Charting Your Course - by Sally Coleman & David S Anderson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Suited for use by classrooms, groups, and individuals, Charting Your Course: A Life-Long Guide to Health and Compassion is a positive answer to the negative pressures that young people face today: from depression, to substance abuse, to lack of confidence or direction. In the first half of of the book, Sally Coleman and David S. Anderson spell out seven areas of healthy living--attitude, personal values, holistic health, relationships, community, the natural world, and service to others--and articulate seven corresponding principles aimed at helping people design a life that will allow them to flourish.

In the second half, dozens of people, including Elie Wiesel, Joe Paterno, Matthew Fox, Father Theodore Hesburgh, and Jane Alexander, answer the question: "If you could write only one letter to young people before you die, what legacy would you leave them?" Their answers address issues ranging from substance abuse to religion, from parenting to sexual orientation. Finally, the editors provide the reader with workbook pages aimed at developing his or her own plan for charting a unique and healthy course through life.

Review Quotes

"Charting Your Course is an invaluable resource for anyone working with college students or preparing professionals or paraprofessionals to work with college students. This book identifies key developmental issues and presents many valuable activities to help students address these issues. Its unique approach to values clarification is a strength of the text." --Angelo F. Gadaleto, Professor and Chair, Department of Counselor Education, West Chester University

"Written for young adult readers but ideal for all ages, Charting Your Course provides an ideal framework for holistic health as well as understanding, diminishing, and hopefully eliminating the epidemic abuse of alcohol and other drugs on college campuses. A unique feature are 'legacy letters, ' these are letters written on request by fifty people in response to the question of 'What would you leave young people if you were to die?' These engaging letters address such issues as substance abuse, values, sexual orientation, religion, quality of life, AIDS, child abuse, parenting, and the spirit of living. Charting Your Course is an inspired compendium of sound advice and reflection." --The Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Sally Coleman was a staff counselor in the University of Notre Dame's counseling center and the author of several books on current issues.

David S. Anderson is Associate Professor and Director of the Center for the Advancement of Public Health, George Mason University.