Therapeutic Hope: Your Partner in Mental Health
Discover the Positive Change with Therapeutic Hope Training
Ester Leutenberg
John and Ester Leutenberg wrote a best-selling workbook titled The Journey to Transcendence, about hope and healing. Ester Leutenberg has worked in the mental health profession for many years as an author, publisher and as an advocate for those suffering from loss. She personally experienced a loss when her son Mitchell, after struggling with a mental illness for eight years, died by suicide in 1986.
Soon after, as a way of both healing and helping others, she co-founded Wellness Reproductions & Publishing with her daughter Kathy Khalsa. Ester began developing therapeutic products that help facilitators help their clients. She is the co-author of the SEALS series for teenagers, as well as Meaningful Life Skills for older adults, and the eight-book Life Management Skills series for adults.
Ester, a breast cancer survivor since 2003, has counseled other survivors in overcoming body-loss issues. Her involvement with Survivors of Suicide, the Coyote Task Force in Tucson, various support groups in Sun City Oro Valley, and volunteering at two hospitals are among many ways she continues to feed her passion for helping mentally ill people, their facilitators, and their families.
Ester has co-written the following, published by Whole Person Associates:
SERIES:
- Coping with Behavioral Addictions Series
- Coping Workbook Series for Facilitators (10 books)
- Erasing the Stigma of Mental Health Issues Through Awareness Series (8 books)
- Mental Health & Life Skills Workbook Series for Adults (12 books)
- Mental Health & Life Skills Workbook Series for Teens (14 books)
- Mind-Body Wellness Series (5 books)
- Transitional Life Skills for Teens Series (10 books)
- Working with Families Series
STAND-ALONE BOOKS:
- Suicide & Self-Injury Prevention Workbook
- Teen Suicide & Self-Harm Prevention Workbook
- Mindfulness Skills Workbook: Remedies for Worry, Anxiety & Stress
- Teen Mindfulness Skills Workbook: Remedies for Worry, Anxiety & Stress
- Veterans - Surviving and Thriving after Trauma
- Life Skills to Help Teens Balance Way Too Much
- The Complete Caregiver Support Guide
- Motivation - Identifying strengths, interests, abilities, hopes and dreams
- Creating a Healthy Balanced Life
- GriefWork - Healing from Loss
- GriefWork for Teens - Healing from Loss
- The GriefWork Companion - Activities for Healing
- Breaking Up is Hard to Do - Support for Partners Ending a Committed Relationship
Dr. Michelle J. Scallon
Dr. Michelle Scallon, Ph.D., earned her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Seattle Pacific University in 2007. She earned her BA in Psychology with a minor in Business from Central Washington University and a Master’s Degree in Psychology from SPU. Prior to graduate school, she worked at the University of Washington (in the English as a Second Language Department) and at Microsoft Corporation. Dr. Scallon has over 15 years of experience providing counseling and psychotherapy to a wide variety of populations. She has enjoyed helping individuals and groups create resiliency in their lives. She draws on a wide variety of evidence-based techniques, including those from Positive Psychology. She considers it an honor to help people.
While earning her doctoral degree, she worked as a clinician during rotations at a community mental health clinic serving culturally diverse, underserved populations and in a private outpatient setting. She is skilled at treating clients with a wide range of diagnoses. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Fifth Avenue Center for Counseling and Psychotherapy in New York City. After earning her Ph.D., she was employed by Greater Lakes Mental Healthcare, where she served as a clinician and contributed to research on the GAU Pilot Project.
For over ten years, Dr. Scallon worked as a mental health clinician in a correctional institution, treating incarcerated individuals, conducting therapeutic groups, and supervising staff members. She was an integral part of running a mental health program called a Modified Therapeutic Community aimed at helping incarcerated individuals increase prosocial skills to reduce their chances of recidivism.
Dr. Scallon conducted her own research study while completing her dissertation, titled “The Impact of Social Support and Humor on Levels of Hope in Individuals who are coping with HIV/AIDS. In addition to this research, she made peer-reviewed presentations at the Western Psychological Association conference in Palm Springs, CA. She presented research on cognitive flexibility, coping, and hope in the HIV/AIDS population. She also presented a paper on “The effects of exercise on acculturative stress in international students." Dr. Scallon is passionate about helping people capitalize on their strengths to maintain hope. Her current interest lies in finding ways to help people remain positive and cope amidst the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
