May's Featured Book:
​
Attached
​by Dr. Amir Levine and Rachel S.F. Heller

Saturday, May 15th - 11am Pacific

What To Expect From the Read:

Discover how an understanding of adult attachment—the most advanced relationship science in existence today—can help us find and sustain love. Pioneered by psychologist John Bowlby in the 1950s, the field of attachment posits that each of us behaves in relationships in one of three distinct ways:

   • Anxious people are often preoccupied with their relationships and tend to worry about their partner's ability to love them back 
   • Avoidant people equate intimacy with a loss of independence and constantly try to minimize closeness. 
   • Secure people feel comfortable with intimacy and are usually warm and loving.
 
Attached guides readers in determining what attachment style they and their mate (or potential mate) follow, offering a road map for building stronger, more fulfilling connections with the people they love.
About Your Host: Dr. Marissa Long 
Long received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology in Fresno where she obtained additional education and training in the field of Health Psychology. Dr. Long went above and beyond in her training, completing hundreds of hours more than what was required. Her training covered the full scope of mental health allowing her to work with individuals, couples, and families struggling with concerns such as anxiety, depression, trauma and life stressors as well as more severe issues that require the years of education and experience that Psychologists specifically complete.​

"When you meet with Dr. Long you can expect to feel comfortable and safe right from the start. She works with each client from a holistic perspective being sure to adjust her therapeutic approach to each person’s needs, cultural identity, strengths, and goals. Dr. Long’s goal is always to work with clients in the way that works best for them and to do that work efficiently and effectively so that when they are ready to leave therapy they feel confident and capable with the tools they gained and the growth they have achieved."

Previous Book Club Meetings

March 2021

Host: Dr. Rebekah So
Book: The Body Keeps Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk
Here's what we discussed:
  • ​ That trauma is a fact of life  and the various places/experiances it can stem from 
  • Recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust.
  • The tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives.

Feburary 2021

Host: Dr. Monica Hennon
Book: The Worry Cure by Robert L. Leahy
Here's what we discussed: 
  • Determining your “worry profile” and change your patterns of worry 
  •  Identifying productive and unproductive worry
  • Taking control of time and eliminating the sense of urgency that keeps you anxious
  • Embracing uncertainty instead of searching for perfect solutions

January 2021

Host: Dr. Kristen Izbicki 
Book: The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris
Here's what we discussed: 
  • The insights and techniques of ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy)
  • That trying to find happiness ends up making us miserable, driving the epidemics of stress, anxiety, and depression. 
  • Techniques to create a rich, full, and meaningful life

December 2020

Host: Dr. Ashleigh Fellows
Book: The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown
Here's what we discussed: 
- Finding courage to overcome paralyzing fear and self-consciousness
- How to believe we are worthy of self-discovery, personal growth, and boundless love.
- The psychology of releasing our definitions of an “imperfect” life and embracing living authentically.

November 2020

Host: Dr. Makisha Lawrence
Book: The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
Here's what we discussed: 
- Understanding our own indoctrinated body shame
- The transformative opportunity of radical self-love
- What it means to break up with your shame in your self image

October 2020

Host: Dr. Marissa Long
Book: Codependent No More by Melody Beattie
Here's what we discussed: 
- What is codependence anyway
- How to know if you're codependent
- How codependence shows up in our lives and what to do about it