Mental Health Monologues E-book | Transformative Plays


Book Description

"The Mental Health Monologues" is a poignant collection of transformative plays written by acclaimed playwright Carl Stillitano. Each play delves into the complexities of the human psyche, exploring themes of resilience, healing, and self-discovery. Through a series of captivating monologues, the characters share their personal journeys, offering insight into the profound impact of mental health on their lives. As readers immerse themselves in these compelling narratives and read the monologues aloud, they embark on a therapeutic journey of self-reflection and empathy. The act of vocalizing the words brings a sense of catharsis, allowing emotions to surface and be acknowledged. Through the shared experience of reading, individuals find comfort in knowing they are not alone in their struggles. Furthermore, the act of reading these monologues aloud fosters a deeper understanding of mental health issues and promotes open dialogue. By giving voice to the characters' experiences, readers break down barriers and stigma surrounding mental illness, fostering a sense of community and support. “Each time I read Mental Health Monologues I’m absorbed by the powerful messages that give me insights through the characters’ stories. Reading the monologues on the podcast was such a rush! …It was empowering to bring the words to life, it got me out of my head & I felt much lighter afterwards. I encourage everyone who wants to grow as a person to read Transformative Plays. I read 6 of them in a month & I am not a “reader!” Lately when I have tough times, I find myself thinking about the plays & then remember something that helps.” - Anita Sreckov "These monologues provide a platform for individuals to share their personal experiences with mental health challenges, reducing the feelings of isolation and offering valuable insights into these issues. They inspire hope and resilience as individuals share their recovery journeys, fostering empathy, connection, and empowerment. It's comforting to know that others share these feelings and experiences. This book should be a staple in every home and school for parents, teachers, and students alike." - Shayla “This is such a beautiful movement. It's a great tool & it will help a lot of kids all over the world! There are so many applications: you can read it, act it, experience with a group, you can be alone, or in a formalized setting, like stage readings for fundraisers. This is a dream come true for high-school therapists & counselors... I love these plays because if you're going through something, whatever it is, when you have Mental Health Monologues then you will transform. It makes it easier to express yourself & understand you are not alone.” ​​​​​​​ - Ellen Shane “Mental Health Monologues is a healing game-changer that transcends traditional modalities of therapy. It’s fun, it makes you smarter & when read out loud the monologues become a vehicle to help release pain, re-pattern trauma & empower independence. I am in awe witnessing the power of the monologues in action. No matter your age, race, sexual preference, these monologues relate to everyone... & help us relate to one another.”​​​​​​​ - Lenise Sorén




Transformative Language Arts in Action


Book Description

Transformative Language Arts, an emerging field and profession, calls on us to use writing, storytelling, theater, music, expressive and other arts for social change, personal growth, and culture shift. In this landmark anthology, Transformative Language Artists share their stories, scholarship and practices for a more just and peaceful world, from a Hmong storyteller and spoken word artist weaving traditions with contemporary immigrant challenges in Philadelphia, to a playwright raising awareness of AIDS/HIV prevention. Read the stories, consider the questions raised, and find inspiration and tools in using words as a vehicle for transformation through essays on the challenge of dominant stories, public housing women writing for their lives, histories and communities at the margins, singing as political action, the convergence of theology and poetics, women's self-leadership, embodied writing, and healing the self, others, and nature through TLA. The anthology also includes “snapshots,” short features on transformative language artists who make their livings and lives working with people of all ages and backgrounds to speak their truths, and change their communities.




A Sit Down with Cyn


Book Description

Thirteen original monologues for the black girl living during Generation Z. With a mixture of comedic, dramatic, and reflective pieces, the book explores the growing pains of adulthood, microaggressions, mental health, family dynamics, and social identity through the raw and mature eyes of a young black girl.




The Sex Myth


Book Description

From a bold new feminist voice, a book that will change the way you think about your sex life. Fifty years after the sexual revolution, we are told that we live in a time of unprecedented sexual freedom; that if anything, we are too free now. But beneath the veneer of glossy hedonism, millennial journalist Rachel Hills argues that we are controlled by a new brand of sexual convention: one which influences all of us—woman or man, straight or gay, liberal or conservative. At the root of this silent code lies the Sex Myth—the defining significance we invest in sexuality that once meant we were dirty if we did have sex, and now means we are defective if we don’t do it enough. Equal parts social commentary, pop culture, and powerful personal anecdotes from people across the English-speaking world, The Sex Myth exposes the invisible norms and unspoken assumptions that shape the way we think about sex today.




Cultivating Mad Cow


Book Description

Sat in a row in a call centre in an unassuming new build office on the outskirts of Oxford, Barry White, a forty nine year old slightly balding diabetic telephone counsellor, was putting in his usual eight hour shift. Little did he know that his life was going to change forever. Cultivating Mad Cow is a true story that could easily be described as a memoir, but it’s more than that, it’s a story about madness, love, desperation, tragedy and recovery. Rich with comic moments, which against the backdrop of so much despair and anguish makes it both a comical but at the same time a heart-breaking read. New to writing, Kathryn brings a unique unsanitised, voice to tell the profoundly disturbing story of a woman trying to hold it all together, working in child protection and dealing with an unknown serious mental health condition. Things start to go badly wrong when Kathryn goes off work on annual leave and she is unaware she is having a mental health episode. With her wheelie bin going missing and with the new found desire to build phallic objects in her garden and get herself arrested for outlandish and hilarious public disturbances, Kathryn is offered support in the form a telephone counsellor by the name of Barry White. As the weeks progress and with little help on the ground, Kathryn begins to form a romantic attachment to Barry and creates a world where only he and she exist. As Barry writes his case notes, she writes her book. Her increasing need to be near Barry and decreasing inhibitions lead to disaster when she sends him inappropriate material which he shares with his manager, leading to them to terminate all contact between her and Barry. Undeterred by this latest turn of events, she purchases a lighthouse made from resin, throws it in her clapped out Nova, abandons her daughter and sets off to Oxford in search of Barry. When Barry fails to show up in a church which she believed the universe had led her to, she is mortified. The truth that Barry is not telepathically connected to her and that there is no great master plan created by a higher force to bring them together, is too much to bear and she returns home sinking into a darker, more disturbing state. With Barry gone and a career in tatters, she decides to return to work with devastating consequences.




The Myth of Normal


Book Description

The instant New York Times bestseller By the acclaimed author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, a groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illness, a bracing critique of how our society breeds disease, and a pathway to health and healing. In this revolutionary book, renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug; more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high blood pressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of the population. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness is on the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to health? Over four decades of clinical experience, Maté has come to recognize the prevailing understanding of “normal” as false, neglecting the roles that trauma and stress, and the pressures of modern-day living, exert on our bodies and our minds at the expense of good health. For all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance. Now Maté brings his perspective to the great untangling of common myths about what makes us sick, connects the dots between the maladies of individuals and the declining soundness of society—and offers a compassionate guide for health and healing. Cowritten with his son Daniel, The Myth Of Normal is Maté’s most ambitious and urgent book yet.




Between the Lines


Book Description

Told in their separate voices, sixteen-year-old Prince Oliver, who wants to break free of his fairy-tale existence, and fifteen-year-old Delilah, a loner obsessed with Prince Oliver and the book in which he exists, work together to seek his freedom.




The Silent Patient


Book Description

**THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** "An unforgettable—and Hollywood-bound—new thriller... A mix of Hitchcockian suspense, Agatha Christie plotting, and Greek tragedy." —Entertainment Weekly The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive. Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....




We've Been Too Patient


Book Description

25 unflinching stories and essays from the front lines of the radical mental health movement Overmedication, police brutality, electroconvulsive therapy, involuntary hospitalization, traumas that lead to intense altered states and suicidal thoughts: these are the struggles of those labeled “mentally ill.” While much has been written about the systemic problems of our mental-health care system, this book gives voice to those with personal experience of psychiatric miscare often excluded from the discussion, like people of color and LGBTQ+ communities. It is dedicated to finding working alternatives to the “Mental Health Industrial Complex” and shifting the conversation from mental illness to mental health.




Pedagogy of the Oppressed


Book Description