Dear Reader,
Today's guest author, Lenore H. Gay, is a retired Licensed Professional Counselor. She ran a private counseling practice for ten years, and later served as the Coordinator of the Internship Program at the Rehabilitation Counseling Department, Virginia Commonwealth University. The Virginia Center for Creative Arts (VCCA) has awarded Lenore two writing fellowships. Lenore's debut novel, Shelter of Leaves was a finalist for the Foreword Book of the Year Award. Her second novel, Other Fires has just been released.
About Other Fires...
Joss and Phil's already rocky marriage is fragmented when Phil is injured in a devastating fire and diagnosed with Capgras delusion--a misidentification syndrome in which a person becomes convinced that a loved one has been replaced by an identical imposter. Faced with a husband who no longer recognizes her, two young daughters, a looming book deadline, and an attractive but complicated distraction named Adam complicating her situation even further, Joss has to decide what she wants for her family--and what family even means.
Please welcome Lenore Gay to the book club, you can reach her here.
On the Five-Day Dance of Hands
The Monday through Friday Group Counseling class consisted of distance learners. Some were grumpy to have to travel so far to spend five days with strangers. Why can't this class be taught online they asked? I answered this question from more than one student. The time and location of the class wasn't my decision. The class met at a well-known Rehabilitation Center which had antiquated video equipment that wouldn't allow the class to see the closed-captions, even if the videos had captions. Of course, they did not.
A faculty decision said that the class would need four hearing interpreters for three students. Why so many interpreters? I didn't voice my concern aloud. I was more familiar with the psychiatric aspects of Rehabilitation Counseling than the physical disability aspects. No point in showing my ignorance at the beginning of class.
While I watched the hearing interpreters' hands move during class, though I realized they weren't only moving they were dancing words and concepts. The work was physically and mentally difficult, and it was continual. I understood why four people were needed. The language was challenging and lovely to watch. I was stunned and grateful.
One of the group presentations was composed of three students with hearing impairments, another student who wore life-long leg braces and a student who had no legs and only three fingers between both hands. This group with severe physical disabilities was asked to present to the class on Existentialism which they considered the best theory for its depth of understanding. It is a theory that transcends theory, as it is also a philosophy. It was not developed by a single person as a way of relating to the persons known as clients to be performed by another person known as a counselor, therapist and doctor.
The class had the advantage of watching a tape of groups in an outpatient setting, inpatient setting and an interview of a master Existential therapist, Irvin Yalom. However, the tapes alone could not account for the depth or richness of this presentation. When we discussed in small groups, I wondered, then answered my own wondering, by saying that it appeared great adversity had tumbled the stones of the self, polishing and shining them with understanding. A real knowing about authenticity, freedom and not blaming others. Taking responsibility.
By the end of the week some students were wondering why the class was so short. Some students asked me if the class could be held for a semester long.
-- Lenore H. Gay
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
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THE FOG LADIES: FAMILY MATTERS (A San Francisco Cozy Murder Mystery) by Susan McCormick
Are you a cozy mystery lover? The Fog Ladies are spunky senior sleuths plus an overtired, overstressed young medical resident living in an elegant apartment building in San Francisco. In this newest installment, a family man kills his wife with kitchen shears, and the Fog Ladies set out to prove him innocent, finding that marriage can be deadly.
Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on THE FOG LADIES to read more and to email author Susan McCormick, you'll get a reply.
KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.
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