Interview with Author: Judith A. Belmont, MS
1. When and why did you begin writing?I am a psychotherapist and I began writing while I was working as a national seminar trainer for PESI, a provider of continuing education for mental health professionals. Since therapists are always looking for practical "hands on" techniques in dealing with clients, which was my specialty, they asked me to write a book for them to publish and sell at their seminars and on their mailings. I ended up writing two "tips and tools" books for them, and they are their two bestselling books. I realized I loved writing books which offered practical tools, and this led me to write with my co-author, "The Swiss Cheese Theory of Life! Even though I have no time to write another book now, I enjoy guest posting on other blogs as well as my own.
2. What inspired you to write this book?
Both myself and my co-author have over 30 years each of experience as psychotherapists, and we put our best ideas together to create what I consider the most easy to read yet informative self-help book out there. The feedback I have gotten has been tremendous, and I love helping people with the knowledge I have gained.
3. How did you come up with the title?
I love metaphors and often use them, and one day I showed Lora a presentation I was doing while we were working on our book concept. When she saw the PowerPoint slide with this title, she thought right away it would be a great title for the book. Even though we all now life is not fair, we still expect it to be.
4. Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?
Life is not smooth and predictable like American or Cream Cheese. Rather, life has holes, and it’s how you get through them that counts! Instead of wishing the holes away in our lives, the book’s ten self-help slices show readers how to get through life’s pitfalls without getting stuck in them! In fact, it is the holes in our lives that give us depth of character and make our life rich in meaning, just as the larger the holes in the Swiss, the sweeter the taste of the cheese. Thus, we need holes in our lives to become who we are!
5. Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
When I was younger, I was painfully shy, and I learned to use my weakness into strengths - my sensitivity turned into insight as I worked hard increase my self-confidence and not be bogged down with insecurity and sensitivity.
6. What books have most influenced your life most?
I loved books that focused on changing thought to change your life, and the early books that really influenced me was "a New Guide To Rational Living" by Albert Ellis, and "Your Erroneous Zones" by Wayne Dyer.
7. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
I would love your readers to visit my web site at www.judybelmont.com and read my resources and links, and visit daily for my Daily Positive Inspirations. These are pictures that have my original inspirational message, and I also post these on Pinterest. I invite your readers to send me original ones they make up so I can post them on Pinterest also to create a community of people interested in sharing inspirational and motivating thoughts. My Pinterest site is http://pinterest.com/judybelmont/
Summary
I love The Swiss Cheese Theory of Life because it is an easy read self-help book. There are several life lessons and tools that are provided in this book for everyday living. It is not abstract in terms of not being able to apply to one’s own life, but it is a book about the reality of everyone’s life. No matter who you are, where you are in life you can find something to take away from this book.
What I love the most are the practice worksheet that are contained within the book. For example there is a section teaching about “I” vs. “you.” So the practice worksheet assists us with using the phrase “I feel___when____. What I took from that section was not pointing the finger at the other person but rather taking responsibility and explaining our feelings on situations. I think that if more people during conversations would take heed to this type of communication it would prevent a lot of unnecessary arguments.
My Top 3 Chapters in the book are:
- Fifth Slice: Living Whole Despite the Holes!: Mindfulness and Spirituality
- Eight Slice: The Cheese wheel of Life – How do you Slice it: Achieving Life Balance
- Ninth Slice: Mastering the Cheese Wheel of Change!: How to be a Stress Manager…and Not a Stress Carrier
The Swiss Cheese Theory of life: “Life is full of holes. How you get through them is what counts!”
Overall rating: 4 Stars
About:
Psychotherapists and wellness speakers Judy Belmont and co-author Lora Shor offer videos, self-tests. The website is http://www.theswisscheesetheoryoflife.com, and you can download the first two chapters of their book.
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Disclaimer: The owner of this Single Mom Inspirations was compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. I received a free signed copy of The Swiss Cheese Theory of Life in return for my honest feedback on the book.Even though the owner of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.
