Reviews
“Mary Ellen Trahan, wisewoman extraordinaire, introduces us to a larger vision than the crippling “woundology” of pop psychology. Setting us free from our identities as “patients,” this vision invites us to honor our own vital lives as journeys rather than as pathologies to be fixed. Living Well, Living Wise is a must-read for anyone yearning for a deeper, more meaningful life.”
Melissa Gayle West, M.S., LMHC, author of Silver Linings: Finding Hope, Meaning and Renewal During Times of Transition
“The publication of Mary Ellen Trahan’s Living Well, Living Wise is a major event. Written by a professional therapist who just happens to be a wise and profoundly compassionate soul, the book diagnoses how our modern Western cultures have come to overstress psychotherapeutic notions (like those of disease and victimhood) in lieu of heeding the call to enact the richness of a mature moral life with one another. I know of no other book that sets forward these themes, let alone with such clarity, depth, and skill in reaching the general reader and trained psychologist alike. This is a landmark text — one for all of us to celebrate, as it shows us how to honor the miracle of being born human through becoming responsible, joyous individuals who dwell in responsive communion with each other.”
Michael Schwartz, Ph.D., Professor of History and Philosophy of Art, Georgia Regents University
“Living Well, Living Wise is an important and well researched corrective to our culture’s tendency to categorize everyone into a named syndrome or illness. Dr. Trahan helps us see that such easy labels as ‘He’s PTSD,’ ‘She’s ADD,’ or even ‘I’m a depressive’ oversimplifies the complex richness that we call a human life — and in doing so, invites us to ignore or run over real issues that may be at work as a human being struggles towards wholeness. This is an important book, and long overdue!”
Robert K. C. Forman, Ph.D., author of Enlightenment Ain’t What It’s Cracked Up To Be, Co-Founder The Journal of Consciousness Studies
“Dr. Trahan has done a masterful job of exposing the hazards of excessive pathologizing, and has performed a great service by expanding the boundaries of psychotherapy to encompass the vast, fertile terrain of spirituality. Living Well, Living Wise will help readers avoid the trap of conventional self-diagnosis and discover rich opportunities to guide their growth and development from within.”
Philip Goldberg, author of American Veda and Roadsigns on the Spiritual Path: Living at the Heart of Paradox