Bird Gotta Land: The Education of a Young Psychologist

Book excerpt: It's 1989 when Stephen Swift stumbles into a Ph.D. program in clinical psychology in Atlanta. Divorced at 27, Stephen's ex-wife has custody of their young son. Estranged from his cancer-stricken father after his parents' divorce, very little, especially love makes sense anymore. Stephen finds himself entrenched in the story that he's "not good enough" to succeed in love, in grad school, on the softball field. Transformative experiences with his untamed girlfriend, his dying father, a psychotic prisoner, and a softball game for the ages help him re-write his faulty narrative. Stephen's journey, from floating through his life detached and disconnected to landing fully present in his body and soul, is a universal human story. Through Stephen's struggles, Bird Gotta Land offers readers a glimpse behind the curtain of psychology graduate school into how becoming a healer requires facing and addressing our deepest wounds.