Running on Empty

Contemporary times have seen a growing malaise affecting our youth: Gang membership has grown 40% in 3 years, suicide is up 89% in 12-14 year-old children in the last two decades, anti-depressant use in children is up over 400%, and 40% of all children are born outside of marriage. Bullying, cutting, anorexia, and antisocial personality disorders are all on the rise. Running on Empty--Transcending the Economic Culture's Seduction of Our Youth presents a powerful case for the cause behind these destructive trends, and offers a hopeful and unique paradigm to help youth transcend their deepening pain. Through blending ancient wisdom with contemporary psychological and educational insights, this book offers a comprehensive path for transformation that can end youth's suffering and reverse the downward -spiraling trends.

There is a growing malaise affecting our youth. Running on Empty--Transcending the Economic Culture's Seduction of Our Youth, offers a hopeful and comprehensive paradigm that can transform and reverse the downward trends causing youth's suffering. Gang membership has grown 40% in 3 years, suicide is up 89% in 12-14 year-old children in the last two decades, anti-depressant use in children is up over 400%, and 40% of all children and are born outside of marriage. Bullying, cutting, anorexia, bulimia, borderline, and anti-social personality disorders are all on the rise. This is but a small sampling of painful trends affecting young people. Running on Empty presents a powerful case for the cause behind these destructive trends, and offers a comprehensive and hopeful path to help youth transcend their deepening pain. Through blending ancient wisdom traditions with contemporary psychological and educational insights, this book offers a blue print that can end youth's spiraling downward trends and help them create a bright future. Through mindfulness experiments, youth reveal in their own poignant and often humorous words, the keys that transformed their struggles.

James Nelson graduated magna cum laude in psychology while serving as Honors Student Council President of the University of Minnesota. He worked for over 40 years mostly as a high school psychology teacher while running chemical dependency groups for students. He was hired by the district to be a resource teacher to mentor other teachers in the largest school district in Minnesota. He was selected to the Who's Who of American Teachers and was awarded Medtronic's Outstanding Teacher Award. He worked his last 12 years as a psychologist at an Alternative school for at-risk youth while also serving as a Consulting Clinical Psychologist and therapist at a Mental Health Clinic. He served on the Anoka County Mental Health Advisory Board as an advocate for people with serious and persistent mental illness. He offered mental health workshops for the entire district staff on best practices when working with youth suffering from mental health issues. He served 5 terms on a local city council championing environmental issues. He was President and Chairman of the Board of a non-profit and taught yoga and meditation for decades, and serves as Vice President of AHYMS-A--an association of North and South American Meditation Centers. James speaks nationally and internationally on a wide variety of topics including: "The Art of Joyful Living", "On Becoming Your Own Psychologist', "The Transformative Power of Forgiveness", "The Therapeutic Value of Silence", and many other topics.