Once upon a time . . . . Each of us has a zillion stories to tell. Dazzling stories, ordinary stories. So many stories and treasures that matter. We tell them over and over. We believe them to be our truth. But there may be more to the story—the moment of kindness in an otherwise awful breakup, the new life path discovered when all the doors closed. Take another look. Write the whole story. Tell more of your story than you noticed before. As therapists, we listen to and tell stories all day, every day.

The gift of Uncovering Treasures That Matter is in its countless questions for any therapist, written by a forever psychologist. Give it to your clients, so they can imagine and consider while seeking, searching, and finding a choice-full life. Also, for the psychologically curious among us, choose and write using the prompting question that makes you noisy inside and takes you on an incredible inner journey.  

Fifty themes with sensitizing questions and prompts to write about.

See the Table of Contents to read them all.

These may be:   

.The rules of your life, surely more than you thought

· Living a big life or a small one

 · Birthdays, the real and the wished for  

· First and lasts - we usually know the first but not the last

· Treasures that matter, a person, an experience, a thing.   

Notice, see, and remember who you were, are, and might be. Then, read your stories out loud to your therapist. Experience your story with kindred people. Be amazed by what you discover, what matters to you now.

Coming to see a therapist is an act of courage, sometimes with hope and optimism, sometimes with desperation and fear. As a therapist, you want to help your clients get to a better place. To do so, you must reach into yourself and find substance to help them achieve fresh insights. As necessary, you must find techniques to help your clients remember and act on their deepened self-awareness in your sessions. Uncovering Treasures That Matter (TTM) is a theme-based writing method to help your clients grow. A therapist can use this evidence-based protocol to help clients discover insights and new meanings in their self-discovery process. The TTM method blends the power of expressive writing, journaling, and life theme writing. It is direct and effective. Why?

Stories are what people remember. Just as children are given fables, fairy tales, and parables because these types of stories convey crucial life guidance in the form of easy-to-remember stories, so can stories written and shared with a therapist help clients find clarity and meaning. Stories have been human beings' most reliable means of retaining and sharing information since our early origins.

You hold in your hands a turnkey workbook. We've provided everything you need, from how to use the TTM method with individual clients, couples, group sessions, and one-day workshops. There are 50 themes with sensitizing questions and prompts to help clients explore their issues through writing. Copy the pages you want your client to have and let them explore the questions.

Here are their instructions. "Ask yourself each question offered. Consider responding to a question(s) that makes you smile, that you are attracted to answering, and to one or two you don't like or want to turn away from. Facing what you don't like, or are uncomfortable with, is often a path to the most significant learning. These questions are guides to prime or stimulate your memories and thoughts about your life. The questions are not intended to be answered in a literal manner. Read through each of them and react to the one(s) that open windows for you. Each life is unique, and the priming questions impact each of us differently."

Meet Bonnie Bernell and Cheryl Svensson

For more than forty years, Bonnie Bernell has been a licensed Psychologist and is currently in private practice in Redwood City, California, and via telehealth. She is the recipient of the Distinguished Contributor to Psychology Award from the California Psychological Association and the author of the award-winning book Bountiful Women. For 25 years, she was an adjunct Professor of Psychology in the graduate programs at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Palo Alto, CA, and at Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA teaching Law and Ethics, Human Sexuality. She has offered multiple continuing education classes and written in the professional literature, including as coauthor with Sandra Borrelli-Kerner, a chapter in a book edited by Randolph Charlton, M.D. and Irv Yalom, M.D., Treating sexual disorders, "Couple therapy of sexual disorders." She has a doctorate and a master's degree in counseling from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and a bachelor's degree in psychology, from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the California Psychological Association, the Santa Clara County Psychological Association, and the San Mateo County Psychological Association. She is an Advanced Clinician and Workshop Presenter for Imago International and is a Guided Autobiography facilitator. She is an artist—painter, and bookmaker. She currently lives in Redwood City, California, with her life partner and Brodie Lee Terrier, a border terrier. See her website at BonnieBernell.com or contact her at BLBernell@gmail.com.

Cheryl Svensson has been involved in the field of aging since she graduated from the first Masters in Gerontology program at the University of Southern California (USC) in 1977 and later completed her Ph.D. at the University of Lund, Sweden. She worked closely with Dr. James Birren, founding Dean of the Davis School of Gerontology at USC, and is the Director of the Birren Center for Autobiographical Studies (www.guidedautobiography.com). This organization is dedicated to researching and developing programs to help people write their life stories. She has taught Guided Autobiography (GAB) at USC, UCLA, and several universities, libraries, and senior and assisted living centers. In 2009 she created a live, interactive online training webinar to teach students how to become GAB instructors; there are now 600 GAB instructors in 31 countries. She is the co-author with Richard Campbell of the book, Writing Your Legacy: The step-by-step guide to crafting your life story. She's passionate about writing and sharing life stories. Cheryl makes her home bi-continentally - living in the fast lane in southern California and the bike lane in Sweden. You may reach her at cheryl.svensson@gmail.com.