I read a lot of books and every so often, a truly fantastic one finds me and rocks my world. Man Enough: Undefining my Masculinity by Justin Baldoni is one of those books. What is this book about? Let's start with the author's rationale for writing the book: "I need this book to heal from those formative years where the...[ read more ]
This post is a supplement to the podcast episode, "Art X Mental Health (Part 2) with Figure Painter, Jowarnise" which will air on April 28, 2021. Listen to the episode at anchor.fm/counselor4rva. "And Still I Rise" by Jowarnise Photo credit: Jowarnise.com "Spirit of Sankofa" by Jowarnise and Ian C. Hess Image credit: https://mendingwallsrva.com/walls/spirit-of-sankofa/ "Beauty of Phi" by Jowarnise Photo credit:...[ read more ]
Though I often do reviews on books pertaining to mental health, I thought I'd try something different today. Initially impressed by the trailer for Words on Bathroom Walls, I was excited to watch the entire film; after all, schizophrenia is one of the most stigmatized mental health conditions of them all. In this post, I will give an overview of...[ read more ]
Earlier this week, I shared an excerpt from Lecrae Moore's memoir, I am Restored, on Instagram. In my caption, I shared my thoughts about being both a therapist and a Christian while not identifying myself as a "Christian therapist." I am looking forward to sharing insights that I gained from Lecrae's (stage name) book, as it goes beyond just evangelizing;...[ read more ]
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Johnzelle Anderson, LPC (@counselor4rva) Thanks for watching!
Recently, I’ve been becoming more interested of the topic of spiritual abuse, so I was intrigued when I found a memoir (my favorite genre) by Anna LeBaron titled The Polygamist’s Daughter. Trauma From hearing LeBaron’s story, I am in awe of how she made it through such complex and recurrent trauma. Her mother was the fourth wife of a polygamist “prophet”....[ read more ]
Prologue I went back-and-forth on whether or not to share this post; after all, one could assume "first-world problems" from reading the title. With that being said, I chose to share it anyway to exemplify the complexity of this anxiety disorder that I live with. What is the paradox of choice? In his book, The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz...[ read more ]
Given this series, it's clear that memoirs are my favorite book genre. With that being said, Short Stories: The Autobiography of Columbus Short is one of the most dynamic memoirs that I've ever read. I know of Columbus Short from his role in ABC's Scandal; however, his career has spanned choreography, music, and film production. From reading his memoir, I...[ read more ]
It has been a while since I’ve reviewed a book on this blog but this book was so moving that I couldn’t help but share. The Face I Made When the Doctor Said I had Cancer... Again!!! is a memoir that was started by Jonathan "J.O." Newby and was later finished by his wife, Regina Newby after he passed away...[ read more ]
Given the events of the past year, we should all know what racism is and that it is, unfortunately, alive and well. Today, I’m going to talk about a form of racism that happens to folx of color, often by folx of color. It's called colorism. Colorism is prejudice towards darker skin; more specifically, it’s the idea that lighter skin...[ read more ]