This book about abandonment, loss, change, forgiveness and spiritual awakening is a potent and poignant reminder of the strength of the human psyche and the power of choice. It offers hope and support to the multitudes of individuals who have suffered traumatic childhoods, and shows us all that it is never too late to reclaim our true selves.  

A personal and  brave new book that reveals how to heal preverbal as well as early childhood wounding as the author takes apart her previous narratives and adaptations in an excruciating bone by bone process.

. . . invokes forgiveness as a mantra, and demonstrates how a traumatically abandoned child can carve her way into becoming a healer both for herself and for others.     

This gift of a book captured me fully and touched me deeply . . .

A riveting must-read for all survivors of childhood trauma as well a for the parents, therapists and educators who work with them . . .

. . . one of the very best books in the genre of self-revelatory and spiritual memoirs… nuanced, historically broad, and beautifully written.

Dawn had spent a decade working with the ill and the dying when she was unexpectedly diagnosed with ovarian cancer and her life irrevocably changed. She states in Making Friends with Cancer:  
Perhaps we should not be so much concerned with the length of our lives as with its quality. The worst diagnosis of all would be an unlived life. The important query is not how long my lifetime will be I years or what I might  die of. The more important questions are Am I still growing? Am I learning? Am I living well?  Am I making healthy, conscious choices? Am Awake? Am I present? Am I saying yes to life now? Am I contributing in some way to helping make the world a safer, saner place for all of us?

Making Friends with Cancer is a heartfelt, powerful, poignant and
inspiring book.

This book is not just for people affected by cancer, it contains gifts for everyone.

. . . utterly personal, and sober at the same time. It speaks to the heart and
the mind.

. . . demonstrates the remarkable possibilities open to us all if we too could live in the present and embrace love instead of fear.

This revised and updated edition presents a combination of practical advice, true stories, and invaluable information for those who want to increase their ability to communicate more consciously and effectively through touch. The physical and psychosocial benefits of skilled touch for the confined, elderly, and ill are elucidated, providing the reader with a greater understanding of how to use touch as a tool to communicate with individuals living with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. 

This book is a treasure that every caregiver and health professional should read.

…food for the head, hands, and heart…comprehensive, practical and inspiring.

Here are the tools for revolutionizing geriatric care and utterly transforming the experience of aging.

This book is for people who feel comfortable communicating through their hands and for those who wish to feel more ease in transmitting care through touch. It is for doctors who have forgotten or need learned that touch is medicine. It is for nurses and nursing assistants, for restorative aids, for occupational, physical and recreational therapists, for hospice professionals and volunteers, hired companions, geriatric consultants, guardians, and home health aids. It is for chaplains and social workers and grief counselors who wish to reclaim the power of intentional touch in ministering to the frail, the distraught and the bereaved. It is for massage therapy students and professional practitioners whose hearts and hands Lead them to forge new paths where their skills are solely needed. are solely needed. It is for anyone who wishes to use touch more consciously and compassionately in relating to the elderly, the ill, and the dying. 

Compassionate Touch is a gentle, sensitive, and non-intrusive program of massage, touch therapy, and comfort care, supported by skills such as active listening, reflective communication, intuitive feedback, guided relaxation and breathing awareness.  eIts aim is to ease both physical and emotional pain in a way that medication and medical procedures simply cannot.  

Written with such warmth and clarity, this book hows how to touch someone who is suffering. This is a skill that we all can deepen, that will enrich each of us.

This book is a treasure. Along with books such as “How Can I Help” by Ram Das and “Healing Into Life and Death” by Stephen Levine, this book leads to greater understanding of life, death, and the true meaning of healing.

Both the novice and the trained professional will find a wealth of instruction for safely and effectively addressing the unique physical and emotional needs and frailties of the elderly.  

This is a book for health care professionals who work in any capacity with the less mobile, elderly, and the the chronically ill, as well as those who are physically and/or mentally frail. It is also for massage professionals who feel drawn to relate to this segment of our society and In particular to those living in residential or extended care facilities, in nursing homes, or in designated dementia care units. Hopefully the contents will provide a bridge between these groups of people and help support them in finding ways to work together more effectively in the effort to improve quality of life for the confined elderly and ill. 

This copyrighted book is not available on line or in book stores.  If you would like a printed copy, contact Dawn.

A thorough and comprehensive resource for any massage therapist wishing to work within care facility environments and for those in charge of the care facilities.  ~ Hospice Massage Therapist 

This handbook is practical, useable and inspiring.  Its undoubted wisdom related to the sensitivities and needs of those in long-term care is indispensable. ~ Unit Manager, Residential Care Facility