KEY SELLING POINTS:
A quarter of the population identify themselves as "spiritual and not religious" (2017 Pew Research Poll).
Using the arts as therapy is an expanding profession in the field of psychology. Since the 1970s and '80s, the number of schools offering graduate psychology degrees in the therapeutic arts has increased exponentially, as have certificate programs to help professional psychotherapists learn to use the arts in their practices.
15.1 million adults ages 18 and older suffer from Alcohol Use Disorder (2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health).
Self-help books on living an authentic life continue to be a popular genre over the past 15 years, and this one is unique by tying in the circle of life, Mother Nature, and the arts.
The total "economic burden" of prescription opioid misuse in the United States is $78.5 billion a year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Over 75 million baby boomers are retiring and moving into old age.
The plot is based in Rural, Northern California Coast.
The book includes illustrations and artwork done by the author during her stages of "finding the wild inside."
AUDIENCE:
Women over forty
Younger women and men of any age who are interested in personal exploration or finding life purpose
Anyone who identifies as spiritual and not religious
Anyone looking for deeper meaning, purpose and spiritual connection
Art therapists, expressive arts therapists, music therapists, dance therapists, poetry therapists, psychotherapists, transpersonal psychotherapists, depth psychologists, and ecotherapists
Those interested in ecopsychology
The elderly
Anyone caring for the elderly, especially adult children caring for elderly parents
Anyone experiencing depression, alienation, meaninglessness or a lack of purpose and looking for a way to address that emotional pain
About the Author :
Marilyn Hagar, MA, REAT, is a registered expressive arts therapist who owns and operates For The Joy Of It!, a creative retreat in Mendocino, California. She has been in private practice and has led groups and workshops at her forest retreat for over forty years. She has dedicated her life to the belief that in our core we are all creative, and she believes that expressing ourselves through the arts puts us in touch with our own wild essence. Hagar has published articles about her creative life and her adventures in the great outdoors, and has exhibited her art and art quilts, which are inspired by her inner life imagery and her dream world. Visit her at www.forthejoyofit.org.
