Confessions of Three Shopaholic Authors: Recovery Conversations Begin May 14th
In live, one-hour conversations, held on the evenings of May 14th, 21st, and 28th, Dr. April Benson will talk with three remarkable women, each one a serious shopaholic who's come out the other side and then written the story of her unique recovery. Listeners will be able to email questions during the conversations and will have access to session recordings.
New York, New York (PRWEB) April 30, 2009
Dr. April Benson, who helps compulsive buyers regain control of their lives and has written two books describing the disorder and how to overcome it, will host a 3-session series with three authors, all recovered or recovering shopaholics. Each one has written an important book about her recovery.
On Thursday evening, May 14th, Dr. Benson will interview Alexis Hall, author of In the Red: The Diary of a Recovering Shopaholic. Hall's book is a record of her successful struggle to climb off the consumer escalator and climb out of nearly £32,000 in debt. Her methods are inventive, life-affirming, and likely to bring a chuckle. To economize, for example, Hall changes her mode of transportation to a scooter--which, she delights in telling us, affords her "a vroom with a view."
Lest it all seem easy, however, we also see how in a split second Hall's determination can be interrupted by irritability, fierce jealousy of her partner's new clothes, and powerful impulses to start buying again. In the end, however, her will and playfulness triumph.
In the second session, on Thursday evening, May 21st, Dr. Benson will talk with Avis Cardella. Her book, Spent: Memoirs of a Shopping Addict, lets us ride shotgun on the heady and harrowing journey of her overshopping misadventures. Set to the tom-tom beat of New York City in the 90's, it follows her into a world of luxury labels, classic cars, Hamptons homes, and polo matches.
Before long, though, "credit card debts mounted, rents went unpaid, money was borrowed, and unscrupulous men appeared. Ultimately, I was faced with this choice: have the courage to confront my addiction and what's really fueling it--or watch my life go into freefall."
In the final session, Thursday evening, May 28th, Dr. Benson will talk with Neradine Tisaj, author of How To Give Up Shopping (or at least cut down). Tisaj recognized her debilitating shopping problem, but when she sought professional advice about solving it, what she got was surprisingly inane. "Save money," recommended one financial planner--advice, she says, that's about as useful as telling a couch potato to "just exercise more."
Tisaj devised her own way back to conscious, healthy spending. Determined to save money but still enjoy her life, Tisaj devised her own way back to conscious, healthy spending. How to Give Up Shopping is a call to action for anyone who would like to save but also to live. Candid and entertaining, it's peppered with genuinely helpful tips and leavened with anecdotes.
Cost for the three-session series is $45, with a $10 discount for early registration (by May 4th). Listeners will be able to ask questions during the conversations, and they'll also have access to recordings of the sessions afterwards. To register, or for more information, go to In the Red? Spent? How to Give Up Shopping (or at least cut down) (http://www. stoppingovershopping. com/conversations. html).
About Dr. Benson:
April Lane Benson, PhD, is a psychologist who specializes in the treatment of compulsive buying, and works with people, both individually and in groups. She is the author of I Shop, Therefore I Am: Compulsive Buying and the Search for Self and To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop. Dr. Benson appears regularly in the media--on Good Morning America, The Today Show, Fox News Weekend Live, CBS Evening News, ABC News Now, and the BBC World Business Report. She lives and practices in New York City.
Contact: info (at) stoppingovershopping (dot) com
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