Helping Families Be Happy

Buy the Avocado Toast with Stephanie Bousley

Carla Marie Manly, PhD, speaks with author Stephanie Bousley about Buy the Avocado Toast: How to Crush Student Debt, Make More Money, and Live Your Best Life.

https://familius.com/buy-the-avocado-toast

Stephanie Bousley is a millennial who once found herself in over $250,000 of student loan debt. In her new financial self-help book, Buy the Avocado Toast: How to Crush Student Debt, Make More Money, and Live Your Best Life she helps readers find inventive, out-of-the-box ways to improve their finances and self-worth while addressing the real issues causing them to self-sabotage financially.  

About Buy the Avocado Toast: What if the solution to student debt was reinvesting in yourself?

Are you a smart, hard-working person who always seems to struggle financially? Do you ever second-guess decisions to pursue higher education because of your student loans? Has extreme budgeting eliminated joy and comfort from life, yet you’re still several years away from being debt-free?

Conventional wisdom tells us the formula for success is simple: go to school, get a job, work hard, repeat as needed until you retire. It tells us that debt is the result of poor choices and irresponsible spending. Unfortunately, such advice fails to take into account the recent (and not-so-recent) graduates for whom predatory student lending rates have set them back tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars before they even enter the job market. 

In Buy the Avocado Toast, Stephanie Bousley shares lessons learned through years of working hard and perpetually undervaluing herself while coming to terms with owing almost $300,000 in student debt. Through a holistic approach to both net worth and self-worth, Bousley offers readers hope for their own financial situations by providing step-by-step instructions on reducing debt, living better, and rooting out the self-defeating beliefs that keep us broke. 

 

 

Are You Living with a Narcissist? with Laurie Hollman, Ph.D.

Laurie Hollman, Ph.D. joins Carla Marie Manly, Ph.D. for a conversation about Laurie's book Are You Living with a Narcissist? How Narcissistic Men Impact Your Happiness, How to Identify Them, and How to Avoid Raising One

https://www.familius.com/book/are-you-living-with-a-narcissist/

ABOUT THE BOOK:

What’s the difference between narcissism and normal love? In the current political and social climate, narcissistic tendencies are coming under more scrutiny, but there are so many nuances to navigate, and many women don't know how to identify or respond to narcissists when they meet them, especially if they happen to be in their own home. In Are You Living with a Narcissist?, psychoanalyst Laurie Hollman, PhD, helps you identify the narcissists in your life and recognize the effect they have on your family and happiness—and what to do about it. This groundbreaking, thoroughly researched guide explores:

• the symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder;
• the spectrum of healthy to pathological narcissism;
• how to raise a child so that he does not become a narcissist;
• how spouses of narcissists can live happy, healthy lives;
• the relationship between male narcissism and violence;
• the impact of culture on narcissism;
• and more!

ABOUT LAURIE HOLLMAN, PH.D: 

Laurie Hollman, PhD, is an award-winning author and psychoanalyst with specialized clinical training in infant-parent, child, adolescent, and adult psychotherapy. She has been on the faculties of New York University and the Society for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, among others, and has written extensively on parenting for various publications, including her popular column, “Parental Intelligence,” at Moms Magazine.

 

Part 2: How to Raise Perfectly Imperfect Kids and Be OK with It with Debra Fox Gansenberg, MSW, LICSW

Debra Fox Gansenberg, MSW, LICSW joins Dr. Carla Marie Manly to continue the discussion about How to Raise Perfectly Imperfect Kids and Be OK with It. 

https://www.familius.com/book/how-to-raise-perfectly-imperfect-kids-and-be-ok-with-it/

Debra Fox Gansenberg, MSW, LICSW, is the founder and owner of New Beginnings Counseling Service PC, located around the North Shore of Boston. She has a 25-year history working in the mental health field as a skilled clinical psychotherapist and business owner specializing in individuals, couples, group, and family therapy. Debra has also been the Director of School Services for NBCS for more than 20 years, and she has customized and implemented school-based counseling services for several schools, pre-K through 12th grade. Her caseload includes a wide variety of patients cultivating their communication skills, learning coping skills, problem-solving, and improving the quality of their relationships, as well as traveling through self-exploration. Debra has an eclectic approach to tackling a wide variety of issues that range from depression and anxiety to self-management, self-esteem, and learning differences. Her experience includes clinical therapy, psycho-education, public speaking, creating curriculum, business management/business operations, and clinical supervision. She received her counseling degree from Simmons College, School of Social Work. She lives north of Boston with her husband and three sons.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Helicopter parent, tiger parent . . . lawnmower parent? 

Generation Z has a reputation of entitlement, but this attitude is often fostered by parents who mow down every obstacle in their child's path, never letting them fail. In How to Raise Perfectly Imperfect Kids and Be OK with It, humorist Lisa Sugarman takes her humanistic approach to parenting Gen Z kids and tells it like it is. Sugarman and Debra Fox Gansenberg, MSW, LICSW, remind parents that it's okay (and beneficial) for children to confront obstacles, it's okay if your children are not perfect, and it's okay to say "No." The goal is not to raise perfect children; the goal is to raise kind, responsible adults, and it's a process.

How to Raise Perfectly Imperfect Kids reminds the reader that mistakes and problems lead to lessons. Fixating on raising the smartest, fastest, most successful child will never result in a happy child (or a happy parent). With healthy doses of humor and reality, this book reminds us that our kids were never meant to be perfect, and perfectly imperfect kids can become wonderful, well-rounded adults if we just allow them to grow.

 

How to Raise Perfectly Imperfect Kids and Be OK with It with Lisa Sugarman

 

Lisa writes the nationally syndicated humor column "It Is What It Is" and is the author of LIFE: It Is What It Is, Untying Parent Anxiety: 18 Myths That Have You in Knots—And How to Get Free, and How To Raise Perfectly Imperfect Kids—And Be Ok With It, available on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, and at select bookstores everywhere. Lisa is a MentorMama at SocialMama, the free networking app for moms, and is a regular contributor on GrownAndFlown, This Mama Wines, MommingHubb, More Content Now, Wickedlocal.com, and Care.com. Her work has also appeared in TIME Magazine’s TIME for Parents, on LittleThings, Mamalode, 50 Shades of Aging, and on PBS Kids. She’s also the founder and moderator of The Vomit Booth, the popular Facebook parenting group where parents go to bond over the madness of parenthood. Lisa lives with her husband and two daughters just north of Boston in a tiny coastal town of twenty thousand people crammed onto a teensy peninsula. Visit her online at www.lisasugarman.com.
 

https://www.familius.com/book/how-to-raise-perfectly-imperfect-kids-and-be-ok-with-it/

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ABOUT THE BOOK
Helicopter parent, tiger parent . . . lawnmower parent? 

Generation Z has a reputation of entitlement, but this attitude is often fostered by parents who mow down every obstacle in their child's path, never letting them fail. In How to Raise Perfectly Imperfect Kids and Be OK with It, humorist Lisa Sugarman takes her humanistic approach to parenting Gen Z kids and tells it like it is. Sugarman reminds parents that it's okay (and beneficial) for children to confront obstacles, it's okay if your children are not perfect, and it's okay to say "No." The goal is not to raise perfect children; the goal is to raise kind, responsible adults, and it's a process.

How to Raise Perfectly Imperfect Kids reminds the reader that mistakes and problems lead to lessons. Fixating on raising the smartest, fastest, most successful child will never result in a happy child (or a happy parent). With healthy doses of humor and reality, Lisa Sugarman reminds us that our kids were never meant to be perfect, and perfectly imperfect kids can become wonderful, well-rounded adults if we just allow them to grow.

 

Dr. B Your Best, Author and Performance Psychologist

Dr. B Your Best (Ben Bernstein) joins Familius CEO and co-founder Christopher Robbins for a discussion about strategies to crush stress and B Your Best even in challenging and uncertain times.

• Crush Your Test Anxiety: https://www.familius.com/book/crush-your-test-anxiety/
• Stressed Out! For Parents: https://www.familius.com/book/stressed-out-for-parents/
• Stressed Out! For Teens: https://www.familius.com/book/stressed-out-for-teens/
• A Teen's Guide to Success:https://www.familius.com/book/a-teens-guide-to-success-2/

Ben's background, from his website https://www.drbyourbest.com/: "As a young child I was a prodigious piano player. I immersed myself in Mozart, Beethoven and Bartok and my imagination took flight. Yet when I was forced to perform in recitals and competitions playing the piano became a nightmare. I sat in front of audiences and judges and my hands and knees shook. No one helped me. All I heard were unanswerable questions and non-sequiturs, What’s the matter with you? It’s all in your head! You’ll grow out of it.

It took me years to work through my performance anxiety and the physical, mental and spiritual suffering that went with it. Through my own self-study and training, I brought myself out of the shell of tension, self-doubt and distraction so I could live fully in the freedom of who I am. We all have that birthright: to live into our fullest potential. When I work with people I see what they are capable of, what binds them to unproductive habits, and I train them to be their best. 

From my own experiences and training, I now pass on to every person I work with– whether it’s a high school student with poor SAT scores, a business executive who stutters during presentations, or a parent seized by indecision."

About the Publisher: Familius is a global trade publishing company that publishes books and other content to help families be happy. We believe that the family is the fundamental unit of society and that happy families are the foundation of a happy life. We recognize that every family looks different, and we passionately believe in helping all families find greater joy. To that end we publish books for children and adults that invite families to live the Familius Nine Habits of Happy Family Life: love together, play together, learn together, work together, talk together, heal together, read together, eat together, and laugh together. Founded in 2012, Familius is located in Sanger, California.

 

Dr. Mike (Pediacast, Nationwide Children's Hospital) Discusses Family Wellness and Family Dinner

Dr. Mike Patrick joins Dr. Carla Marie Manly for a conversation about family wellness and family dinners. Dr. Mike is an emergency medicine physician at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. He serves as Medical Director of Digital Health for Nationwide Children’s and hosts two podcasts for the hospital: the award-winning PediaCast for parents… and PediaCast CME for healthcare providers. He began his journey in social media and podcasting in 2006 as a means to promote health literacy and advocate for children and families in his primary care practice. Since then, millions of listeners in all 50 U.S. states and over 100 countries have tuned-in to his weekly podcasts for pediatric news, answers to listener questions, interviews with pediatric and parenting experts and free Category 1 CME Credit. In addition to podcasting, Dr. Mike promotes health and wellness on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. He appears weekly on local CBS affiliate 10TV and has contributed to several digital and print publications, including the 700 Children’s Blog, KevinMD, Parents Magazine, Working Mother and Reader’s Digest. He is a Spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics and serves on the Executive Committee of the AAP’s Council on Communications and Media. Most recently, Dr. Mike developed and directs an academic healthcare communications curriculum and co-authored the textbook, Social Media for Medical Professionals. These endeavors equip students, residents and his colleagues with skills needed to engage the public in an efficient, effective and professional manner. 

Eat, Laugh, Talk with The Family Dinner Project

Carla Marie Manly, Ph.D. and Bri DeRosa of The Family Dinner Project discuss Eat, Laugh, Talk: The Family Dinner Playbook.

https://www.familius.com/book/eat-laugh-talk/

Research has shown what parents have known for a long time: sharing a fun family meal is good for the spirit, brain, and health of all family members. Recent studies link regular family meals with higher grade-point averages, resilience, and self-esteem. Additionally, family meals are linked to lower rates of substance abuse, teen pregnancy, eating disorders, and depression.

Eat, Laugh, Talk: The Family Dinner Playbook gives you the tools to have fun family dinners with great food and great conversation. The book includes conversation starters as well as quick and easy recipes to bring your family closer. You will find tips for bringing your family to the table such as setting dinnertime goals, overcoming obstacles, managing conflicting schedules, and how to engage everyone in the conversation. 

Eat, Laugh, Talk also includes real stories from families who have successfully become a part of The Family Dinner Project’s growing movement. Let’s do dinner! 

Expressive Writing for Healing with Mary Potter Kenyon

Carla Marie Manly, Ph.D. and Mary Potter Kenyon discuss Mary's book Expressive Writing for Healing, and the importance of creating in uncertain times.

https://www.familius.com/book/expressive-writing-for-healing/

Writing is one of the oldest and most effective means of self-exploration, self-expression, and self-discovery. In this new guided journal, Mary Potter Kenyon offers readers an opportunity to reflect on the meaning and significance of loss and allows the griever to sort through all the conflicting emotions that arise after a death. By interweaving her own experiences of loss, the proven research behind writing as a method for healing, and blank pages with carefully chosen quotes, Kenyon gives readers space to express the feelings that are sometimes too painful to speak aloud. 

Mary Potter Kenyon works as Program Coordinator for Shalom Spirituality Center and is a public speaker, a workshop presenter, and a writing instructor. Mary is the author of five previous Familius titles, including the award-winning Refined by Fire: A Journey of Grief and Grace, Expressive Writing for Healing, and the upcoming Called to Be Creative, and is widely published in newspapers, magazines, and anthologies, including ten Chicken Soup for the Soul books.

 

Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts with Author Karen Kleiman

Carla Marie Manly, PhD, and Karen Kleiman, MSW, discuss the Familius title Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts. Over 90 percent of new mothers will have scary, intrusive thoughts about their baby and themselves. Yet for too many mothers, those thoughts remain secret, hidden away in a place of shame that can quickly grow into anxiety, postpartum depression, and even self-harm. But here's the good news: you CAN feel better!

https://www.familius.com/book/good-moms-have-scary-thoughts/

Author Karen Kleiman—coauthor of the seminal book This Isn't What I Expected and founder of the acclaimed Postpartum Stress Center—comes to the aid of new mothers everywhere with a groundbreaking source of hope, compassion, and expert help. Good Mothers Have Scary Thoughts is packed with world-class guidance, simple exercises, and nearly 50 stigma-busting cartoons from the viral #speakthesecret campaign that help new moms validate their feelings, share their fears, and start feeling better. 

Maria Sansone Shares Her Postpartum Experience

Maria Sansone and Carla Marie Manly, Ph.D. talk about Maria's postpartum experience and the importance of talking about mental health and supporting new moms.