Straight from the Heart

Book excerpt: Straight from the Heart: A Child’s Journey to Love and Be Loved is a beautifully written story about a child’s heartrending journey to love and be loved by the significant adults in his life. Straight from the Heart is a compilation of true-to-life scenarios that speak very candidly to the myriad of challenges faced by today’s youth in their quest to be loved and understood by others. Dr. Kennedy takes you on a riveting journey through the eyes and heart of the main character, Jamaal, with emphasis on his complex relationship with his mother, teachers, peers and estranged father. Drawing on her extensive clinical experience and expertise in working with vulnerable children, youth and families, Dr. Kennedy poignantly directs the reader’s attention to the underlying source of the main characters’ anger, fears and frustrations with emphasis on the importance of effective communications, perspective taking, problem-solving and decision making in managing and resolving conflicts across relationships. Straight from the Heart is a must-read for today’s children, youth and adolescents; and more so for the adults that are deeply invested in bringing about positive change in the lives of our youth and their families through the applied principles of compassion, understanding, unconditional positive regard and forgiveness.