Navigating a Successful Life Journey: A Guide to Personal and Family Problem Solving

This book offers an overview, as much as possible, of what Dr. Marvin Johnson learned over 55 years of counseling individuals, families and groups, helping them solve mental health or relationship problems. His education includes a Masters Degree in Social Work and a Doctorate in Psychology. This background led him to work in different settings, all dealing with personal and family mental health problems. For 24 years Dr. Johnson was a Division Chairman of the Social Work Department at Lutheran General Hospital, a major teaching Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois. Following that he served as Program Coordinator for an in-patient psychiatric unit at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He then set up a private practice along with two other psychologists, where he worked full time for about twenty years and part time for four more years. Upon retirement, he became a volunteer for the Cancer Care Foundation and Journey Care Hospice, offering free psychotherapy to patients and their families at the end of life. Dr. Johnson states, “This book will fall in the category of ‘Self Help’. We know that no book can be of total help to its readers, therefore my goal has been to present some broad ideas and look at some specific problem areas, all of which I have dealt with in my career. Having worked with thousands of individuals, couples and groups to help identify and deal with their problems in the best way they can, I know that not all problems can be solved through psychotherapy, but many can be understood, clarified and improved, making life more fulfilling.”