In Acceptance: The Defining Voice of Validation, the impact of ordinary but invalidating exchanges between people that cause pain, even long-lasting pain, is explored. The author shows how such communications occur and how they can be changed for mutual benefit to people who suffer from invalidation and those who seek to validate but fall short of their wish to help. About the Author: Evelyn Sommers is a psychologist in private practice in Toronto and formerly in Vancouver, whose first book is a study of incarcerated women's views of the causes of their lawbreaking. Her most recent book, The Tyranny of Niceness: Unmasking the Need for Approval is an analysis of niceness, a universally accepted and culturally encouraged way of interacting that moves people away from authenticity and towards dishonesty in relationships. Born in southwestern Ontario, Evelyn graduated from York University, and from the University of Toronto (OISE) with a Ph.D. in Applied Psychology. She worked as an elementary school teacher, in sales, as a business owner, and in social services prior to full-time attendance at graduate school, experiences which she feels add important dimensions to her work as a psychologist and as a writer. |