Josie Valderrama
Josie Valderrama is a San Francisco-based author who loves sharing aesthetic and consciousness explorations through writing. Josie's work illuminates the essence of being human, with all its joys and struggles. With a background in psychology, Josie has unique insight into stages of personal evolution and isn't afraid to delve into the intricacies of lived experience.
When not busy crafting compelling literary work, you can find Josie exploring the wonders of the underwater world, meditating among the birds and trees, and immersing in the beauty of different cultures. Known for belting out a tune or two at karaoke bars, Josie’s enjoyment of singing goes hand in hand with a lifelong passion for wordsmithery. |
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Journal: Prompts and Techniques to Practice Acceptance While Building the Life You Want
Self-Help
Cultivate greater well-being through acceptance and commitment therapy Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) combines the proven power of mindfulness and cognitive behavioral techniques to improve your mental health. This guided journal provides ACT-based prompts and practices that help you focus on the positive and foster greater self-awareness―so you can truly thrive. What sets this ACT daily journal apart: An introduction to ACT―Learn how ACT can help you practice mindfulness, identify your deepest values, and move toward greater meaning and purpose. The six core principles―Explore exercises organized by each pillar of ACT: cognitive defusion, acceptance, contacting the present, the observing self, values, and committed action. A variety of exercises―Discover affirmations, writing prompts, thought exercises, meditations, and other activities that show you how to implement ACT techniques in your life. Boost your overall mental wellness with the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Journal. |
Adrift in Adulting: My College Coming-of-Age in 1990s
Memoir
“The memoir’s overall emotional resonance and its keen insight into a specific time and place are enough to reward patient readers. An . . . often incisive exploration of early adulthood.” Kirkus Reviews It’s 1994 and Josie, a Filipino American overachiever-turned-partyer, returns from study abroad in England to finish out her senior year of college in Los Angeles, her hometown. Despite her lowered ambitions–she has resigned herself to hedonistic indulgence as the best she can do with her life–Josie finds herself in a painful struggle to overcome everyday cruelties. Cast against an American landscape that sees the rise of modern cultural hallmarks including celebrity scandal, televised civil strife and media sensationalism, Josie finds herself flailing again and again. A neurodiverse, bisexual and genderqueer woman of color, Josie’s experiences of oppression exacerbate her attempts to hold onto optimism about her future. Feeling increasingly burdened by existential angst, ‘mommy issues’ and unresolved trauma, she begins to suspect that living in LA may not be helping her self-destructive depression. Josie takes to the road, vagabonding through the States in search of answers. She catches a glimpse of a different life up north, in San Francisco. Openness, non-normativity, and ecstatic exploration seems to await her somewhere else, if only she can get there. But after all that she has been through, does she dare to hope that it truly can get better? Adrift in Adulting: My College Coming-of-Age in 1990s LA is Josie Valderrama’s debut memoir. This powerful and beautifully wrought story will resonate with readers drawn to harrowing early adulthood tales told with insight, wit and compassion. |