Deborah Olson, RN, MA, LPC, has recently published her first book, The Healing Power of Girlfriends: How to Create Your Best Life Through Female Connections.
Olson, who has a background as a registered nurse, decided to pursue a bachelor degree in psychology from University of St. Thomas, and a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Sam Houston State University. Now she works in private practice at Galleria Counseling & Consulting, specializing in women’s emotional health.
“I have always enjoyed writing since I was a child and it has been a lifelong dream of mine to write and publish a book. In college and graduate school I received writing awards, which was such an honor for me…I am hopeful there will be many more books in my future,” Olson said.
The inspiration for The Healing Power of Girlfriends came partially from her own friendship experiences. Olson has a longtime friend named Kathy, and even though they have lived in different states for much of their friendship, they made a pact to keep the friendship a priority.
According to Olson, “Kathy’s husband, Harlan said, ‘You both have defied the odds and been successful with keeping your friendship as close as always, despite many challenges, which is a recipe you should share with other women. Have you thought about putting this in a book so other people can learn from this and try to emulate it?”’
Another inspirational moment was when Olson presented at a weekend seminar for women in Galveston.
Olson presented her own original material and curriculum on the different levels of friendship, the attributes of these levels, the expectations of friendship, and her original paradigm for female friendship, which she calls The Olson Friendship Framework.
“At the end of the weekend, these women came up to me and thanked me for sharing this life changing information with them… They encouraged me to put it all in a book so that women everywhere could benefit from this material,” Olson said.
Olson notes that The Healing Power of Girlfriends is written for women everywhere and for all ages.
“It is a universal message that we have been designed by our Creator to live our healthiest, happiest, and longest lives when we regularly connect with our girlfriends,” Olson said.
In the book, Olson shares tools for how to: deal with toxic friendships, make new friends, perceive the different levels of friendship and the attributes that accompany them, nurture your friendships, and how to implement the three pillars of healthy friendships: connection, communication and intimacy.
Olson says that some of the highlights in her book include: “Real life stories on the merits of female friendship that are heartfelt, helpful, and incredibly powerful,” and her “original design on how to conceptualize friendship levels in real life situations, titled Friendship Dimensions, which looks at friendship expectations.”
Readers can also find answers from Olson’s Friendship Questionnaire that she distributed to women in 10 different states in 2017 and 2018.
“Nearly 200 women shared their answers on questions about benefits, definitions, and expectations in female friendships,” Olson said.
Olson continued, “My hope is that women everywhere will be forever impacted by the information shared in this book, and that it will be life-changing! I wrote this book to touch lives and open eyes to a new awareness and appreciation for female friendship,”
Olson said that while writing The Healing Power of Girlfriends, she ended up learning a lot about herself.
“One of the big revelations was how blessed I am and fortunate to have so many wonderful and treasured friendships in my life. It is apparent how just the right friend has been put in my path at just the right time through the years. So many endearing personal stories are shared about women that have walked through the fires of life with me,” Olson said.
The Healing Power of Girlfriends can be purchased online at Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle versions. It is also available at www.barnesandnoble.com.
Contact and follow Deborah Olson at @DeborahOlsonMA on Twitter, Author Deborah Olson on Facebook, and authordeboraholson on Instagram.
rebecca.hazen@chron.com
