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Life Passages: Writing Exercises for Your Life Journey

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While I normally am not one to go out of my way to read books that might be classified as "Self Help", I have read a few books in this category, and am often a bit let down. Frequently the author had an epiphany and the book reads more like an autobiography. When written by professionals, I find books often read like text books, while the amateurs opt to "dumb down" and oversimplify. Dr. Hunter manages to, eloquently, avoid both extremes. His explanations are sound, researched and meaningful, without sounding like a dictionary of psychological buzz words. Further, he avoids the trend of using blanket assessments of any given group, like "men want this, and women want that."

Dr. Hunter writes from his years of experience running a practice as well as teaching courses on using art (specifically writing) as a means of introspection. The book gives the benefits of group therapy, with the convenience of being able to do the exercises on your own time, at your own pace. Dr Hunter has an uncanny ability (or maybe this is just a testament to just how long he has been doing this) to predict when you might feel uncomfortable continuing the exercises. Pointing out reasons it is worth continuing.

This book offers more than introspection, though, reading though chapters that may not pertain to your own life, can help you to better understand others. Not having any children of my own, nor having ever been married, I still found the "Parenting" and "Divorce" chapters useful as they gave me a better understanding of some of the hurdles my mother faced and still faces.

One need not be in a crisis to benefit from this book. Anyone could glean valuable insight from this book. It's is well written, easy to read and, quite frankly, rather fun.

"Life passages: Writing Exercises for Your Life Journey" was the textbook that accompanied one of my favorite courses as an undergrad, "Therapeutic Uses of Writing". On a weekly basis, I along with my other peers had the unique opportunity to reflect on various life passages with our professor and author, Dr. Allan Hunter. Each occasion showed me not only my personal growth, but the growth of my other peers.
Dr. Allan Hunter's piece brought many of my personal issues to the forefront which was essential for my own personal growth. Reflecting on personal issues is not an easy task to do, but this book allowed me to do so in a non-threatening and nurturing way. Placing meaning on various situations that I would have otherwise deemed unimportant has allowed me to better understand the person that I am today.
Having had the opportunity to take courses with Dr. Allan Hunter, I feel this makes me especially qualified to properly review his work. I full heartedly recommend any of his books, and encourage others to take advantage of his expertise. He is among the handful of professors that encouraged me to reach my highest potential.