Intentional Living: Finding the Inner Peace to Create Successful Relationships

The relationship experiences we have as young children greatly impact how we see ourselves and how we treat others. And yet we are, for the most part, unaware of them. Our brains, however, store every detail. In Intentional Living, author and psychologist Barbara Stroud presents neuroscience in a manner that is accessible to everyone. Teaching you how to harness the power of your brain, she focuses on four foundational elements that support self-understanding: relationship history, emotional understanding, stress response styles, and personal culture.

Many of us go through life repeating the same relationship mistakes again and again, unable to change because we don’t know what’s driving us. But as you begin to understand how the emotional and thinking aspects of your brain work and start to recognize the potential damage that can result when you allow your stress response to control your actions, you become able to make new choices from a place of freedom.

Offering real-life examples and practical exercises, Intentional Living teaches you how to let go of painful past emotional messages and helps you build skills so you can more proactively respond to the stressors in your daily life.

Barbara Stroud is a licensed clinical psychologist who works primarily with young children and families. She has studied how early experiences influence the brain, social development, and emotional understanding, and she is passionate about improving the early relationships young children experience so that they can become healthy, happy, and socially competent adults.

An infant mental health specialist and ZERO TO THREE graduate fellow, Stroud holds a PhD in applied developmental psychology from Nova Southeastern University and has more than twenty years' experience as a trainer in the early childhood, child development, and mental health arenas. Over the years, she has presented for numerous organizations and conferences such as the American Psychological Association and Prevent Child Abuse America National Conference.

The author of several professional texts, Intentional Living is Stroud's first self-help book. Learn more about her work at DrBarbaraStroud.com.