Archive for the ‘Latest News’ Category

Very excited to let you know that my autobiography All of It – a memoir of Love, Art and Fear is to be released on 1st June ! I am planning a big launch, so if you would like to come along, please let me know via email at itzok@netspace.net.au Not sure of the exact date of the launch itself (still organising the venue) but keep a watch here. As one of my paintings The Long Sunday is featured on the cover, I am hoping to combine the launch with an exhibition of my artwork as well. Below is the cover…doesn’t that red look sumptuous? (Hmm, having trouble uploading…oh well, youi can see it on my Facebook till I sort that out).I have written the book to reach not only my lovely readers but also those who are interested in my fairly unique and unconventional journey and in particular my journey into and out of severe anxiety and depression. I think it lands somewhere between Monkey Grip and Eat, Pray, Love (but without Julia Roberts messing with it!)

I am holding my first workshop of the year over two Saturdays 25th February and 3rd March 10-4 in Yarraville. I have just extended the Earlybird deadline to 12th February, since so many of you have been tied up with back-to-school etc. I have been running this workshop for the past fifteen years with wonderful results for people with anxiety and depression. There is absolutely no need for you to keep suffering! Take the plunge and book now. You will not regret one cent or one moment of this commitment to your own wellbeing. Email me on itzok@netspace.net.au for full information on there where, what and how. Payments can then be made on this site though Paypal. I look forward to giving you a great start to 2012!

Actually, I handed in the final manuscript in June for my autobiography, ‘All of It – a Memoir of Love, Fear and Art’. So proud of it and the publisher and editor stated that they found it very moving, sincere and ‘brave’. I’m describing it as ‘Monkey Grip meets Eat, Pray, Love’ !

COV_AllOfIt_revisedNow yet another long wait- because of marketing strategies more than anything else, it will be finally released in June 2012. Don’t worry, I’m feeling every bit as impatient to see it on the shelves! Anyway, I’ve attached the cover here (featuring my painting on it called ‘The Long Sunday’. The design team did a great job, I think. Looks pretty sumptuous, doesn’t it? Roll on June (but hopefully a nice summer first!)

I recently decided to cut the price of the IT kit because people are feeling the pressure at the moment and the last thing I want to do is put money in the way of your getting help. The thing is, you will be receiving around twelve hours of comprehensive counselling for around $16 an hour! Had a man recently contact me desperate to see me for help after many years of depression. I suggested he start off with the kit first then see whether he still wanted a consult. His next email said ‘Boy, this material has really hit the spot!’ He decided  to keep going with the kit because he thought he might not need to see me after all. If you people keep getting better all by yourselves, I may end up broke! (but happy!)

I can’t tell you how often people contact me to ask for help which is a little weird, really because the help is right there on the site but anyway…look, if you’re struggling with anxiety, PLEASE take a look at the IT Kit. I designed it to step in for you straight away to get you started on understanding the why, how and what of your anxiety and to HELP YOU TO RECOVERY! It is EXACTLY the same material as I present in my workshops. The thing is, even those attending in person will have to take on the responsibility for putting in the hard yards of applying the materials to their lives so there is no difference between that and doing it at home with the kit, apart from having your questions answered straight away if we’re face-to-face.

However, even if you have questions about the kit, you can always email me! If you need help, it’s right there, right now. Please consider it. There’s no need to keep suffering but you do need to want to help yourself. But if you don’t and you just want someone to fix it for you then the hard truth is nothing will work. You can do it. You really can.

Sadly, because of the constant flood of advertisers leaving comments, (honestly, how do you people sleep at night?)  I will now not be able to accept genuine comments until I sort out how to free myself from purveyors of stove top grills, contraceptive gels and dating services. In the meantime, those with genuine queries or comments are most welcome to send an email and I will be very happy to respond. What a world…

I’ve just driven to and from Adelaide with my little dog on an adventure to check out some interesting new work with a woman called Beverley Searle, who has created a system to heal ‘breaks’ in the psyche which can occur, particularly in childhood, after trauma. Beverley put herself through University in mid-life to study the workings of the mind in an attempt to heal herself after some extreme trauma in childhood and she developed a system of reintegration which has been especially helpful for people who are suffering with phobias, chronic illness, substance abuse and eating disorders as well as other deeply stuck problems.

I tried out her system to help with a chronic health issue that has been very resistant to anything that I have looked at on a conscious or rational level and that was having a big impact on my ability to keep up with work demands in particular. 

Using Beverley’s system (which is actually very non-invasive…mainly you are asked to visualise and follow Beverley’s leads) we found a very traumatised five year old me who had become ‘stuck’ back there and was holding the illness in place.

Having rediscovered the source of this ailment as being a result of a ‘split’ from my unified sense of self, I was able to then visualise that part of me, in the form of the small child, finally receiving the nurture and care that had not been accessible to her at the time and which would allow her to finally rest and heal.

I may not be doing Beverley justice in my explanation of the process but I have come away from the experience with an even greater respect and awe for the enormously healing power and amazingly complex systems of the mind and the devices that it creates in order to protect us and allow us to keep functioning.

I have also come away with an even greater conviction that if we ignore persistent problems for years and hope they will just go away, we are doing ourselves a great disservice.

We’re not here to suffer. Feeling sad, anxious, sick, angry, addicted or whatever, is not our natural state. If you are experiencing these things it is simply because you mind is trying to get your attention so that you’ll finally do something about the problem !

My work is one part of the process, Beverley’s is another level as are other great teachers’ work out there and, like the layers of an onion, issues come up to be healed till eventually, you reach the core.

It’s a matter of trying out a range of approaches till you find the ones that work best for you and there are usually several, because we work through various stages of receptivity on the healing journey. If you’re new to self examination, there’s usually a fair bit of resistance that has to be pushed through at first ! Self work is challenging but no more so than staying stuck in misery, believe me!

Reintegrating the systems of the mind is a very powerful process and Beverley’s work is extremely well researched and highly effective.

As yet, Beverley does not have her website up and running (soon, apparently) but you are welcome to contact her on beverley-searle@bigpond.com  with enquiries. She is based in Adelaide.

Oh,yes… my health concern, you’re no doubt wondering how that went? Well, no radical claims but I’d say there’s been a 50% improvement. Not bad in a matter of days after 8 years of struggling with this! Apparently, it should settle down even more within two weeks. I’ll let you know. In general, though, I feel much more settled and somehow ‘sturdier’ in myself  and definitely more peaceful. Pretty good stuff.

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I will soon be conducting two very different classes at the Louis Joel Community Arts Centre in Altona commencing in June this year.

On a Saturday over five weeks, I will be running cartooining classes for people who would like to do cartoons either for fun or to add a bit of flavour to their business materials. This class is based on the same format as the cartooning course that I ran for several years at the CAE

The anxietyclass is for people who wish to work in a small group guided by myself through the five week anxiety recovery program that I have facilitated over the past 12 years. Limit of 8 people

Both courses will run from June and further details will be posted as they are locked in closer to the time. However, if you’re interested in putting your name down, contact the Louis Joel Arts and Community Centre on    03 9398 2522 or email louisjl@bigpond.net.au

Wow, it has been a long time since I’ve posted here but my aim is to do so more often this year, so here we go .Ignore the fact that the year is already well advanced!  

OK so here’s a little update on all things literary to date.

The new book ‘I LOVE ME’ hit the shelves in February.

I received a beautiful email soon after from a young man who had been estranged from his family and had been generally rejected because he was gay. He said that he had been given the book by a friend and that it had truly uplifted him and that he knew he would refer to it throughout his life Read the rest of this entry »

Ok so my website designer has been hassling me because I haven’t been able to blog as often as desired. Reasons? Just finished over 200 illustrations for new book ‘I Love Me’ HarperCollins Pub. Due out early 2010 and have also commenced ‘Get Over IT’, the rough ms due on 1st October (God help me!) That, along with lectures, workshops, re-recording the IT Kit so you can down load it soon ,other illustration work, an exhibition and having a life, means I’ve been a bit slow on the blogs, sorry ! However,fear not, regular blogs are on the list,and I promise faithfully to lift my game ! Bear with me ! Details of the new books will be coming soon.