Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: People interested in being able to create with conflict, eliminate struggle, or simply improve their relationships. The book is a useful tool for both business and personal lives.

Q: What is the book about?
A: This is a practical how to book. I blend concepts from the martial arts and science to create a simple method for people to apply to conflict, decision making, or just getting off ‘stuck’ to finish something. This method is called: Spiral Impact. Spiral Impact contrasts the typical ‘just do it’ hammer approach with a spiral approach which requires less energy, has more stability and gives a better long term outcome–just like the difference between a nail and a screw.

Each section begins with an analogy from my personal practice of aikido, the Japanese art of reconciliation, which is based on position, not force. The power of aikido is created by moving in a spiral. To translate this spiral effect to regular life I have defined four quadrants, or primary areas of focus: Knowledge, Focused Energy, Intention and Support. Power is achieved through Quadrant Shifting. If you follow the model not only you do you achieve your desired outcome, you can do it with grace and ease.

This book is very practical and shares short stories, everyone can relate to, of people applying the concepts. It also contains detailed application maps in the last section of the book.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I have taught these concepts in organizations for over 17 years and have a wealth of experience in what works and what doesn’t when it comes to communication, relationships and conflict resolution. I apply these concepts to my own life and continually find it works! This year marks my twentieth year of aikido practice, so when I refer to the martial art it is from many years literally on the mat exploring relationship in a very physical and physiological way.

My first career and education was in engineering. I worked as an automotive engineer for 10 years. As one of the early women in this field, I certainly learned a lot about conflict, or I should say my inability to deal with it effectively. My engineering mind and training allows me to make this material very concrete for people. It matters very much to me that people get results.

Overall, my goal is to get people to think ‘Spiral Impact’ when they find themselves struggling or stuck. When they think ‘Spiral’ things begin to move easily.

I love this material because it takes a subject most of us would like to avoid and makes it entertaining and practical. Please join me in helping make ‘Spiral Impact’ a well known verb!

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: This book is concise and practical. It doesn’t require you to read a lot of boring theory. It is written for today’s ADD mind, easy to read. And, easy to pick up, open and find something worthwhile on the page.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: Yes, there is a companion CD available titled, Spiral Impact: Strengthening your Balance and Focus while Driving. One of the Quadrants in the Spiral Impact model is Focused Energy. Here I teach a concept called centering in the martial arts. This CD teaches the concept and then provides a track for centering while on your way to work; and a track for the end of the day to debrief and refocus. There is lovely acoustical guitar in the background. This was designed for driving but also can be used while sitting or walking.

Also, the book is available in audio CD read by me. The audio version is only available through www.spiralimpact.com.

Here are a few comments from readers:

“Spiral Impact is informative and useful desk reference for anyone who works or lives with other people. Karen has captured a lifetime of observations to help anyone stay centered and deal effectively with daily challenges.”
–Samuel Odle, President of Indianapolis Operations of Clarian Health

“Spiral Impact provides a road map to navigate personal and professional development with grace! Karen captures the essence of how to achieve great success. Every executive manager should have a copy!”
–Anthony Marmo, Administrator, Northeast Center for Special Care, Lake Katrine, NY and former CEO, Kingston Hospital, Kingston, NY.

“Through Spiral Impact, author Karen Valencic, takes on a topic the majority of us fear, Conflict. Valencic tackles conflict head on providing the tools for readers to shape it, mold it and ultimately dance with it!”
–Christine Van Marter, Corporate Communications Eli Lilly and Company and Creator of The Red Mask Foundation

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: 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.