Brehony’s ‘Your Personal Coach’ coming to Voice

The Outer Banks Voice is pleased to announce the addition of a new weekly column, “Your Personal Coach” written by Dr. Kathleen Brehony.

Brehony is a writer, personal and executive coach, licensed clinical psychologist, newspaper columnist, and radio producer and personality.

She is the author of the critically acclaimed Awakening at Midlife (Riverhead Books, PenguinPutnam, 1996). This book was honored as a Finalist in the 1996 Books for a Better Life Award. PBS produced an hour-long television special based on this book called “The Midlife Survival Guide.”  The program — using Kathleen as writer and talent — aired throughout the United States.  Executive Producer and Vice President Larry Rifkin of Connecticut Public Television, the producing station for the television special, refers to Brehony as both “expert and eloquent.”

Awakening at Midlife has been featured as one of the year’s “Books to read” by New Age Journal and excerpted (second serial rights) for>Natural Health magazine. It has also been published in Chinese and Portuguese (Brazil). 

Actor Robert Urich referred to Awakening at Midlife as “the single most important book I’ve read in my entire life.”  Singer/songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman calls the book, “simply wonderful.” 

Brehony’s Ordinary Grace — published in March 1999 by Riverhead Books (PenguinPutnam) — explores the nature of goodness and is informed by stories of ordinary individuals who help others in extraordinary ways.

Brehony’s third book was co-authored with Robert Gass. Chanting: Discovering Spirit in Sound was published in spring 1999 by Broadway Books (Random House).

This book, the first on the subject written for the general public, was chosen as the “April Main Selection” by the One Spirit Book Club. Deepak Chopra describes it as “Clear and enlightening.”

After the Darkest Hour:  How Suffering Begins the Journey to Wisdom was published in September 2000 by Henry Holt and Company (North American rights) and in Britain and Ireland by Vision Paperbacks. This deeply personal — and practical book — provides a wealth of anecdotes about how different people face difficult situations and grow from the challenges they present. They are complemented by poetry, mythology and religious stories from many faiths that offer a rich context of meaning for exploring the psychology, philosophy, behavior and spiritual beliefs of those who have used their suffering as an opportunity to add greater meaning to their lives.

In response to the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, Brehony appeared on the NBC Today Show (Sept. 28, 2001) to discuss healing in the wake of crisis.

Up the Best Seller Lists! (Adams Media, 2001), written with co-author Karen Jones, is an informative and irreverent take on the book publishing and book marketing industry for authors and small publishers. It offers practical, philosophical advice as well as “street-smarts” for those interested in promoting and marketing their written work.

Living a Connected Life:  Creating and Maintaining Relationships That Last was published in September 2003 by Henry Holt and Co. Time Magazine referred to Brehony and this book as being both “Masterful and wise.”  She has been invited by various institutions around the country to provide keynotes and workshops on this topical and important subject.

Brehony is a licensed clinical psychologist and Jungian-oriented psychotherapist. She holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in clinical psychology from Virginia Tech and a B.A. in Sociology from Catholic University.

She completed her residency training at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where she served as chief fesident. She has taught at the university level and has been in private practice (Virginia and North Carolina) for over 22 years, specializing in issues related to the individuation process, transitional developmental periods of life, including midlife, enhancing creativity, as well as the relationship between spirituality and psychology.

With each weekly column, The Voice will also provide an audio link to an episode of Brehony’s “HeartWaves,” a short form radio program syndicated nationally.