Helping the EMS Professional: The Stress of Providing Emergency Medical Services for Children by George Everly, Ph.D. and April Talley (Editors)

Recipes for Enchantment:The Secret Ingredient is You by Barbara Becker Holstein, Ed.D./Reviewed by Lucinda M. Seares-Monica, Psy.D.

Dealing with Difficult Depression by John Preston, Psy.D./Cassette tape reviewed by Michael Brickey, Ph.D.

Reviewed by Lucinda M. Seares-Monica, Psy. D.

Recipes for Enchantment, The Secret Ingredient is You is the latest book by author/psychologist Barbara Becker Holstein. Recipes is a delicious assortment of inspirational stories designed to make us examine our lives and feel and remember what is most important to us. Recipes is the practical application of the more theoretical book The Enchanted Self which enchanted us a few years ago. In Recipes for Enchantment Barbara Becker Holstein continues to provide us with a fresh view of human potential, and opportunities to apply her positive philosophy and techniques for personal replenishment.

Recipes is everything a cookbook should be, short, easy to read, helpful and practical. Anyone can pick up the book and start reading at any point and become touched to the point of tears at the simple, powerful stories. In this collection of stories important life lesson such as “Believing”, “Loving”, “Saving” and “Sharing” are exemplified. The reader, who could be you, the therapist, or one of your patients in therapy, is asked to try to apply the lesson of each story to his or her own life. The book can be read in one of two ways. Firstly, it can be skimmed and tasted, and enjoyed for the glimpses into the simpler past lives of those whose stories were shared. Secondly, the reader can become actively involved with the book, trying out the exercises suggested at the end of each story. Just going through these exercises can lead to genuine self-help and a renewed appreciation of one’s own specialness and worth in this sometimes hard and cruel world.

My favorite story in the book is called “Believing - Joey Figures it Out”. This story is about Joey, a very sick little boy who seems to give up hope on himself until his school sends a teacher to the hospital to work with him on his lessons. From that point on, Joey began to make a remarkable recovery which can not be explained by medical science. The story demonstrates the critical power of hope and faith in a person’s life. We must always be able to look forward to something, especially if we are in pain. A kind action by a single person can be like a small stone tossed into a pond, with ever widening ramifications.

Recipes for Enchantment is reminiscent of the “return to simplicity” movement often heard these days in this era of abundance. We are no longer in a time of economic crisis, as Mary Pipher stated in The Shelter of Each Other - Rebuilding our Families, but we are in a “crisis of meaning”. Now we have the “poverty of consumerism, which means we never have enough”. The stories in Recipes for Enchantment take us back to those values we really hold dear, such as family traditions, concern and respect for each other and nurturing each other. Memories of special dinners and recipes lovingly prepared by grandmas are carefully described. The reader is asked to recall similar life memories, and think about enchanted moments when they have reached out and shared with others like the characters in the stories. Dr. Holstein’s philosophy is similar to that of Mary Pipher . Both writers emphasize the importance of powerful connections with family and friends which sustain us through our lives. Despite all of the success and wealth we now know, we still may feel that something is missing, that we no longer know our next-door neighbors, and need to make appointments to see family members. We are all busy, rushing from place to place, with all of the accessories of success, yet we feel an emptiness, and a longing for the simpler days when we could talk to each other more easily and had more time to smell our flowers. This is why books like Recipes for Enchantment are as sweet as a fresh breeze or bread baking in Grandma’s kitchen. Try it! You’ll like it!” It may be used as a wonderful supplement to suggest to clients, or for therapists who may feel weighed down and in need of some uplifting and rejuvenating themselves.

Recipes for Enchantment 1st Books Library, 2001, 174 pages paper, $14.95 or $10.00 plus $4.00 shipping at www.enchanted self.com

++

Click Here to Discuss Independent Practioner articles on our 42 Forum Bulletin Board.