by Chris McLennan

 Terry Ratner and Diane Mote live in North Central Phoenix. They are worlds apart and incredibly similar at the same time. Both are writers. Both work in the health care industry. And both have written books that help people. But the similarities end there.

 

Out of great loss

Terry Ratner

    Ratner also knows a lot about death and the profound effects it has on the human body—and not just professionally. In fact, she has a very personal view of death. In 1993, her mother was killed in an auto/pedestrian accident and then nine years ago her 25-year-old son, Sky, was killed in a motorcycle accident. To say her life was changed or affected is an understatement.

    It was after her son was killed that Ratner wrote a short story entitled “The Eucalyptus Tree,” which was published in a local Phoenix newspaper on Mother’s Day. Writing has not only changed her life—writing has saved her life, she says, explaining that it allows her to deal with her sorrow in a formative way.

      After her story was published, Ratner enrolled in a creative writing class at Phoenix College. She continued sending articles out for publication. Writing provided a means to express herself, her love, and her grief, even hatred and sadness. Writing allowed her to survive, to put into words things she was unable to say to her mother and to her son.

      Ratner continued attending classes and graduated MFA in creative nonfiction in 2004. Her senior lecture and critical paper focused on “Writing About Death Without Sentimentality,” so it’s no surprise that she now teaches courses that involve loss, be it a medical crisis, traumatic event or the death of a loved one.

    Ratner has taught workshops on the subject of loss, exploring methods from Ekphrasis, a technique made popular in the 19th century that uses words and images in writing as if speaking to one reader. Ratner compares the technique to two people (author and reader) sitting side by side in front of a crackling fire with their favorite stimulants at hand, chatting.

    “We all go through trauma, loss, and sudden misfortune in our lives. The great gift we have is the ability to make something out of it,” Ratner points out. “That ability keeps us in this world and connects us with others. It’s the process that’s a part of living, the continuation of healing, the way a tree moves around an obstacle while it grows, in order to keep living. I think that’s what I do.”

    When we write about loss, a traumatic event, death, or a medical crisis, it takes us away from our problems by cultivating a quality of absorption, Ratner says. We use thoughtful examination to force an awareness of ourselves, our relationship to others, and our place in the world.

    Ratner is teaching a class at Phoenix College, Writing About Loss, beginning Jan. 17. The class will meet on Thursdays from 6-8:55 p.m. If you are interested in registering for this class, call 602-285-7777. For more information about Terry Ratner, visit her Web site at www.terryratner.com.

Healing through empathy

    Reflect on your own life by reading about someone else’s problems. Author and psychotherapist, Diane Mote, has released a self-help book that will do just that.

Diane Mote

    From a 4 year old learning to control his anger to an adult dealing with OCD, these intimate vignettes reveal human healing processes that inspire, educate and enlighten.

    “I wrote the book hoping that readers would identify with the life stories of my clients, causing them to reflect on their own lives,” Mote said. “My therapeutic goal has always been to help my clients find peace with the past and hope for their future. I want the same thing for my book’s readers.”  

    Inside this intimate territory, readers find situations that resonate with people they recognize through these complex personal stories of simple human truths. It allows one to remember many specific incidents through the eyes of others, and to get an intuitive feel for their life as a whole. Even if you aren’t up for contemplating the meaning of life, this book will encourage you to reflect.

    “Walking in Backwards” is written in easily understandable language for general audiences and it appeals to psychology professionals as well. Arizona State University Professor Emeritus Jeffrey McWhirter, Ph.D., ABPP, has assigned the book to graduate students in his pre-practicum class in his Counseling Psychology Program. “This book is especially important because it conveys in a very poignant way why many of us got into and stay in this field,” his course syllabus says.

    Holding master’s degrees in both Counseling and Special Education from ASU, Mote’s 25-year career in the field of Early Childhood Development includes over a decade in private practice where she counsels adults as well as children. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Nationally Certified Counselor and a member of the American Counseling Association.

    Mote has written several articles on parenting for Raising Arizona Kids magazine, and consults for them as a professional expert as well. In Phoenix she teaches a bi-monthly class for North Central Parenting Group, a private organization of mothers that has been in operation for over 30 years. She also presents “The Kindergarten Fit” workshop, a discussion of readiness skills and of finding a kindergarten that suits a child’s temperament and abilities, for pre-schools and private parent associations.  

    As a mentor/volunteer for Arizona Quest For Kids, Diane helps prepare high-potential, low-income students for success in college and beyond. The student that she mentors is now a high-school senior and will graduate in June 2008.

    Mote lives in Phoenix with her husband, who also is an AQFC mentor/volunteer. Their two grown daughters have both pursued degrees in psychology.

    “Walking in Backwards: Vignettes of Healing Through Therapy” is available through Amazon.com and select bookstores.