Daily Excerpt: Anxiety Anonymous (Ortman) - Introduction, Part 2 (A Personal Note)

 



Excerpt from Anxiety Anonymous by Dr. Dennis Ortman -- 

Introduction (continued from earlier post)

 A Personal Note 

Many strands of my life tie together in writing this book. 

I have been working as a psychologist in private practice for over twenty years. Each day I sit and listen to my patients tell me stories of their suffering and their efforts to find happiness. Their stories are always unique, heart-breaking and heart-warming. Over the years, I observed how many of my patients suffer a variety of addictions, some acknowledged and others overlooked. Most come for relief from emotional and mental pain and hardly recognize the many ways they self-medicate with drugs and activities. I also noticed the increasing number of patients who complain of being in the grip of intolerable anxiety. Since 9/11 it seems fear has taken hold of our society and found residence in many of my patients. That fear possesses many like an addiction. 

Before becoming a psychologist, I served as a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit. I worked in several different parishes. Much of my work was one-on-one counseling with parishioners who came to me to unburden themselves of their guilt and be consoled in their sorrows. I spent many hours in the confessional celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation, experiencing the power of God’s Word to bring them relief and challenge them to live a fuller life. 

As a seminarian preparing for the priesthood, I had the good fortune to study Catholic/Christian theology in depth at the Gregorian University in Rome, the heart of Roman Catholicism. I also spent a summer in India, experiencing the richness of the Eastern culture and religious traditions. Over time, it dawned on me that the spiritual traditions of the West and the East are not as irreconcilable as I imagined. Both share a unity in the practical wisdom they offer to lead a good, wholesome life. 

A third life strand has enabled me to unite the wisdom of modern psychology and the ancient wisdom traditions in an unexpected way. I grew up in an alcoholic family, struggling with my own worries about the wellbeing of my family and myself. I attended Al-Anon meetings and read about Adult Children of Alcoholics, learning how much I was personally in the grip of an illness called codependency. Participating in the Al-Anon meetings and reading the literature, I came to appreciate the power of the Twelve Steps to bring freedom and wholeness to my life. 

This book is the fruit of my reflections on my own life experience and that of my patients.  

Finalist, Best Books Awards



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Julia Aziz, signing her book, Lessons of Labor, at an event at Book People in Austin, Texas.



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Steven Greenebaum, author of award-winning books, An Afternoon's Discussion and One Family: Indivisible, talking to a reader at Barnes & Noble in Gilroy, California.




   
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(recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, author advice, and more -- stay up to date)

Follow MSI Press on Twitter, Face Book, and Instagram. 

Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC?
Check out information on how to submit a proposal.

Planning on self-publishing and don't know where to start?
Our author au pair services will mentor you through the process.

Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book
 in exchange for reviewing a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book?
Contact editor@msipress.com.

Want an author-signed copy of this book?
Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25)
and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.
Want to communicate with one of our authors?
You can!
Find their contact information on our Authors' Pages.

   
MSI Press is ranked among the top publishers in California.
Check out our rankings -- and more -- HERE.


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