Cassandra Dunn – författare

In this “intriguing and moving” (Examiner.com) first novel, a recently separated woman rises to the challenge and experiences the exhilaration of independence with the unlikely help of her brother with Asperger’s.Seven months after her husband leaves her, Lana is still reeling. Being single means she is in charge of every part of her life, and for the first time in nineteen years, she can do things the way she always wanted to do them. But that also leaves her with all the responsibility. With two teenage children—Byron and Abby, who are each dealing with their own struggles—in a house she can barely afford on her solo salary, her new life is a balancing act made even more complicated when her brother Matt moves in. Matt has Asperger’s syndrome, which makes social situations difficult for him and flexibility and change nearly impossible. He only eats certain foods in a certain order and fixates on minor details. When Lana took him in, he was self-medicating with drugs and alcohol to numb his active mind enough to sleep at night. Adding Matt’s regimented routine to her already disrupted household seems like the last thing Lana needs, but her brother’s unique attention to detail makes him an invaluable addition to the family: he sees things differently. A “lively, engaging, and heartfelt tale of learning how to cope with change” (Publishers Weekly), The Art of Adapting is a feel-good story that celebrates the small moments and small changes that add up to one great life.

You might think happiness is to be found in a pay rise or a new job, a holiday, a marriage (or divorce), an updated kitchen or that great pair of shoes you’ve got your eye on. But the cliché is true: happiness is in the journey, not the destination.Psychologist Cassandra Dunn believes that happiness is available to all of us – and not just in some picture-perfect ideal life. In a series of simple, over-arching steps, she helps find the root of the reasons you may not be performing at your best and gives you practical strategies to make changes to feel happier, more energetic, fitter and confident. For example, one step to a happier life is Be less busy; strategies to do this are to literally schedule down time, or unplug from the digital world.Your journey to living your best life begins right here and now.

Crappy To Happy: Love What You Do offers practical tips to learn to love what you do, from a clinical psychologist and mindfulness educator.When you spend so much of your life working, it’s no surprise that job satisfaction is key to your mental and physical health. Cassandra Dunn knows what it is to need more from work. This book shares her wisdom.Crappy To Happy: Love What You Do gives advice on changing how you work to find more balance, how you think about work to make it more meaningful, or what you do for work altogether, with a series of simple over-arching steps, and then practical strategies to implement. For example, learning to play to your strengths is important in any work context, but first you have to identify those strengths, which you can do by informally polling your friends, or taking a standardised test. Ten easily digestible chapters are each followed by three key takeaway steps, covering Start Where You Are; Play to Your Strengths, Make it Meaningful, Find Your Flow, Be True to You, Cultivate Positive Relationships, Be Brave, Create the Right Balance, Do It Your Way, Find Your Calling.Start making your work, work for you.