National Media Coverage. National Public Radio Campaign. Select Author Events: Atlanta, GA. Digital Marketing: Online Advertising and Social Media Campaign; Targeted Outreach to Mental Health and Nutritional Websites; http://colecoaching.com/
Chris Cole hosts the Waking Up Bipolar podcast, focused on the intersection of bipolar disorder and spiritual awakening. He is the author of The Body of Chris: A Memoir of Obsession, Addiction, and Madness, inspired by his own journey of spiritual unfolding and mental health challenges. Chris Cole offers life coaching for any number of mental health conditions, specializing in bipolar disorder and spiritual emergence. Chris's experience with addiction, disordered eating, body dysmorphia, psychosis, and spiritual emergency allows him to relate to a wide range of clients. He utilizes a holistic approach to mental health which views wellness in physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual domains. Learn more about Chris and his work at www.colecoaching.com.
"Addiction, disordered eating, and manic depression are each, by
themselves, tremendous hurdles, and the mere fact that Cole has
weathered all three makes his account remarkable... A unique,
compelling narrative." ―Kirkus Reviews
"Cole tells his story with self-effacing humor and compassion..."
―Library Journal
"[An] honest, reflective memoir." ―Best Self Atlanta Magazine
"Cole brings a new and necessary voice to the conversation on
mental health, one that's especially vital for its keen observation
of male experience. More so, though his process of grappling with
spirituality and meaning in the midst of inner turmoil is powerful
and powerfully written." —Marya Hornbacher, New York Times
bestselling author of Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia and
Madness: A Bipolar Life
"The Body of Chris shows the power of insight and healing that is
available to us all. Chris's story is a call to awakening, an
invitation to the spiritual revolution." —Noah Levine, bestselling
author of Dharma Punx and Refuge Recovery: A Buddhist Path to
Recovering from Addiction
"In The Body of Chris, Chris Cole opens the window to his soul and
allows us to observe a remarkable journey through childhood
insecurities, alcohol and drug dependency, eating disorders, and
bipolar psychosis to an eruption of spirituality and an experience
of accentuated humanness. To the great credit of his parents and to
Chris's courage and honesty, the story unfolds to an uncertain but
promising outcome. Anyone interested in spirituality and what it
means to be a human being can learn a great deal from this book."
—Michael Washburn, PhD, transpersonal psychologist and author of
The Ego and the Dynamic Ground: A Transpersonal Theory of Human
Development
"Many of the founders of psychology and psychiatry have been
'wounded healers' whose 'creative illness' involved intense
spiritual crises that ultimately were transformative. Anyone who
has undergone such a crisis—convinced that they were reincarnations
of and/or in communication with great spiritual figures, believing
they had a messianic mission to save the world—knows how helpful
the accounts of others who have traversed this territory are in
integrating their experience. Chris’s account provides another map
of this sacred territory that could prove useful to persons who are
undergoing such a journey, to therapists wanting a better
understanding of the inner world that shifts from spiritual
insights to grandiose delusions, and to anyone who wants a deeper
appreciation for the full range of joys and sorrows that is the
human condition." —David Lukoff, PhD, licensed psychologist,
co-president of the Association for Transpersonal Psychology, and
Professor Emeritus at Sofia University
"Memoirs about bipolar disorder abound, but rare are ones that
focus on men's mental health and issues. Raw and unflinching, this
is a powerful story that needs to be told and needs to be heard."
—Victoria Maxwell, bipolar princess and founder of Crazy for Life
Co.
"With humor, style and insight, author and life coach Chris Cole
takes readers on a page-turning ride through addiction, delusion,
psychosis, disordered eating, body dysmorphia, patients rights, and
the search for G-d. His story will strike a chord–not only with
those who suffer from mental illness, but also anyone who has ever
dreamed a little too big. As Cole shows, the difference between
rational and irrational might be as small as those two little
letters suggest." —Chelsea Lowe, author of Living With Someone
Who's Living With Bipolar Disorder: A Practical Guide for Family,
Friends, and Coworkers
"The journey to know yourself requires courage and perseverance. It
is not for the faint of heart. Chris Cole's struggles with
addiction and mental illness presented a door opening to that
journey. But it was his courage that allowed him to walk through
the door, returning with the gift of understanding himself that he
is sharing in The Body of Chris. This book will help many, most
importantly men, who struggle with similar issues to know they are
not alone and that there is hope and help for them too." —Carolyn
Coker Ross, MD, MPH, author of The Binge Eating and Compulsive
Overeating Workbook
"It takes courage, an engaging authorial-voice and a deep love for
people to reveal one's winding path from significant personal
struggles to heart-centered awakenings, as Chris Cole has done in
The Body of Chris. You will feel elation, many laughs and intimate
moments of sadness—even a few tears–while reading his stories. And
when you’ve completed The Body of Chris, you will be more inspired,
sensitive and warmly appreciative of the full-emotional range of
your own life, as well as admiration for Chris and all folks on
paths toward balance and wholeness from wherever each might be, in
their journey." —Stuart Sovatsky, PhD, author of Advanced Spiritual
Intimacy and Words From the Soul
"Chris Cole has written a daring, moving, and utterly candid
account of the inner world of psychosis and bipolar disorder. I
recommend it to psychiatrists and psychologists of all persuasions,
and to anyone who wishes to understand the relationship between
severe emotional problems and the mysteries of the human
unconscious. I was transfixed by it." —Bryan Wittine, PhD, Jungian
psychoanalyst, educator, and international lecturer
"This story is a brutally honest autobiography and case history
that reveals the entanglements of addiction, bipolar illness,
eating disorder and spiritual emergence in the life of one man who
has struggled for a lifetime with all four. Chris worked his way
into and out of colleges, treatment centers, mental institutions,
conventional and alternative therapies, jobs and relationships
until ultimately he found a stable life, supported by his parents,
his wife and a maturing spiritual perspective based on trust and
love. Through revealing his inner experiences from childhood
onward, his story offers insight and hope for those who have
similar afflictions and those who care for them." —Bonnie
Greenwell, PhD, author of The Kundalini Guide and The Awakening
Guide
"Chris is an arresting storyteller and recognizes that his basic
problem was one of going to extremes in various areas, including
'spiritual overdose' through otherwise beneficial practices. In the
course of his journey, he many times arrives at peak moments, only
to be cast down once more into the pit of despair and
out-of-control behavior. This book will illuminate anyone who has
had even a taste of such maladaptive behaviors and should be
required reading for every therapist, counselor, minister, or
instructor in the field of Transpersonal Psychology." —Dorothy
Walters, PhD, author of Unmasking the Rose: A Record of Kundalini
Initiation and Marrow of Flame: Poems of the Spiritual Journey
"A full spiritual awakening is a very difficult event in life when
you are relatively healthy and balanced. But a full spiritual
awakening in someone who is also caught in eating disorders,
alcohol and drug addiction, and bipolar disorder is a life
threatening crisis. As Chris Cole so clearly shows in The Body of
Chris, integrating the spiritual awakening while navigating this
entire array of mental, emotional, and physical challenges is a
massive task. Less than 100 years ago he would have spent his life
in an asylum. That he succeeded in reaching healing himself and
becoming a fully mature human willing to balance power and humility
IS the miracle he once tried so desperately to demonstrate to the
world." —Penny Kelly, author of The Evolving Human and the trilogy,
Consciousness and Energy
"Throughout history, the relationship between spiritual experiences
and mental disorders has always existed, and yet Western society
continually turns a blind eye to this paradoxical relationship.
With Chris Cole's book, the intimate link between madness and
mysticism could not be more apparent. Written with precision,
brutal honesty and flare, this cautionary tale from the
'boy-next-door' could be the book that finally opens the mainstream
to one of the great mysteries of our time. I sincerely hope it
does!" —Sean Blackwell, author of Am I Bipolar or Waking Up?
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