Self-Development Audiobooks

Prior to 1990, fewer than five percent of domestic infant adoptions were open. In 2012, ninety percent or more of adoption agencies are recommending open adoption. Yet these agencies do not often or adequately prepare either adopting parents or birth parents for the road ahead of them! The adult parties in open adoptions are left floundering. There are many resources on why to do open adoption, but what about how? Open adoption isn't just something parents do when they exchange photos, send emails, share a visit. It's a lifestyle that may feel intrusive at times, be difficult or inconvenient at other times. Tensions can arise even in the best of circumstances. But knowing how to handle these situations and how to continue to make arrangements work for the child involved is paramount. This book offers readers the tools and the insight to do just that. It covers common open-adoption situations and how real families have navigated typical issues successfully. Like all useful parenting books, it provides parents with the tools to come to answers on their own, and answers questions that might not yet have come up. Through their own stories and those of other families of open adoption, Lori and Crystal review the secrets to success, the pitfalls and challenges, the joys and triumphs. By putting the adopted child at the center, families can come to enjoy the benefits of open adoption and mitigate the challenges that may arise. More than a how-to, this book shares a mindset, a heartset, that can be learned and internalized, so parents can choose to act out of love and honesty throughout their child’s growing up years, helping that child to grow up whole.

#1 Amazon New Release ─ Transform your relationship with your mother The best news on the planet is that your mother doesn't have to change in order for you to be happy. In fact, author Karen C.L. Anderson will take it a step further and say, your mother doesn't have to change in order for you to be free, peaceful, contented, and joyful. You can emotionally separate without guilt: Inspired by her own journey, Anderson's Difficult Mothers, Adult Daughters: A Guide For Separation, Liberation & Inspiration shows women how to emotionally separate from their mothers without guilt and anxiety so they can finally create a life based on their own values, desires, needs, and preferences. Not to mention being able to like and respect themselves during the process. Learn through the experiences of others: Through personal stories and experiences, practical tools that can used right away to feel better, and journal prompts, Anderson compassionately leads women who struggle in their relationships with their mothers through a process of self-awareness and understanding. Anderson's work with hundreds of women and her own personal work have resulted in profound growth and transformation. Anderson knows the results are nothing short of miraculous. Funny and compassionate: This book is about Anderson discovering and accepting the whole of who she is (separate from her mother), and making her discoveries accessible to women struggling to redefine their challenging relationships with their mothers. Her writing is relatable, real, funny, and compassionate. What you'll learn inside this book: Why mothers and daughters tend to have difficult relationships How to heal and transform your mother "wounds" from sources of pain into sources of creativity and wisdom How to tell your stories in a way that empowers you, rather than making you powerless How to handle the uncomfortable emotions that seem inevitable when it comes to your relationship with your mother The art of creating, articulating, and maintaining impeccable boundaries How to stop "shoulding" when it comes to yourself and your mother How to "re-mother" yourself and acknowledge, honor, and meet your own preferences and needs And much, much more

Be the Best Version of Yourself Being a unicorn means being the magnetic person that everyone in the room is drawn to. It means being honest and true to yourself every day, no matter what. When you are really, really good at being yourself, you’ll make other people feel really, really good about themselves, too. In Be That Unicorn, Jenny Block, author of several best sellers for women, shows you how to stop putting yourself down and start finding your magic. 100% That Unicorn. The horn may be mythical, but the unicorn is real. This book offers you the confidence to be authentic and original in every aspect of your life―at home, at work, and in relationships. Sometimes it’s about how to make your bed in the morning, and sometimes it’s baking treats to make yourself and others feel good. You are a badass! It’s time to share that shine. Just Keep Prancing. The art of not giving a f… is knowing that sometimes you do feel like s... That’s ok! Being a unicorn is about feeling your feelings. Be angry or sad when you need to be. Then get out of your own way and move on with your day. In Be That Unicorn , Jenny Block shows you how to be a badass unicorn in so many ways, including: Parenting and taking care of the people you love Volunteering your time and inspiring your community Learning and growing into your best self Playing and loving with a full heart Be That Unicorn is a get your s… together book that’s more about celebrating than punishing yourself. If you liked the Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life workbook, Be More Unicorn: How to Find Your Inner Sparkle, Un.… Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and into Your Life, and How to Stop Feeling Like S…, you’ll love this fun new approach to taking control of the life you want.

What can parents and other concerned adults do to prevent the next Sandy Hook? Are there red flags that warn us if our children might become victims or perpetrators of bullying, or of sexual assault? How do we know when a child or young adult is at risk for suicide, or just moody? These are certainly questions most parents have wondered about, especially at a time when childhood dangers seem increasingly hard to predict or control. Warning Signs is the first comprehensive book of its kind, explaining the underlying factors and signs of youth violence and aggression—and how to identify and guard against them. Topics include: violent media influences, bullying, hazardous friendships, sexual aggression and abuse, risky thinking and entitled attitudes, school safety, gun violence, mental health, and more. Doctors Brian Johnson and Laurie Berdahl provide specific, practical ideas, strategies, and tips based on current research and years of clinical experience. They even suggest language parents can use during tough conversations with their kids—or with another child’s parents. This timely guide will appeal to any adult who is worried about the levels of violence and aggression committed against and by today’s youth, and who wants to raise emotionally healthy, kind, safe children amidst today’s dangers.

Change The World By Changing Yourself Find answers: Today, it’s easy to get outraged by world events, frustrated by our own personal battles, and disenfranchised from government and leadership. Born of moral indignation, informed by decades of study, and seasoned by a life of devoted self-cultivation, Monk Yun Rou’s Mad Monk Manifesto has the answers we’re looking for, organically cohering personal prescriptions and calls to social and political action in one powerful document. Discover venerated wisdom: Based on ancient Chinese wisdom such as Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching , Mad Monk Manifesto is part tour guide to consciousness, part recipe for personal development, part prescription for environmental salvation, and part handbook for social change. In approximately 70,000 words, the book’s six chapters (framed by an introduction and afterward) follow the traditional Taoist prescription for changing the larger world by changing ourselves first. Improve yourself―and the world: In the same way ripples move away from a stone dropped into a pond, Mad Monk Manifesto begins with our personal lives, discussing topics such as diet, exercise, meditation, and mind/body practice, and spreads to our public environment, describing ideas such as what we can do to improve the community, the government, and the world. Full of everything from advice for a healthy, conscious lifestyle to suggested actions we can take to enhance the lives of friends, family, coworkers, and community members, Mad Monk Manifesto highlights spirituality and service, the goals of an awakened life. Learn something new: Each chapter of Mad Monk Manifesto is creative and fresh, offering proactive solutions in single-paragraph exhortations and prescriptions against a backdrop of lessons from Chinese history, the wisdom of ancient sages like Lao Tzu, and stories born of author Monk Yun Rou's journey from privileged Manhattanite to practicing Taoist monk. Inspirational and informative, exhortative and prescriptive, this modern Alan Watts creates a complete and immersive experience for everyone who picks up his Mad Monk Manifesto ―a portrayal of everything from the mundane to the sublime through the lens of the philosophy best known from George Lucas’ Star Wars saga, the Green Movement, and surf and hippie cultures. Emerge with a new way of seeing life, a series of concrete steps to take for personal transformation, and an action plan for working in the community to provoke change. Mad Monk Manifesto is precisely what the world needs at a time of unprecedented environmental disasters, international instability, and divisive and unreliable leadership. After reading this book, you will learn: How to relax, rectify, and rebalance life How to bolster the community and deepen culture How to effect positive change in commerce, government, power, and the environment For readers of Alan Watts, Ursula Le Guin, and Change Your Thoughts―Change Your Life by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

An entertaining and insightful pageturner about modern marriage and a tight-knit group of friends navigating their 30s and beyond. It's tradition that on everyone's birthday, the three couples gather to celebrate. They've toasted each other's big life milestones, and been there for each other through loss and disappointment, too. Nathan is the first to turn 40, and when the cake arrives, he makes a shocking announcement. The birthday ritual, and the group of friends, will never be the same again. Confessions follow, and secrets get revealed. One couple's crumbling marriage forces the other two couples to reexamine their own marriages, and the fault lines that lurk beneath. Will their bonds be strong enough to survive issues like infidelity, infertility, and waning passion, plus a series of crises that push each relationship to the brink? The answers may prove surprising. A year after Nathan's big declaration, as the group gathers for the year's final birthday celebration, every person and every relationship will be fundamentally changed. Perfect for fans of Emma Straub, J. Courtney Sullivan, and Rebecca Serle, Reservations for Six is a deeply satisfying novel full of wisdom, humor, and heart. It shines a spotlight on the phase of marriage when the fabric has started to fray, and deftly observes how couples cope, grow, and eventually thrive-together or apart.

“It’s like the meanest, wildest monkey running around my head, constantly looking for ways to bite me.” That was how Kirsten Pagacz described her OCD to her therapist on their first session when she was well into her 30s she’d been following orders from this mean taskmaster for 20 years, without understanding why. Initially the tapping and counting and cleaning and ordering brought her comfort and structure, two things lacking in her family life. But it never lasted; the loathsome self-talk only intensified, and the rituals she had to perform got more bizarre. By high school she was anorexic and a substance abuser, common "shadow syndromes" of OCD. By adulthood, she could barely hide her problems and held on to jobs and friends through sheer grit. Help finally came in the form of a miraculously well-timed public service announcement on NPR about OCD -- at last her illness had an identity. Leaving the OCD Circus reveals the story of Pagacz’s traumatic childhood and the escalation of her disorder demonstrating how OCD works to misshape a life from a very young age and explains the various tools she used for healing including meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy, yoga, exposure therapy, and medication.

From Cradle to Classroom: A Guide to Special Education for Young Children is a book written for regular and special education teachers, school administrators, school psychologists, related educational personnel, day care providers, parents, graduate students, and policy makers who work on behalf of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers to ensure they are ready for formal education when they reach age 5. It reflects a keen understanding that early interventions are most effective in reducing the potential for special education or other support services later in a child’s development. Research shows the benefits of investing in early intervention and high-quality preschool as a way to mitigate educational gaps in learning and to improve the development of children across all domains (Executive Office of the President of the United States, 2015; Lynch & Vaghul, 2015; Yoshikawa et al., 2013). Throughout the book, readers will find strategies to help atypical children navigate the world as they move from infancy to toddlerhood, and to preschool and beyond. The chapters dig deep and offer expansive understandings of the components necessary to ensure young children, especially those with exceptionalities, become successful students.

Erotic Love and Marriage is written for couples who are searching to establish or restore a fulfilling sexual relationship and a meaningful and gratifying connection. Using history, everyday life situations, and careful analysis, Frederick Mondin makes the case for liberation from the fear, guilt, and shame that mark so much of human sexuality. He offers insight on sexual issues almost everyone struggles with in their relationships and promotes a healthier approach that highlights connection, communication, and exploration. Including an exploration of the role of religion and culture in shaping sexual attitudes and behaviors, he offers guidelines for establishing a healthier outlook on and understanding of sexual choices and desires. Intended to help the many couples struggling to break free of negative scripts, inhibition, fear, guilt, and shame surrounding intimacy and sexual connection, he offers real life examples and solutions that will help readers enjoy a closer more meaningful sexual and emotional relationship with their partners. Couples will learn how to improve their sexual experience by understanding male sexual functioning and female orgasm. Erotic Love and Marriage also explores what role pornography, infidelity, masturbation, sexual addiction, erotica, romance, and emotional connections play in a couple’s affairs. Mondin’s insights provide a positive and nurturing perspective that inspires and instructs in a way that leaves couples feeling more secure, grounded, and connected.

This novella is also published as part of the collection SWEET HOME COWBOY. The Hathaway sisters might have grown up apart, but when they agree to move to Jasper Creek, Oregon, to revitalize their grandfather’s farm, it seems a straightforward decision. Until they meet their neighborhood cowboys… Sparks fly between ceramicist Elliot and the grumpy single-dad rancher next door. The sisters’ feelings are anything but simple, but with the love and support of each other, they discover that a cowboy might be the sweetest thing of all about coming home.