An Exclusive Interview with Shalen Lowell, Author of the Debut Novel Gender Optics
January 15, 2021 by Robyn Hussa Farrell
Filed under Body Image, Eating Disorders, Empowerment, Featured, Finding Your Voice, Freedom, LGBT, Loving Your Body, Self Esteem, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care, Self-Compassion, Social Justice, Writing and Poetry
Shalen Lowell(they/them) is a transgender and genderfluid author, blogger, and poet originally from Woburn, Massachusetts, who now resides in Southern Maine. They specialize in fiction that represents the intersection of fantasy and postmodern genres and queer literature, with particular emphasis on illustrating, highlighting, and validating the lives, struggles, and experiences of nonbinary and gender nonconforming […]
An Exclusive Interview with Celebrated Novelist Patricia Leavy about Twinkle
December 27, 2020 by Robyn Hussa Farrell
Filed under Body Image, Depression, Empowerment, Featured, Finding Your Voice, PTSD, Self Esteem, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care, Self-Compassion, Social Justice, Writing and Poetry
Patricia Leavy, Ph.D. is an independent sociologist and best-selling author. She has published over 30 books, earning critical and commercial success in both nonfiction and fiction, and her work has been translated into numerous languages. She is also the creator and editor for ten book series with Oxford University Press, Brill/Sense, and Guilford Press, the […]
An Exclusive Interview with Renowned Novelist Patricia Leavy about Shooting Stars
July 5, 2020 by Patricia Leavy
Filed under Activism, Body Image, Empowerment, Featured, Finding Your Voice, Healthy Communication, Self Esteem, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care, Self-Compassion, Social Justice, Wellness, Writing and Poetry
Patricia Leavy, Ph.D., is an independent sociologist and best-selling author. She has published over 30 books, earning critical and commercial success in both nonfiction and fiction, and her work has been translated into numerous languages. She is also the creator and editor for ten book series with Oxford University Press, Brill/Sense, and Guilford Press, the […]
Patricia Leavy on Her Highly-Anticipated Novel, Film
November 10, 2019 by Robyn Hussa Farrell
Filed under Activism, Activism, Advocacy, Body Image, Empowerment, Featured, Finding Your Voice, Healthy Communication, Loving Your Body, Media Literacy, Politics, Role Models, Self Esteem, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care, Self-Compassion, Social Justice, Wellness
Patricia Leavy, Ph.D. is an independent sociologist and best-selling author. She has published over 25 books, earning critical and commercial success in both nonfiction and fiction, with over one million copies in equivalent sales. Her work has been translated into numerous languages. She is also the creator and editor for eight book series with Oxford […]
Patricia Leavy on her Ground-Breaking Novel Spark
March 2, 2019 by Robyn Hussa Farrell
Filed under Activism, Activism, Advocacy, Body Image, Empowerment, Expressive Arts, Expressive Arts Therapies, Featured, Loving Your Body, Media Literacy, Politics, Prevention, Recovery, Role Models, Self Esteem, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care, Self-Compassion
We sat down with Dr. Leavy to learn all about her new novel, Spark. Here’s the interview! Patricia Leavy, Ph.D. is an independent sociologist and best-selling author. She has published twenty-six books, earning critical and commercial success in both nonfiction and fiction, a rare feat by any author. Her work has been translated into numerous […]
The Days After Thanksgiving: Thankful Reflections
November 28, 2018 by Joanna Poppink
Filed under Empowerment, Finding Your Voice, Self Esteem, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care, Wellness
Joanna Poppink, day after Thanksgiving in Hotel Bel Air gardens. Photo by Delilah Hirshland After the joy, stress, sorrow and clean up is passed you may feel motivated to move ahead toward the upcoming holidays with a pang. Thanksgiving comes and goes so quickly. What was all that activity and emotion about? Your Thanksgiving may […]
Phenomenal Women: A Portrait Gallery of Role Models by Robyn Hussa Farrell
May 28, 2018 by Robyn Hussa Farrell
Filed under Activism, Activism, Advocacy, Art Therapy, Body Image, Creative Art, Empowerment, Expressive Arts, Expressive Arts Therapies, Featured, Finding Your Voice, Healthy Communication, Healthy Communication, Healthy Coping, Livin in the Moment, Media Literacy, Mindfulness, Moms & Sisters, Politics, Prevention, Role Models, Self Esteem, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care, Self-Compassion, Sharing Feelings, Social Justice, Spirituality, Stress Management, Treatment, Wellness, Wellness, Writing and Poetry
In celebration of the 10th year of this empowerment blog site, #RealDeal Editor, Robyn Hussa Farrell, shares this “gallery of role models” and fierce women leaders. Each of the below paintings were created while reflecting on the abundance of women role models in my life. In honor and celebration of each of them, I wanted […]
It’s Okay to Have Conflicting Thoughts on How You Want to Eat
April 6, 2018 by Karen R. Koenig
Filed under Anxiety, Binge Eating, Dieting, Disordered Eating, Healthy Coping, Healthy Eating, Intuitive Eating, Mindfulness, Recovery, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care
It’s not uncommon to have mixed feelings or thoughts. I’ve written about this dynamic related to eating and body image in Starting Monday and in The Food and Feelings Workbook. How can we not have them? I lie in bed many mornings thinking about how I both do and don’t want to arise and begin […]
What If You Never Lose the Weight?
February 4, 2018 by Karen R. Koenig
Filed under Binge Eating, Body Image, Disordered Eating, Fat Acceptance, Loving Your Body, Obesity, Recovery, Self-Acceptance, Self-Care, Self-Compassion, Weight Stigma
A topic that has cropped up with clients recently is the question of what to do if they keep trying to eat more healthfully, exercise and take better care of their bodies and still don’t lose weight. Clients dance around this question and I suspect I do too at times. They want reassurance that if […]
Are You Often Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop?
September 6, 2017 by Karen R. Koenig
Filed under Anxiety, Binge Eating, Depression, Disordered Eating, Empowerment, Healthy Coping, Mental Health, PTSD, Recovery, Self Esteem, Self-Care, Stress Management, Wellness
Do you ever feel as if things are going swimmingly in your life—even as you’re waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop? If you frequently feel this paradoxical tug of simultaneous joy and fear, let me explain this dynamic and what you can do about it, the goal being that you lose the fear […]