MSI Press Blog

  Today's shared blog post comes from Franki Bagdade, author of the award-winning book,  I Love My Kids, But I Don't Always Like Them . This week, Franki shares the second most popular post of 2025: Things I Say as a Therapist about Anxiety . For more posts by and about Franki, click  HERE . Book Description: Selected as Independent Authors' Network Book of the Year as the Outstanding Parenting Book and winner of the Literary Titan Gold Award, I Love My Kids, But I Don't Always Like Them, is the ultimate survival guide for parents living through one of the strangest times in history. This " how to guide" will support you even if you are exhausted and burnt out in improving your child(ren)'s behavior. Written by an expert with 20 years of experience in behavioral observation in the classroom, in overnight camp, and more. Franki's storyteller cadence helps the book to read as if it's a casual conversation and pep talk between two parents over coffee....

  Excerpt from  Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star Affective Dissonance: Anxiety   Everyone experiences anxiety, no matter how capable or how easy a life any person seems to have. [1] Everyone has problems; just scratch the surface. And problems create anxiety. Generally, the greatest source of anxiety comes from not having the means to resolve a problem even if you know how to resolve it. If you cannot pay rent because your income is too low, of course, you will feel some anxiety. Classroom anxiety comes from a similar source—except often the lack of means of resolving a problem is a perceived lack, not a real lack. You are nervous about a test because you don’t have enough time to study, but you have waited until the last minute so you need to cram. Of course, you feel anxiety. You probably also realize that you did not have to wait until the last minute, and next time you can rectify it. Some students experience severe test anxiety. Th...

  Excerpt from  Anxiety Anonymous  by Dr. Dennis Ortman --  Introduction   “Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe.” —Tao Te Ching  In our fast-paced society, living with stress seems normal. There is so much to do and so little time to do it. You may rationalize the stress as the inevitable price of ambition and success.  What you call stress is really anxiety. It is your fearful, nervous reaction to the many challenges of your life. That anxiety may escalate and persist to the point that you tell yourself: “I’m powerless over my anxiety, and my life has become unmanageable because of it.”   If your anxious reactions become harmfully excessive and beyond your control, you have crossed a line. You have become addicted to your anxiety. You experience it as powerful as any drug, taking over your life.  Nancy’s Story   Tonight was a special night for Nancy. She planned a surprise thirtieth birthday dinner...

  In her most recent blog post, Diana Keathley, author of the award-winning book, GodSway , writes: I know someone who lives nearby who struggles with anxiety. We all do to a certain extent. That is, we all deal with anxiety to one degree or another… and, many of us know someone who suffers greatly from it. I myself have as well. This young man is handsome, intelligent, gentle, loving, very talented musically, and funny. He believes in God and knows that Jesus is His Son. I’m actually very fond of the man. Yet I’ve watched him go through a number of phases of dependency in his efforts to deal with the anxiety – from vodka to marijuana, from prescription anxiety meds back to medical marijuana. Truth is, he is much the same, at least from outward observations, as he was a decade ago – except ten years older – still stuck, paralyzed with fear about a variety of issues: working, how to begin looking for a job, what kind of job, how to explain why he hasn’t been working, loss of faith a...

  In "Putting the Fun into Functional Anxiety," Franki Bagdade, author of  I Love My Kids, But I Don't Always Like Them ,  writes: I woke up gasping for breath. I had a horrible nightmare. I was with the girls in some big city, I was holding something in my hand (yogurt, actually, whatever subconscious...) and I told Ruby not to run towards the bridge and she did and flipped over it and I woke up with the startle that I lost her. Read the rest HERE . Awards IAN Book of the Year Literary Titan Gold Award For more posts about Franki and her book, click  HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter 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 . 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. W...