Meditations for Black Men is on sale!
Hello all!
I’m writing here after quite some time to update you on the release of my newest title Meditations for Black Men. My audiobook meditation program is now available for sale wherever books are sold!
This latest offering is a continuation of my series on Black men, and my goal of helping men feel seen in a health and wellness space where we aren’t often valued or represented.
You can buy a copy for yourself, or a loved one, by clicking the button below!
And if you’d like to keep up with more of my thoughts and personal essays, please visit my newsletter where I post more routine updates.
How Becoming an Author Made Me Fall in Love with Books Again
*This post contains an affiliate link.
If you’re interested in becoming an author one piece of advice you hear often is “read more.” I didn’t get it at first, but after writing my own book, I better understand this advice.
Reading as a student
Over the past 20 years most of the reading in my life has been academic. And if you have gone into higher education then you also know how much of a burden the reading schedule can be (especially in graduate school!). With that, I found it harder to feel the love and magic of books. Most of the writing I was subjected to was scholarly and dry (or boring as all hell) but necessary to advance my career. Following graduate school that kind of reading persisted as I leaned hard on academic journals and the hallmark mental health texts to try and become the kind of therapist I thought I needed to be. I don’t regret it now, but it was certainly a departure from the relationship I had with books at a young age.
Books used to be less informational & more entertaining
When I was young, I used to LOVE reading. So much so that I got chastised (and maybe that’s a strong word) for reading too much and not being outside enough - doing all the kinds of things that other boys do. That’s not to say I didn’t have my fun exploring the woods in suburban/rural North Carolina. I definitely did. I had my own collection of stick weapons and hiding spots that my imagination helped make real.When I was younger reading was a legitimately fun leisure actively. I loved being able to venture into unknown worlds and get to know people I never would have had the opportunity to meet in my small town. I loved being able to see writers delving deeply into the language of feelings, exploring their characters motivations and choices. In my mind I was having conversations with writers (and their characters) about the nature of people and why we do the things we do. I also wanted to win all the pizza parties and buy a ridiculous amount of books for Accelerated Reader. Anybody else?
Coming back to books
As I began writing The Shadow Work Workbook I made a committment to myself (and the author gods) to get back into reading - and mostly for entertainment and leisure. This lead me to Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour and The Last of the Mentally Ill, written by my friend Joseph Rauch (and oh so good!) among some other really great books that you can find on my Instagram. It's been great to see how both fiction, and non-fiction writers utilize form and voice to share their stories create impact. And, now, as a reader I have a different kind of lens. But more than that, I've noticed that my days feel a bit richer as I dig into these characters' lives, which is definitely something to be thankful for these days.If you've had a similar journey with reading, just know that it's OK to ease your way back into reading for enjoyment and that's not something for which you need to feel guilty. Take your time and enjoy these books just as they were designed for you to do!
I'm writing a book!
One of the things that I like most about my job as a therapist is my ability to help people. This is a family value that was passed down in action, not just words, that I try to embody as much as I can. Most days, helping often looks like helping clients learn more about themselves, and helping them to understand what motivates and encourages them. Helping also means supporting clients to learn what hurts them and how that pain influences their life choices. Ultimately, the goal is to help the people I work with feel better within themselves and feel empowered to live the life they wish to have.
This is probably the thing I LIKE MOST about being a therapist. One thing I really DON’T LIKE about therapy is that my ability to reach people is limited by how much time I have in the day. And what is likely unsurprising to those of you reading this, there never seems to be enough time, or energy, to reach all the people I’d like to support and talk to.
picture of Jor-El Caraballo writing a book at a table outdoors
This is what writing a book looks like, but with a lot less smiling
Fortunately, for me this is changing!
I’m really excited to announce that I’ll get to share some practical advice in my book The Shadow Work Workbook out September 2022 from Adams Media (Simon and Schuster)!.
This workbook will provide a path for deeper self-reflection with topic based entries and journal prompts. It will also include exercises for grounding and affirmations to help you embrace self-care and self-compassion as you do the hard work of connecting with your hidden shadow side to heal. I’ve always wanted to write something that brings together my personal knowledge and professional experiences to reach a lot more people and I think that The Shadow Work Workbook will do just that.
And, I’m just really EXCITED for you all to see it. You can click this link to order now!
Helping the Helpers: Why Physicians Die by Suicide
As a culture, we often look at doctors as our everyday heroes. They are there for us in our most troubling times, helping us survive through disaster or helping us cope with the horrors of illness and what it means to be human. Doctors, in particular, have been a part of all our lives at some point. They helped us or our loved ones combat symptoms of an illness, heal our sick children and are typically the first of those around us to witness our grieving. What happens when doctors are the ones trying to battle through illness and grief themselves?
Why Physicians Die by Suicide: Lessons Learned from their Families and Others Who Cared by Dr. Michael Myers gives us insight into the realities of mental health issues in doctors. What we learn from this text is that those who are sworn by oath to "do no harm" often find themselves doing harm to themselves by not receiving adequate mental health care.
Surprisingly, there is a lot of stigma when it comes to doctors accessing professional mental health support. Whether it's therapy or medication, doctors can sometimes struggle to battle through the same stigma that the rest of us face when we encounter mental health challenges. In addition, since they are so heavily invested in the role of healer and problem solver, there is an added pressure to keep their mental health issues quiet, powering through in order to be the overachievers and perfectionists that school and training have often taught them to be. After all, in their professions lives are at stake daily. In Myers' estimation, it seems that doctors forget that their lives are at stake too.
In Why Physicians Die by Suicide: Lessons Learned from Families and Others Who Cared, Myers shares of his personal connection to suicide. He lost a young colleague, and roommate, by the name of Bill early on in his medical career to suicide. It's no doubt that this experience has influenced Myers' trajectory and passion about de-stigmatizing mental health issues for medical doctors. In his book, he also shares stories and vignettes from doctors and other family members of those who have dealt with depression and suicide. The anecdotes are staggering, and are reminiscent of some of the conversations I have with family members who have loved ones who struggle with thoughts of suicide.
It's difficult to talk about suicide in any context. Many therapists and mental health professionals struggle with that as well. This is exactly why we need a book like Why Physicians Die by Suicide. We have to continue to de-stigmatize the realities that people of all walks of life can be dealing with depressive thoughts and or suicidal thoughts and plans. Myers warns us that we also have to be particularly watchful of our doctors because they can often find very creative ways to mask their depression and other mental health challenges. As a therapist, this is an eye-opening text and will absolutely change the way that I think about my work with those in the helping professions who often find themselves giving so much to their clients and patients.
Why Physicians Die by Suicide: Lessons Learned from Families and Others Who Cared is available for purchase at most major book retailers such as Barnes and Noble and Amazon.