Letters From the Wilderness of Modern Parenting

By:   Vashti Summervill
Illustrated by:   Wendy Blickenstaff
Imprint:   Showing Up Better
Dimensions:   Height: 216mm,  Width: 140mm,  Spine: 13mm
Weight:   222g
ISBN:   9798989581900
Pages:   188
Publication Date:   14 January 2024
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

"VASHTI SUMMERVILLEducator, Certified Parent Coach, Therapeutic Consultant and MusicianVashti considers it her life's work to build community and connection. She is a mom, a passionate educator, and a musician. She also has firsthand experience parenting teens and young adults through very difficult times. She has embarked on a journey to combineher education and her lived experience to help support other parents, especially those struggling in their relationship with ""tweens,"" teens, and young adults.She has a full parent coaching and therapeutic consulting practice. She regularly tours and evaluates therapeutic programs for adolescents and young adults so she can assist parents in finding the right resources for their children.Music continues to play a big role in her life. She has an extensive background in performance as well as teaching/directing. She continues to write music and perform regularly. She released her debut album, Put My Love In a Picture, in September of 2022.Vashti is a voracious life-long learner. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado and a Master's of Music/Vocal Performance from Western Washington University in Belling- ham, Washington. In addition to receiving her Parent Coaching Certification from the Parent Coaching Institute, she is trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid, ASIST(AppliedSuicideInterventionSkillsTraining), asaQPRInstructor (Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training), and held an Elementary Teaching certification with a K-12 Music Endorsement. Vashti is a qualified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Teacher (MBSR) through Brown University.You can learn more about Vashti's work with families at familyhealingpathways.com and educationalconnections.com and more about her music at vashtisummervill.com WENDY BLICKENSTAFFArtist, Educator, Activity Therapist, Graduate Student in Clinical Mental Health CounselingWendy Blickenstaff is an award-winning community-building artist. Examples of her installation work can be found archived online at Idaho Matters on Boise State public radio and on the Creators, Makers and Doers blog of the City of Boise Department of Artsand History. She is a recipient of a COVID Cultural Commissioning Fund grant, part of the City of Boise's Department of Arts and History's Covid Com- munity Collection, and a Boise Open Studios Collective Organization member.Wendy owns Blick-Studios, an art studio specializing in illustration and image design through linoleum block printing. Her images are used in mental health curricula, private art practice, and community-building projects. Through years of collaboration with local community outreach programs, Wendy has created a critical mass of images to tell our society's mental health story. Her current body of work contains over a hundred narrative images shared in various venues, from churches and homeless shelters to social justice programs and hospitals.Wendy holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking from Boise State University and a Bachelor's in Studio Art from California State University, Fullerton. She is seeking a master's degree in clinical mental health counseling to expand her com- munity-building art practice, including mental health education and counseling.Wendy is a Boise-based artist working in her community for the common good. Her curiosity and love of novelty and diversity have inspired her to travel. You can find her most Saturdays hiking the Boise foothills or in her art studio. Her studio is often shared with other artists and friends. Wendy says, ""People are our greatest resource for creating healthy communities.""You can find out more about Wendy and her art practice at wendyblickenstaff.com or @wendyblickenstaffart"