Make humor not war – one author’s fun coping method to get through family Holidays
Home for the Holidays doesn’t always pull up visions of sweet, sugar candy classics like I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas. For most people it’s probably more like a blend of National Lampoon’s: Christmas Vacation or maybe even The Nightmare Before Christmas! Add a little more tension with the fact that many people have lost their jobs and homes this year, and it definitely spells trouble. The Dysfunctional Family Funbook: Games and Activities to Keep You Sane Your Whole Visit Home (Running Press) by Catheryn J. Brockett is part activity book-part survival kit for the Holidays and this witty parody offers the perfect outlet to prevent you from hitting the family or the bottle (or both)!
Designed along the lines of a children’s activity book, The Dysfunctional Family Funbook comes with paper doll cut-outs, word searches, mazes, connect-the-dots, and many other activities, making it the perfect antidote to Holiday stress. Brockett provides everything in her ‘adult’ book from puzzles and games to exploring a number of attractive escape options when all that company gets to be too much, reminding readers that her games and activities are not to share with the family – but more a book you use to stay sane while around them!
Hatched during a time that the author was estranged from her own family, Brockett found that humor has a capacity to unite as well as uplift, and as a result she found herself doing stand-up comedy on a subject near and dear to her heart – her own dysfunctional family!
Catheryn Brockett is a writer, actor and comedian and has performed improv and sketch comedy in New York, Washington and Los Angeles. She has appeared in numerous television shows and commercials. Originally from the suburbs of Maryland, she spent a few years in theatre in New York then on to settle ‘happily ever after’ in Los Angeles. She is currently busy writing more fun books and survival guides and creating mini-kits for life’s hard times and is intent on making the world a better place one chuckle at a time!
Please check out her entertaining (“cheaper than therapy”) book at her website:www.dysfunctionalfamilyfunbook.com or visit the author at: www.catherynjbrockett.com .
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James Hollis, PhD, best-selling author of What Matters Most & Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: “In The Dysfunctional Family Funbook, Catheryn Brockett uses humor to turn pain into pure gold, and for those cast by fate into a familial web, whether their tears come from sorrow or laughter, she recovers a vital measure of autonomy.”
Britt Nielsen, Psy.D: “The Dysfunctional Family Funbook hooks you with humor and games. Things may even hit home…Then somewhere after the drink recipes – you are learning coping strategies and communication skills and don’t even know it! Talk about covert therapy.”
Burnside Writer’s Collective: “…Well there is hope! Catheryn J. Brockett an actress and comedienne, has written a terrific book that’s part-fun, part-therapy, and completely entertaining. The Dysfunctional Family Handbook Games and Activities to keep you sane your whole trip home.”
The Undercurrent, Buena Vista University: “Sick of going home from college and feeling like you don’t fit in anymore? Do you feel as if you do not share much of the same interests or do not know how to have fun with your family? Maybe The Dysfunctional Family Funbook is what you need…”
