RSS FeedLinda Joy Myers, Ph.D., MFT, is the President and Founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers
For the last thirty years Linda Joy has been a therapist in Berkeley CA. She is the author of Don’t Call Me Mother: Breaking the Chain of Mother Daughter Abandonment which received the Gold Medal Award from BAIPA, Bay Area Independent Publishing Association. Linda received her MFA at Mills College, and has taught Marriage and Family Therapy. In addition to her degrees in psychology, Linda has a B.S. in Music Education from the University of Illinois, and a B.A. in Art from the University of California, Berkeley.
Her specialty throughout her teaching and therapy practice through the years has been to help people to become healed and transformed through self-expression, creativity, art, and writing.
Linda integrates the principles of healing and creativity in presenting the powerful healing process of writing true stories through her workshops, online courses, and coaching. Her expertise in supporting writers to heal and learn has helped many writers begin and complete their memoirs.
Her first book Becoming Whole: Writing Your Healing Story has been used as a text by therapists, ministers, and writing coaches, and was a finalist in the ForeWord magazine’s 2008 Book of the Year Award.
Linda’s prize-winning nonfiction and poetry has been published in various literary journals. Her novel excerpt, Secret Music, a novel about the kindertransport, was a finalist in the San Francisco Writing Conference contest. Her memoir piece Aunt Edith’s Lemon Meringue Pie can be read here: http://www.themonthly.com/feature6-07-07.html
Linda is past-president of The California Writers Club, Marin branch, was co-President on the board of the Women’s National Book Association, and is currently on the board of Story Circle Network.
Local workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area can be viewed here: www.memoriesandmemoirs.com.
Linda is available for speaking engagements about writing, healing, creativity, and the healing power of transformation through creative engagement.
Please contact NAMW if you have any questions about this special program. You’ll receive one-on-one, focused advice about your own work and can follow your progress with a special coaching journal.
2010 Writing a Healing/Spiritual Memoir workshop schedules with Linda Joy Myers
Below is a schedule table for Linda Joy's Writing a Healing/Spiritual Memoir workshop this season.(Please email info@namw.org if you wish to join one of the classes listed below. Slots for these classes are often quickly filled). There are 9 sessions per workshop.
| Dates | Schedule | Fees |
| Apr 5 and ending June 14, 2010 (Actual dates: 4/5; 4/19; 4/26; 5/3; 5/10; 5/17; 5/24; 6/7; 6/14) | Mondays, 3pm pacific / 4pm mountain / 5pm central / 6pm eastern | $390 |
| April 16 and ending June 25 (Actual dates: 4/16; 4/23; 5/7; 5/14; 5/21; 5/28; 6/11; 6/18; 6/25) | Fridays, 8am pacific / 9am mountain / 10am central / 11am eastern *9 sessions for this class | $390 |
| 9 Meetings Between April 6 and June 15 [Dates: 4/6; 4/20; 4/27; 5/4; 5/11; 5/18; 5/25; 6/8; 6/15] | Tuesdays, 3pm pacific / 4pm mountain / 5pm central / 6pm eastern | $525 |
| Title/Link | Description | No. of sessions | Dates & Times | Fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Begin Your Memoir–Initial Coaching Session | $50 for 30-minute tele-coaching. When you are beginning to write your memoir, this introductory coaching session will help you get started. We will focus on the questions you have about writing a longer work. | 30 minutes | Price: $50 | Register | |
| Fall schedule: Advanced Writing a Healing Memoir TeleWorkshop | This advanced group is for those who have begun to explore the significant events in their lives and have written the early stories of their memoir. The writers in this group will deepen their progress by exploring not only techniques such as dialogue, scenes, point of view, and story structure, but delve into the emotional layering that makes up the first draft of a memoir. These skills—both emotional and technical—help you write memoir vignettes that clarify who you have been, who you are, and where you are going in your life. | 10 sessions | September 25 – December 4, 2009 Fridays 8 AM PDT; 9 AM MDT; 10 AM CDT; 11 AM EDT | Fee $390 | Register |
| Autumn Memoir Online Workshop: Writing Your Spiritual Autobiography/ Healing Memoir | In this class each student writes the vignettes that are important to the story that needs to be told. We begin with turning point stories, stories that are most significant on the timeline, and write those first. My suggestion is to go with the “fire in the belly” approach—what is there that is commanding your attention. | 10 sessions | Mondays, 11:00 AM PDT |Noon MDT | 1:00 PM CDT | 2:00 PM EDT beginning October 5, 2009 | Price: $395.00 | Register |
| Fall Schedule: Saturday Healing Memoir and Spiritual Autobiography | You will learn how to choose your scenes, how to use fictional tools, and ways to keep the inner critic at bay. We write during class, and share our work in a supportive atmosphere. Learn more > | regular sessions every Saturday | Saturdays, Sept 26 – Dec 5, 2009 / 10-1pm, Berkeley, CA | Regular Price: $375 | Register |
| Premier Coaching Package | This coaching package will give you maximum support to help you write your stories. Learn more > | Arranged with Student | Arranged with Student | Regular price: $526 | Register |
| Write for Publication | Are you writing articles, essays, or poems you want to try out on an audience? Perhaps you are working on a chapter of your memoir or a fictional piece, and you need help to shape it for publication. Learn more > | Regular sessions | Wednesdays 6:45-8:45 | Berkeley, California | Regular price: $295 | Register |
Your book is a true gift. Having been abandoned by my mother, and hers before her, I have sought validation for my loss all my life. Your openness and willingness to put it out there and expose the raw hurt will be of help to anyone who is lucky enough to find your book. —Angela Anatasion
“I have long been one of those who avoided dealing with death, who dodged sentiment, who felt that stories about the loss of a loved one were a bit indulgent, a way of saying ‘my pain is greater than your pain.’ That was before I lost my father and my wife lost her mother, both within ten days. And that was before I read Linda Joy Myers’s Don’t Call Me Mother. This is powerful stuff, richly layered, emotional without being manipulative, insightful without being indulgent. It’s a wonderful read and a marvelous examination of life and its inevitable conclusion. I loved it.” —James Dalessandro, author of 1906
“This haunting story chronicles a lonely child’s attempt to understand her complex and difficult family and make sense of a confused and chaotic world. Myers does what a good memoirist always does. She reveals a great deal about herself and, at the same time, helps us to understand more about our own lives.” —Susan Wittig Albert, best-selling author of Writing From Life: Telling Your Soul’s Story
“Could you still love your mother, even if she left you? In this gut-wrenching, poetic memoir, Linda Joy Myers explores three generations of maternal abandonment in her family–and movingly explores her own quest to break the chain.” —Melanie Rigney, former editor, Writer’s Digest
“Linda Joy Myers eloquently renders the details of her past in this transformative memoir, allowing all of us to find redemption through her honest courage. For anyone yearning for self-discovery, Don’t Call Me Mother serves as a compelling guide on a journey to wholeness. I loved the book.” —Michele Weldon, assistant professor, Northwestern University and author of I Closed My Eyes and Writing to Save Your Life
“Today, psychiatry offers medication for genetic bipolar disorders, but there is no way to repair the broken limbs in one’s family tree caused by the disease, save that of retelling the tale with the salve of forgiveness. I admire Linda’s courage and perseverance in writing about the primal pain of mother abandonment.” —Tristine Rainer, author of Your Life as Story: Discovering the New Autobiography and director, Center for Autobiographic Studies
“Linda Joy Myers’ Don’t Call Me Mother is a moving testimony to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of writing to trigger insight and healing. With unerring honesty and painstaking detail, Linda explores and re-experiences her family’s many generations of loss and grief, and in the process frees herself from her history and uncovers her deep ability to love. Her memoir will inspire readers with the courage to record their own inner journeys.” —Elizabeth Fishel, author of Sisters and Reunion: The Girls We Used To Be, the Women We Became, co-editor Wednesday Morning Writers
| Title | Price |
|---|---|
 The Power of Memoir by Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D. is a groundbreaking book that presents an innovative step-by-step program using memoir writing on the journey of emotional and physical healing. By drawing upon the eight steps outlined in The Power of Memoir, you’ll learn how to choose the significant milestones in your life and weave together your personal story. You’ll discover how writing your truths and shaping your narrative propel you toward a life-changing transformation. The Power of Memoir offers the tools you need to heal the pain of the past and create a better present and brighter future. | Visit ThePowerOfMemoir.com | Available for pre-order at Amazon.com $11.43 U.S. Kindle Edition: $11.99 Click here to pre-order the Paperback or Download Kindle Edition Now! |
 Don’t Call Me Mother:Breaking the Chain of Mother Daughter Abandonment by Linda Joy MyersWinner of the 2006 Gold Medal Award presented by the Bay Area Independent Publishing Association (BAIPA). | $17.95 plus $5.00 shipping  |
You may reach Linda through this form. Her personal blogsite is www.memoriesandmemoirs.com
Recent comments