Letting Go Is Liberating
2. BEAUTY: The Divine Presence Within All Living Things
3. LOVE: The Only Real Power
4. JOY: Tuning in to Humor and Gratitude
5. TRUST: Healing into Wholeness
6. REFLECT: Life Review and Dealing with Unfinished Business
7. AWARENESS: Cultivating the Art of Meditation
8. HOPE: Reflections on the Afterlife and the Interconnectedness of All
9. SPIRITUAL PATH: Receiving Strength from Our Faith Traditions
10. GRACE: The Transforming Power of Grief
11. RESOURCES FOR HEALING

The book also has an annotated bibliography with 110 books in it (including books for caregivers), and many other resources like magazines and journals, music, videos, DVDs, and websites. Many of the websites can be found as links on my website as well: www.thelastadventureoflife.com, or www.changewithcourage.com. Also, I have developed some “gift baskets for the soul” related to some of the integrative therapies I suggest in the last chapter. You can see more about my Soul Baskets at www.soulbaskets.com.

Frequently asked Questions:
• What is a near death experience? How have they transformed people’s lives?
• How can I start the “conversation” with our loved one who is sick and perhaps dying? Or with my loved ones who I must leave behind?
• What are some of the signs that death is approaching? How can I assist my loved one at this time?
• How can I talk with my children – and other young people – about death?
• What is meditation and how can it help someone before and at the time of death?
• What are some alternatives, besides more medication, to cope with the pain?
• What is hospice? How does it work?
• Where can I learn more about families directing their own family member’s funeral in a natural, personalized way?
• How can I cope with the grief I am experiencing since the death of my loved one(s)?

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: The protagonist is 15, so young adults are a major audience; however, I have received letters from men and women of all ages, even into their sixties, expressing interest and enthusiasm about the release of Courage in Patience.

Q: What is the book about?
A: After six years of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse from her stepfather, 15-year-old Ashley finally finds the courage to reveal the painful details of her experiences with her mother, who refuses to acknowledge the problem and turns her back on her daughter. After confiding in her teacher—the only adult whom Ashley can trust—she is removed from her home and sent to live with her father and his second wife, Beverly, an English teacher. Nurtured by Beverly, an extraordinarily positive influence in her life, Ashley and a summer school class of troubled teens learn to face their fears and discover who they really are.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of a family member, as well as an experienced English teacher.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: It is not an autobiography or a self-help book. Honestly, with the exception of some of Chris Crutcher’s books that include the problem of sexual abuse, I have not seen many others like mine.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: I wrote Courage in Patience to give hope to anyone who has to face their greatest fears and find out what they’re made of.

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Adults who are into improving mental health, self help, physical and emotional fitness, psychology, and the healing power of music. Those looking for an alternative to medication for alleviating depression and anxiety would also find the book valuable. Folks who like to read stories of personal redemption and healing will enjoy Body Mind Soul Solution.

Q: What is the book about?
A: The Body Mind Soul Solution is a self-help program that combines the benefits of physical exercise, the psychotherapeutic technique of self-questioning about your personal traumas, listening to music and journaling as a means to heal emotional pain. Exercise by itself has been proven to decrease depression, alleviate anxiety, increase confidence and improve self-esteem. The Body Mind Soul Solution will do all that and heal emotional pain that may have been present since childhood. The book is user friendly, written without psychobabble jargon, using case studies and the author’s personal stories that make the book a great read.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I have been a psychotherapist in private practice for over twenty years. I have worked with children, adolescents and adults. I have been instrumental in assisting victims of emotional and/or physical violence recover from trauma and no longer be victims. I have also had my own issues dealing with grief, rejection, loss, and resolving emotional pain. This has allowed me to be empathetic to those who also suffer from these issues.

This is my second book; my first one is titled Redemption of the Shattered: A Teenager’s Healing Journey through Sand Tray Therapy. I have been featured in The Dallas Morning News, The Hartford Courant, The Miami Herald, The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch, USA Today, The San Francisco Chronicle, Natural Health Magazine, The Library Journal, Grand Magazine, Positive Thinking Magazine, Lee’s Summit Journal and Womansday.com. I have written articles published in DrLaura.com, Beliefnet.com, Sheknows.com, Ediets.com, Selfgrowth.com, Care2.com and Psychotherapy.net.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: The Body Mind Soul Solution has received rave reviews:

The Library Journal Review says the book is “highly recommended”.

The Miami Herald states: “Run through your anger and bike through your anguish with The Body Mind Soul Solution: Healing Emotional Pain Through Exercise ($15.95, Pegasus). It explores different kinds of emotional pain and helps you search for the source so your mind and body can work in concert to resolve pain emotional issues.”

The Saint Louis Post Dispatch says: “Bob Livingstone has written an emotionally charged book about personal revelations gained while exercising his body and mind. His program combines daily exercise with practical self-help psychotherapy techniques to relieve emotional pain and achieve total well-being. In offering the programs, Livingstone, a psychotherapist for the last 19 years, reveals much of the emotional pain he has endured.”

New York Times best selling author of The Fat Flush Diet, Anne Louis Gittleman calls the book “ground breaking”.

Visit www.boblivingstone.com for more information.

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Coping with Crisis is written for anyone who wants to know how to help others deal successfully with the aftermath of their exposure to a traumatic incident. In other words, all those who might need to comfort, or assist, people who have been affected by the pain and grief resulting from an accident, disaster or emergency situation should read this book. This might include members of the emergency services, emergency managers, disaster recovery specialists or practising trauma counsellors.

Q: What is the book about?
A: The book describes, in simple layman’s terms, a four-step counselling procedure known as Restabilization in which the emotional impact of a crisis can be understood and handled in such a manner as to enable the victim to face the future again with confidence. It is a disciplined procedure with specific objectives, employing a rigorous technique with clearly defined endpoints. The method does require a disciplined approach on the part of the counsellor and so the book includes a number of exercises to help the reader develop, or refine, the muzzled communication style which is an essential aspect of this approach.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: The author has spent the past 30 years of his life working in the area of disaster recovery disaster recovery and emergency management. He draws from his experience of direct exposure to dozens of real-life disasters, almost a hundred emergencies and countless problem situations. He has also benefited from the indirect experience of many more, gained from talking to, and working with, victims of various crises. Holder of a Lifetime Achievement award, he is a Founding Fellow and a Board member of the Business Continuity Institute, a Freeman of the City of London and a Knight of Grace within the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem.

There is probably nobody better qualified to understand the circumstances under which people’s normal coping strategies break down, leaving them with unhealthy reactions to the scenario and their reducing their ability to deal with the problems which may face them. He studied at the coal face and honed his skills before settling down to analyse what he had learned to establish a consistently reliable workable methodology which has been shown to produce long-lasting results for a wide range of clients. There are a number of case studies included in the book illustrating the broad scope of cases which the precise methodology of Restabilization has resolved successfully.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: The book opens with a description of the five emotions which a catastrophic incident may provoke and how they affect a person’s subsequent thoughts and actions. These reactions range from the debilitating effect of confronting fear for the first time through to the liberating effect of recognising one’s true capability. Each of these ‘discoveries of stress’ is likely to trigger a chronic reaction to whatever was perceived as the cause of that initial experience and these reactions are described so the reader can understand what they are likely to be called upon to deal with. The crisis intervention technique which is designed to deal with these chronic symptoms is introduced and the four stages of treatment are described as a viable means of returning someone to normal.

Each of the four sessions is then covered in some detail to provide the counsellor with the knowledge and confidence to engage in the process in the full knowledge that they will be in a position to guide a client through to a successful outcome; confidence in their ability to face the future. Because the process is dependent upon the use of carefully controlled but fluent communication techniques, the book outlines a code for counsellors which needs to be adhered to when conducting this type of work. This is supported by a series of useful exercises which have been specially designed to boost the counsellor’s ability to maintain the required communication protocol throughout the counselling sessions. Incidentally, these same techniques may also prove beneficial in controlling and maintaining a conversation in normal daily life.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: The basic idea behind Restabilization, the identification and correction of one’s reactions to a past incident, can be used in a group session to raise the emotional tone of a group who have shared the experience of a crisis event. This will help to alleviate the symptoms of many and provide an opportunity for others to come forward to seek additional help; providing, of course, it is handled correctly in accordance with the counsellors’ code.

The Dark Serpent Dilemma and Technique is an interesting approach to the solving of problems which can help people think a situation through and apply a logical strategy to resolve any problem situation; this may help them to avoid mistakes of the past where an emotion based response may have proved to be inadequate or inappropriate.

Coping with Crisis offers a pragmatic approach to dealing with a regularly occurring type of incident and its consequences. It is a practical handbook rather than an academic exposition, although the science behind it is quite sound. Well illustrated and easy to read.