In the important new children’s book, Bad Touching, author and retired OB/GYN Dr. Tiffanie Tate tackles the difficult topic of inappropriate touching in a way that young minds will understand.
The 32-page picture book uses simple language and lyric rhyme to tell the story of two young sisters, Lillie and Linda, who just want to make every adult happy. They live alone with their mother, and when she gets a new boyfriend, he helps take care of Lillie and Linda. He is nice at first, but that changes. Lillie and Linda learn that there are times when making everyone happy is not a good thing if it hurts them in the process. This story helps children understand and identify abusive situations and provides directions on how to seek help.
Bad Touching is Dr. Tate’s second book and is based on her personal experiences as a child. She did not disclose her abuse until she was an adult, she explained.
“My desire is to educate children about safe people they can confide in,” Dr. Tate said. “My hope is that this book will help children who are affected by abuse know they are not alone and let them know that it is all right to tell. I don’t want them to feel afraid or scared to talk about what is happening to them and wait for decades like I did.”
Then, amid her activism to help others, Dr. Tate was “badly touched” in a medical provider’s office while receiving care on January 24, 2023.
“It was a trigger that was traumatic, but instead of waiting like I did before, I immediately reached out and got the help I needed,” Dr. Tate said, adding that she reported the event to the office manager, filed a police report, and that the individual is in the process of being held accountable.
“There is still a lot to do,” she added, “but I want to be an advocate for women and children.”
About the Author
Originally from Compton, California, Dr. Tiffanie Tate is a Christian, mother, servant, listener and medically retired medical doctor. Her interest in becoming a physician began when she was in middle school, while volunteering with her church to help the homeless in Los Angeles. She saw people who were both hungry and sick. She wanted to do more than serve food. She wanted to help them in meaningful ways, so she became a physician.
Both of her biological parents were addicted to drugs. And while she never met her father, she had heard that he was homeless, and she couldn’t help but wonder whether he was one of the homeless she and her church were helping. With the loving support of her maternal family and, specifically, her maternal aunt who raised her (known as “Momtee”), Dr. Tate received the love, support and stability she needed to thrive and achieve her professional goals of becoming a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist. An injury led to her medical retirement, which inspired her to pursue her second passion: writing.
Dr. Tate is also a veteran of the U.S. Navy and served during the Global War on Terrorism. She believes in giving back and currently teaches residents by providing lectures on subjects in obstetrics and gynecology.
She is also the author of FloweTry: A Collection of 108 Poetic Flows on Life, Love, and Liturgical Issues, and the upcoming release, Little Engine Mia Sings, a children’s book that teaches about bullying and how to discourage it.
Bad Touching Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing ISBN-13: 979-8886850093 (paperback, 32 pages) Available from Amazon.com, BN.com and iTunes
###
Reviews, photos, links to previous interviews and Q&As are available upon request.
(This press release may be published in part or entirety by any print, broadcast or internet/digital media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing.)
Matthew Kenslow has amassed over 1 million followers on Instagram, nearly 70k on TikTok and over 65k YouTube subscribers by sharing his insights, real-world experiences and pearls of wisdom when it comes to navigating the world around him. At 6 years old, Kenslow was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome (now referred to as autism spectrum disorder).
“My autism awareness and acceptance videos should, hopefully, not just encourage the families of those on the spectrum, but also educate those who still need to learn about autism and then accept us for who we are, learning what we’re going through,” Kenslow said during an interview.
Today, Kenslow is a pianist, college graduate, substitute teacher and the author of the book Juggling the Issues: Living With Asperger’s Syndrome, in which he takes readers inside what it’s truly like for someone living with the disability.
“My main message that I tell hundreds of people is that I have not given up on my goals,” he writes in the book’s preface. “I persevere on my aspirations. If I can do that, certainly everybody else can too.”
Told through a series of stories about his personal experiences, Kenslow sheds light on the ways in which certain challenges have impacted his everyday life. The way his mind works is different, he says, and he has struggled with social and conversational skills, and poor eye contact. He explains that simple tasks take longer for him — like reading or organizing his thoughts — while remembering things like the president’s birth, term and death dates; the elements of the Periodic Table; and the books of the Bible come more easily.
Juggling the Issues: Living With Asperger’s Syndrome is an important read for anyone whose life has been touched by autism spectrum disorder. Kenslow’s insights aim to lend understanding, provide inspiration, and encourage readers to put aside differences and embrace the gifts that others have to share with the world.
“Behind the disability we have a heart and a mind; we have a calling and a purpose,” Kenslow added.
About the Author
Matthew Kenslow has grown up with a form of autism that was once referred to as Asperger’s syndrome. Life has been an adventure as he pieced together all of his surroundings amid both praises and taunts. His mission is to teach others from a firsthand perspective about how people with autism interpret things differently from the rest of the world. He feels he has been blessed with the gifts to juggle, play piano and recall facts about the American presidents, geography, science and mathematics. He juggles at elementary schools and encourages the students to never give up on their passions.
He has earned the Gold Medal of Achievement (which is equivalent to the rank of Eagle Scout) through Royal Rangers, a program he has been in since he was 5. Now, he is giving back to children and teenagers, teaching and mentoring them in a wide set of skills and knowledge. He graduated from Orange Coast College with an Associate of Science degree in Chemistry and with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry fromVanguard University of Southern California. He aspires to be a middle school math teacher. Recently, he earned a full math credential after student teaching Enhanced Mathematics at his former middle school, Ensign Intermediate School.Currently, he is going for a Master of Arts degree in Education at Vanguard University and is an employed substitute teacher for NMUSD, often being called by students as “the best sub” and begged by them to come back the next day or to sub for their class soon.
Follow Kenslow on Instagram (matthew_kenslow), Facebook (JugglingTheIssues), YouTube (@matthewkenslow722), Twitter (@matthewkenslow) and TikTok (@matthewkenslow).
Juggling the Issues: Living with Asperger’s Syndrome Publisher: River Birch Press ISBN-10: 1951561325 ISBN-13: 978-1951561321 Available from Amazon.com, BN.com and many other online retailers
###
Reviews, photos, links to previous interviews and Q&As are available upon request.
(This press release may be published in part or entirety by any print, broadcast or internet/digital media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing.)
The current mental health care system and its go-to protocol of diagnoses, drugs and hospitalization is falling short, and at least so far, has failed to meet the challenges posed by the current mental health crisis, says Dr. Cheryl L. Green, M.D., a lifestyle psychiatrist based in Southern California.
Moreover, a recent report from the CDC, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, broke the startling news that, among high school girls in the past year: 57% felt sad or hopeless; 30% considered suicide; 24% made a suicide plan; and 13% attempted suicide.
“Our teens have been experiencing grave problems in their mental health for over a decade, and the recent pandemic greatly deepened what was already a crisis,” Dr. Green said, adding that she has witnessed the rising tide of despair in teen girls firsthand at the medical university where she teaches and in her own private practice.
In her book, Heal Your Daughter: How Lifestyle Psychiatry Can Save Her from Depression, Cutting, and Suicidal Thoughts, Dr. Green presents a new paradigm for helping teenage girls with depression. She describes the new field of lifestyle psychiatry, and then walks parents or other caregivers through six concrete ways in which they can help their daughters develop health-promoting, depression-reversing habits. State of the art, evidence-based information and guidance is provided in six domains: nutrition, detoxification, exercise, sleep, emotional connectedness and stress reduction.
“The good news is that healing, even from the worst disasters of childhood and early adolescence, is possible,” Dr. Green writes in the book’s introduction. “The early traumas that life inflicts need not be ‘managed’ with ever-escalating doses of psychiatric medications; I believe that they actually can be healed — completely or almost completely healed. There is every reason for hope.”
Dr. Green explains that the method outlined in her book can be used in conjunction with traditional therapies or as a standalone treatment. The method doesn’t require a diagnosis. It is drug-free and affordable. And perhaps most importantly, it offers new hope to those who have given up on psychiatry and on the traditional mental health care system.
“Teen girls with depression are often overwhelmed, and are unable to help themselves,” Dr. Green added. “But you, the caregiver, can help them take tiny steps in the six domains described in the book. The more tiny steps taken, the closer teen girls can come to reclaiming the foundations of their physical and mental health.”
Ultimately, Heal Your Daughter and its companion book, The Heal Your Daughter Workbook, aim to make important new contributions to society’s collective understanding and support of today’s girls.
About the Author Dr. Cheryl L. Green is a lifestyle psychiatrist based in Southern California. She works part time at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, and part time in her own private practice based in the greater Los Angeles area. She holds degrees from Harvard University (A.B.), Princeton University (Ph.D.) and Stanford University School of Medicine (M.D.). She is board certified in Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Lifestyle Medicine. Her passion is inspiring others to achieve vibrant physical and mental health. She can be found online on her website, www.CherylLGreenMD.com.
Heal Your Daughter: How Lifestyle Psychiatry Can Save Her from Depression, Cutting, and Suicidal Thoughts Publisher: BookBaby Press Release Date: April 21, 2023 ISBN-10: 1667871242 ISBN-13: 978-1667871240 Available from Amazon.com, BN.com and other retailers
The Heal Your Daughter Workbook: Six Weeks to Feeling Good with Lifestyle Psychiatry Publisher: BookBaby Press Release Date: April 21, 2023 ISBN-10: 1667871269 ISBN-13: 978-1667871264 Available from Amazon.com, BN.com and other retailers
###
Reviews, photos, links to previous interviews and Q&As are available upon request.
(This press release may be published in part or entirety by any print, broadcast or internet/digital media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing.)
Former Congressman Ric Keller Shares Actionable Steps for Turning Dreams Into Reality
(This press release may be reprinted in part or in its entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet or used by any means of social media sharing.)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“Ric Keller hits just the right note in Chase the Bears. Not only is it engaging, inspiring, and funny, but it also offers readers a solid plan for achieving their dreams. I love this book!” — Jack Canfield, coauthor of the No. 1 New York Times bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series and The Success Principles
“Chasing the bears” is a metaphor for chasing dreams, and in his new book, Chase the Bears: Little Things to Achieve Big Dreams, former Congressman Ric Keller shares little things readers can do to succeed and be happy—no matter where they start in life.
“Chase the Bears is about becoming the best version of yourself by using your gifts and taking chances that are aligned with your purpose,” Keller said. With humility and humor, Keller guides readers to pursue their dreams and find happiness with tips and techniques to turn their aspirations and thoughts into reality.
The inspirational messages in Chase the Bears provide practical, actionable steps woven with fascinating anecdotes about others who have made their dreams come true by trusting their instincts, using their gifts, taking risks and never quitting.
The book is divided into two sections: Connecting Your Gifts to Your Goals and Connecting with People. In Part One, Keller starts with the importance of discovering your gifts, trusting your intuition and setting specific goals that are aligned with your purpose. Readers learn how to take actions to move toward their dreams by taking educated risks and making persistent efforts to achieve each baby-step goal.
Part Two of the book is focused on connecting with people and cultivating authentic long-term relationships. Keller shows readers how to network the right way. He also explains why leading with boldness, civility, humility and a little humor will make them leaders worth following.
About the Author Former Congressman Ric Keller served eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He chaired the House Higher Education subcommittee and served on the Judiciary and Education committees. Today, he is an attorney, writer, humorist, motivational speaker and television commentator. His TEDx Talk, “The Power of Self-Deprecating Humor,” was the sixth most-watched TEDx Talk in the world in May 2022.
Keller received his bachelor’s degree from East Tennessee State University, where he graduated first in his class, and his law degree from Vanderbilt Law School. He lives in Winter Park, Florida, with his wife, Lori, and their blended family.
Visit his website at www.rickeller.net.
Chase the Bears: Little Things to Achieve Big Dreams Publisher: HCI Books Release Date: September 27, 2022 ISBN-10: 0757324487 ISBN-13: 9780757324482 Trade Paperback, 256 pages Available for pre-order
Trish Stevens Lindsey Mach Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone.
Learn How to See the Good in the World, and Help Make America Sane Again
(This press release may be reprinted in part or in entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing.)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A mindset that embraces rational thinking, perspective taking, and optimism can help society fight back against the rising tide of pessimism, posits Dr. Michael Adamse in his new book, Make America Sane Again: A Mental Health Expert Weighs In.
“Unless we get a collective grip on what is truly happening to us on a deeper psychological level, the shift away from individual and collective optimism is at risk,” Adamse wrote in the book’s introduction.
In Make America Sane Again, Adamse uses his background in philosophy and clinical psychology to tackle the critical topic of America’s mental health from two important — and completely nonpolitical — perspectives.
First, Adamse explores the myriad nationally scaled issues such as addiction, violence, loneliness, the double-edged sword of technology and other concerns that continue to undermine America’s mental health.
Then, after taking readers on a deep dive into the factors influencing the current mental health crisis, Adamse emphasizes personal responsibility and offers readers practical suggestions on how to address these challenging sources of stress and what they, as individuals, can do to contribute to America’s welfare.
Written in a conversational style, Make America Sane Again uses well established psychological principles to evaluate what is happening in this country on a deeper level and what readers can do to improve their own well-being, which, in turn, helps everyone.
“I think we should be aware and concerned about America’s mental health, but not panicked,” Adamse added. “Panic subverts rational thinking and simplifies complex issues into a primitive state of fear … The path forward is clear if we intelligently learn to manage the influences that work to distract us.”
With over 300 interviews across all media platforms, Dr. Adamse is able to speak on a wide range of psychological issues. Most recently, he has been asked to comment on the stress individuals are experiencing around current events, including the upcoming elections and inflation fears.
About the Author
Dr. Michael Adamse specializes in relationship issues and has practiced for over 40 years. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Miami after completing a pre-doctoral fellowship at Yale University. He also served as a Captain in the Medical Corps, U.S. Army Reserve.
He is also the author of Affairs of the Net, which represented a cutting-edge online relationship study; the inspirational novel Anniversary; and God’s Shrink.
For more information, please visit https://makeamericasaneagain.net/.
Make America Sane Again: A Mental Health Expert Weighs In Publisher: Inspired Forever Books ISBN 13: 978-1-948903-67-7 Available from https://www.amazon.com/dp/1948903679 and https://makeamericasaneagain.net/
Trish Stevens Alex Spencer Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone
Zen Rohatsu Invites Readers to Follow Buddha’s Path to Enlightenment
(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing.)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Could an ancient practice hold the key to dealing with today’s stressors? Zen meditation practitioner Nora D’Ecclesis opens her new book, Zen Rohatsu, with a guided visualization that places readers at the time of the Buddha, under the sacred fig tree, as he sought to obtain enlightenment.
“Buddha was a man who found his enlightenment and set his path, avoiding suffering by controlling his thoughts and desires,” wrote D’Ecclesis. “He was not and is not considered a deity.”
And with this historical perspective into how the concept of Buddhist enlightenment emerged, D’Ecclesis sets the stage for Zen Rohatsu, which provides thoroughly researched insights into the origins of meditation, its rituals and the ways in which living mindfully can be transformative. Included are simple meditation techniques, such as postures, breathing exercises and the use of mala beads.
Written for anyone wanting to cultivate a deeper sense of mindfulness and spirituality — from beginners to advanced meditation practitioners — Zen Rohatsu guides readers down the proverbial path of enlightenment.
“Zen Rohatsu is a microcosm of Zen meditation which best explains why we meditate and why most should consider this spiritual practice,” D’Ecclesis said. “I sat to outline a story about my spiritual practice, which I wrote from the memory of my own experiences as a lay meditator. The result is this book.”
The book explains that Rohatsu is a spiritual practice of meditative zazen that occurs on the eighth day of the twelfth month on the Gregorian calendar. The meditation sessions, which focus on Zazen Meditation rather than scriptures or rituals, are celebrated for seven days in advance of December 8 by Zen practitioners all over the world. Zen Rohatsu will help readers understand this type of meditation and how it might help them.
D’Ecclesis also added: “Zazen, a Japanese style dating back to the Buddha, is a meditation that keeps us in the present with focus, equanimity and stress management by clearing our thoughts from the various anxieties that permeate them. We turn off the chatter in our own heads and establish a place of compassion. We all experience interoceptive responses to the stressors and suffering and even the great joys in life, as all sentient beings do, so the balance of meditation and concept of equanimity are a welcome alternative.”
Nora D’Ecclesis is an American bestselling nonfiction author and Haiku poet. Her international No.1 bestseller The Retro Budget Prescription held the top spot in Kindle book downloads for the business/self-help category for over a year. She is a graduate of Kean University of New Jersey with post graduate degrees in administration and education. Her other published nonfiction includes Amazon No. 1 bestseller Haiku: Natures Meditation and paperbacks/eBooks on such topics as time management, guided visualizations, gratitude/equanimity, journaling and Zen meditation.
For more information about the author, visit https://noradecclesis.com/, or follow her on Twitter at @DECCLESIS or on Facebook at NoraDEcclesis.
Zen Rohatsu Publisher: Renaissance Presentations, LLC ISBN-10: 1733020136 ISBN-13: 978-1733020138 Available from Amazon.com
Trish Stevens Susan Graber Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone
12 True Stories That Enable Discovery, Evoke Inspiration and Elevate Awareness
(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet or used by any means of social media sharing.)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“Liminal” means threshold, and thresholds are not just transitionary places; they are opportunities for discovery, awareness and choice, posits Sande Hart.
In her new book, The Liminal Odyssey, Hart invites readers to step into, not over, the thresholds of their daily lives to explore the transformative power of the space between crisis and action.
“Oftentimes, we simply step over the mundane or ignore what may seem meaningless, not realizing what gems these synchronicities and messages can actually reveal in our lives,” Hart says. “In this space, we can interpret and examine possibilities for creativity that help us move on from old problems, beliefs and myths of who we are.”
Combining true stories and lessons from Hart’s life with practical wisdom to inspire readers on their own journey, The Liminal Odyssey details how readers can alchemize their own lives. Hart outlines the 12 skills she deems foundational to such a journey, including the art of listening, forgiveness, grace, cultivation of synchronicities and trust. These skills, among others, provide the tools and lay the groundwork for a paradigm shift, allowing readers to explore the gifts that exist in the everyday. A reimagining of Joseph Campbell’s framework of The Hero’s Journey, a liminal odyssey goes even further to explore life’s pauses, transforming an experience into an experiment.
The Liminal Odyssey incorporates philosophy, science, shared indigenous knowledge and psychology by some of the world’s most spiritually prolific leaders, authors, scientists and indigenous grandmothers. Hart has created a call-to-action for the current era, where a changing world is summoning a cultural shift.
As Hart states, “Imagine the outcome when we grow collectively by way of individual contribution into that cultural liminal space. It is crowd-sourcing change at its best and is the only way that is sustainable and resilient for this next era we are moving into, with or without us.”
Everyone has an abundance of stories waiting to be discovered. The Liminal Odyssey is where these stories can take us.
About Sande Hart Sande Hart is an award-winning leader in the fields of women’s empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women’s interfaith international grassroots organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 9/11, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 20th year. She founded and served as director of Charter for Compassion’s Women and Girls sector, served as chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and serves on the Women’s Task Force for The Parliament of World’s Religions.
Hart is also the founder of Compassionate California. She is currently being inducted into the Women’s Oral History Library of Claremont Colleges.
For more information, please visit https://www.liminalodyssey.com/.
The Liminal Odyssey: The Alchemical Power of The Spaces In-Between ISBN-13: 979-8812367336 Available from Amazon.com
Trish Stevens Dea Shandera-Hunter Ascot Media Group, Inc. Post Office Box 2394 Friendswood, TX 77549 [email protected] www.ascotmedia.com 281.333.3507 Phone.
