circumstance ; the mentors who have helped and guided me , including the … For Dummies founder / CEO , John Killcullen ( who wrote the foreword ); or the sheer joy that I have discovered creating graphic medicine books .
In terms of audience , who is this book for ? Since the tools help with communication and connection with your partner , kids , family , friends and coworkers , it ’ s for everyone over age 16 or so . some miracle , I had my son . I realized I needed to do Work of the Heart . Initially I focused on grief counseling , a nd then a mentor for couples therapy appeared in my life .
What led you to choose the graphic novel format for your book ? I looked on Amazon and there were more than 70,000 couple ’ s books ! I had to figure out how to differentiate my book . Despite the fact that I had not read any graphic novels or comics growing up , the idea came to me to offer a different — visual — way to learn . Most people won ’ t read 300 pages of text , especially when they ’ re distressed . As it turns out , I love graphic medicine and its ability to show and not tell . And everyone from CEOs to carpenters completely get it !
What kind of obstacles did you face while putting this title together ? I didn ’ t know that graphic medicine existed , and even now , four years after the initial idea , there isn ’ t anything like I DO I DON ’ T on the market . It doesn ’ t fit in a box . As I ’ m preparing panel proposals for San Diego Comic Con , it ’ s clear that there ’ s no checkbox for I DO I DON ’ T there either ! So , I ’ ll submit them under ‘ comics ’ and ‘ educational ’. Another obstacle was that I was told ‘ No ’ 105 times before John Anderson of Soaring Penguin Press said ‘ Yes ’ to I DO I DON ’ T . He completely understood that publishing it is a public service ; that we all can use some help with communication and connection — no matter what relationship .
What would you say is the most rewarding part of the process ? It ’ s really difficult to choose the most rewarding part : the collaboration that I have with my young artist in the Philippines is phenomenal ; the fact that I get to help people all over the world who would never go to therapy whether by choice or
What are you hoping readers take away from this book ? I want readers to know that they hold the power in their own hands , minds and hearts to do the work , practice every day , behave differently , intentionally and kindly — and due to neuroplasticity , rewire their brain for better communication and connection in all of their relationships .
Another takeaway is to know and understand that most people have a system and their partner has a system — and they don ’ t mess with — or talk about — their systems . I DO I DON ’ T is literally an illustrated shared system in which both parties know all of the rules of that system .
Libraries could offer I DO I DON ’ T reader discussion groups . The purpose would be to read and understand the concepts and tools in each chapter , in a non-therapeutic setting — and then go home to implement them .
SCAN TO READ
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