New book by Philip Kenney

Only This Step
haiku by Philip Kenney

Only This Step, haiku by Philip Kenney

Purchase from Finishing Line Press

See all books by Philip Kenney

Phil Kenney

Philip Kenney is a practicing psychotherapist in Portland, Oregon. He did his post-graduate work in British Object Relations at the Washington D.C. School of Psychiatry and has taught Self Psychology as part of his private practice. A long time meditator and poet, Mr. Kenney is the author of the novel, Radiance, and a collection of poetry, Where Roses Bloom. He strives to bring together the worlds of psychology, creativity and spirituality in his work and is the author of a new book on those subjects entitled, The Writer's Crucible: Meditations on Emotion, Being and Creativity.

Radiance, A NovelRadiance, A Novel

Radiance is the story of an American family emerging from the perils of the Great Depression into a post-war America basking in the material comforts of a new society. Gerald and Georgia Brennan have escaped the poverty and sorrow of rural Indiana and are determined to leave all traces of those memories and feelings behind. Their son, Jimmy, is waking up beneath the shadow of a society bent on forgetting all it can of suffering and his parents' determination to eliminate pain.

The novel begins in contemporary time with Jimmy, as a grown man, caring for his dying mother on the last day of her life. From that moment, the book makes its way through time zones like an archaeological dig. It sifts through cultural strata, evoking the likes of Perry Mason and Dagwood Bumstead to illustrate the determining forces of the American psyche.

Radiance is a love song. Though it begins in the darkness of personal and national tragedy, it soars with the discovery of that which enlivens and sustains all life. It reveals the inseparable nature of the psychological and the spiritual and the remarkable relationship of suffering with the ever-present and radiant source of being.

There is a Castaneda-like, hallucinatory quality to this book. Throughout the language is strong, vivid and lyrical.

— Rob Bibler Artist

Learn more about Radiance, A Novel here

 

The Writer's CrucibleThe Writer's Crucible
Meditations on Emotion, Being and Creativity

The Writer's Crucible provides a detailed map for navigating the turbulent emotional waters of a creative life. Writers will come to understand the psychology of vulnerability, perhaps the most common of which is a persistent sense of not being good enough. This troubling insecurity is often present in even the most successful writers; they too are subject to undermining episodes of self-doubt. To help manage this core experience, The Writer's Crucible offers an in depth exploration of the psychological underpinnings governing the internal narrative, "I am not enough." Readers will learn to undo emotional constrictions and connect with an inner source of spiritual nourishment, allowing inspiration to move with greater freedom. The Writer's Crucible is not a book that tells you how to write—it is one that shows you how to be a writer.

 

Learn more about The Writer's Crucible here

 

Where Roses Bloom: Collected Poems

This collection of poems was taken from two volumes of poetry: Hours of Blue and Hymns for the Speechless. You will find poems ranging from those exploring the mysteries of psychotherapy, to those that elaborate the delights and challenges of children and parenting. There are heartbreaking studies of a mother's decline into Alzheimer's and transcendent, soaring poems that capture the ever present dance of spirit. Readers will laugh, and shake their heads in recognition of the many aspects of life that fill these pages and communicate the joys and sorrows of this world.

 

Days of Magic Dog poems by Phil Kenney

copyright © 2012-2023 Phil Kenney, All Rights Reserved.

Web design by Rareheron Web Design, Portland, OR