family – The Self-Help Whisperer®

Winter Pals

3 Mar 2023

So, I guess there is yet another side to my word this year: Surrender. It’s an even more primal acceptance of the FACT that something is **really** wrong with my…

Self-Help Whispering

Runes – Another neat thing to toss into your self-help kit

14 Apr 202214 Apr 2022

I haven’t had Runes - actual Runes - until recently, though I did have rune(s) cards (thanks to Mom!). I liked the cards a lot but always wanted an actual…

Photography

Picture of the Day “A Study in Mindfulness”

23 Jan 2022

Bette needs no one to tell her how to be mindful. She simply is.

From My Bookshelf

Fiction as Self-Help -The Pearl

19 Jan 2022

I usually do a fair bit of research before I write about the books I've read. I get links and read opinions, critiques, and histories of the authors. Then, I…

From My Bookshelf

Winnie the Pooh – Oh, Pooh!

16 Jan 20225 Sep 2022

What new thing can be said about a book known and loved by everyone I’ve ever met? Maybe this: ‘A gorgeous new collectible edition of the beloved classic, Winnie-the-Pooh, crafted as a…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – Soul Without Shame

21 Dec 20219 Feb 2023

If you’re looking for a quick-fix for your shame, Soul Without Shame by Byron Brown is NOT it. Not that it’s a difficult read – it isn’t – but that it’s heavy…

Self-Help Whispering

Comfort Food – Sweet Potato Soup

19 Nov 202114 Sep 2022

Tonight, my husband and I went different directions for dinner. He went pasta … I went potato. Come to think of it, we both went “comfort”! Whenever I tell anyone…

From My Bookshelf

Find Your Pleasure – A Professional Sensualist?

16 Aug 20219 Feb 2023

Every heard of a "professional sensualist"? Me, neither! Cynthia Loyst is a self-proclaimed one! Find Your Pleasure is about how we clunky humans fall into "pleasure deficits" - and let's…

From My Bookshelf

What Mama Taught Me – This Book is a Lighthouse

2 Aug 20219 Feb 2023

In doing research for today's book, I read a ton about the author Tony Brown, host of the longest-running series on PBS - Tony Brown's Journal. So, what I guess…

From My Bookshelf

Reviving Ophelia – Be everything, be nothing

3 Jul 20213 Jul 2021

July 3, 2021 Up for reblog today is a necessary and poignant book that broke my heart a little when I read it. Why? That would take longer to answer...…

From My Bookshelf

What Happened to You? – That is the question

4 May 20219 Feb 2023

Many books claim to be life-changers but few live up to the promise. Let me give you a head's up about What Happened to You? by Bruce D. Perry, MD,…

From My Bookshelf…

A Triad: On Inherited Trauma

17 Apr 202114 Feb 2023

This post will be a little different from others. I have chosen several excellent methods / modalities to convey this message: Ancestral and inherited family dysfunction and trauma MATTERS but…

Interviews

Interview – Patricia Call: Renaissance Woman

28 Mar 20219 Feb 2023

We first met Patricia Call in my shameless teaser about this interview HERE. I'm going to begin this interview by telling you that this one will be a little different than all…

Self-Help Whispering

Grief 101: Recover from Grief Website

23 Mar 20219 Feb 2023

I miss my dad. I find myself trying not to think about him because whenever I do, I'm sobbing. I know how very lucky and blessed I was to have…

From My Bookshelf

The Last Taboo – Mental Illness, thy name is Stigma

10 Feb 202113 Apr 2021

TW: Discussion of mental health disorders, suicide ideation and a deep dive into stigma. It seems only fitting that I link Canadian Amazon on a book about Mental Health in…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – When a Parent is Depressed

5 Feb 20216 Feb 2021

In the interest of honesty, I almost didn’t write today. I did a “Remember this one?” post yesterday and skipped the day before. Here I go again… into the spiral…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – How to Win Friends & Influence People

28 Jan 2021

How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie was published in 1936. The title back then was, “How to Wineth Friends and Infulenceth People”… just kidding. All I’m saying is that…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – Boundaries (Where You End and I Begin)

20 Jan 202124 Jan 2021

**Trigger Warning: Mention (without details) of childhood sexual abuse** There are many, many books on Boundaries. Most are very good. Just to give you an idea of how many there…

From My Bookshelf

Bradshaw On: The Family – Best of the best!

12 Jan 20219 Feb 2023

“We have no alternative. We must break the sacred rule and question these rules because unless we talk about them, there is no way out. We must evaluate them in…

Photography…

A poem -“Naked”

13 Nov 2020

Draw me Here, amongst my rumpled clothes Arms outstretched Grasping Though my soul knows It's time to let go. Grab my satin robe The red one, hanging on the door…

Photography

Picture of the Day -“A girl can dream…”

6 Nov 2020

I would love a home just like this, picket fence and all!

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one?* – Resilience

5 Nov 2020

In her final words, she said that “in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days…

From My Bookshelf

Hillbilly Elegy – The American Dream

26 Oct 202026 Sep 2022

Today's offering is not a self-help book but in typical Sheryl-fashion, I found threads that connect. Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance is a deeply authentic, heartbreaking book... even though our…

Self-Help Whispering

Stairway- A Haiku

12 Aug 202012 Aug 2020

Everyone I love Is somewhere along the way Bright light on both sides.

Interviews

Interview – Marcella Burgess: Grabbing onto life with both hands!

27 Jun 20209 Feb 2023

You will remember Marcella from my shameless teaser from last week, linked HERE. You know how you meet people along your life's path and sometimes, they end up walking with…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – Act Like a Lady (Think Like a Man)

11 Mar 2020

I dislike the title of this book. There. I said it. When I picked it up, I thought… what the heck does a comedian and game show host know about…

Photography

Picture of the Day -“Driving fun!”

27 Feb 2020

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my husband? He drives me in to work on days like today. Phew!

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – Will I Ever Be Good Enough?

12 Feb 202012 Feb 2020

Do I notice the irony of the subtitle on this blog post? Why yes, yes I do. It's taken me a long time to write about Will I Ever Be Good…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – How to Live Between Office Visits

8 Feb 20208 Feb 2020

Faith is the health's requisite - John Updike, from "Ode to Healing" It was an act of faith that led me to buy this book... because... as a person with…

From My Bookshelf

Remember this one? – Keep it Simple, Stupid

3 Feb 20209 Feb 2023

You know her, you love her (or hate her)… it’s Judge Judy Sheindlin. My copy is a formerly-loved library book and looks pretty thrashed. I picked it up anyway. I’d read it…

From My Bookshelf

How to Be Well – Buy it & Keep it!

6 Jan 20207 Jun 2022

How to Be Well by Frank Lipman, MD was a Christmas gift from my mother... and we all know by now that my mom is my own personal wise woman.…

Self-Help Whispering

2018: Year of Nurture 2019: Year of Water 2020: Year of Clarity

23 Dec 20199 Feb 2023

My yearly words don't take the place of each other... they're more like train cars, attaching to the last one in line as they go. I will continue to nurture…

From My Bookshelf

Lessons in Loss and Living – What would you do if you didn’t know better?

7 Dec 20199 Feb 2023

Oh yes, our old friend grief... again. *sigh* I typed "grief" into the search field of my blog and got this list. You can look if you want. I'll wait.…

From My Bookshelf

Do it Anyway – The Paradoxical Commandments

4 Dec 20199 Feb 2023

It would make more sense if I began with the book Anyway by Kent M. Keith. I know this. The trouble is, I don't have that book, I have this…

Photography

Picture of the Day -“#caturday with Bette!”

16 Nov 2019

I love this fuzz bottom. ♥️😻

From My Bookshelf

Mind Over Mood – First, you must understand the problem

28 Sep 20199 Feb 2023

Mind Over Mood by Dennis Greenberger, PhD and Christine A. Padesky, PhD is the perfect self-help book, if by self-help you mean actually doing stuff to ... you know... help yourself.…

From My Bookshelf

Toxic Parents – Emotional aftereffects

2 Sep 201916 Mar 2022

Trigger warning: Discussion of abuse. No details, no photos. Toxic Parents by Dr. Susan Forward has been patiently sitting on my shelf waiting for me to pick it up and write…

From My Bookshelf

The Couple’s Comfort Book – Where’s the beef?

12 Aug 20199 Feb 2023

The Couple's Comfort Book by Jennifer Louden may sound familiar to you. That's probably because I wrote about The Women's Comfort Book by the same author in January. This brings up two…

Interviews

Interview – Carol Hunt: A spicy beauty!

24 Jul 20199 Feb 2023

You first heard about Carol Hunt in my shameless teaser here. She is a beautiful woman - inside and out - and is a walking, talking example of what she believes…

Self-Help Whispering

Remember this one? – The Emotionally Abused Woman

19 Jul 201928 Oct 2022

Note: "Remember this one?" = Posts that you may have missed the first time around. This post was originally posted by me on February 13, 2018 The Emotionally Abused Woman by…

Photography…

Art as Self-Help – Whatever makes your heart sing!

26 Jun 20199 Feb 2023

I sat on my big comfy chair in my sitting room, next to an open window with a warm breeze ruffling my hair, and I thought about what I would…

If you have a medical or mental health emergency, call your doctor or 911.

Nothing contained in this blog (The Self-Help Whisperer®) is intended to establish or replace a physician-patient relationship or services.

If you are IN CRISIS and NEED TO TALK but don’t know who to call…

In USA: Mental Health America In Crisis? Call 1-800-273-TALK

Or elsewhere in the world – By Country, as compiled by Wikipedia

Suicide hotline numbers

Someone dies from suicide every 40 seconds

United States 1 800 273 8255

Canada 1 800 456 4566