Capacchione, Lucia

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CAPACCHIONE, Lucia

PERSONAL: Surname pronounced "kapa-kee-ownee"; children. Education: Earned Ph.D.

ADDRESSES: Home—P.O. Box 1355, Cambria, CA 93428. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Author, artist, art therapist, psychologist, and corporate talent development consultant. Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, CA, child development supervisor, 1960s.

MEMBER: American Art Therapy Association, International Expressive Arts Therapy Association.

WRITINGS:

The Creative Journal: The Art of Finding Yourself, photographs by Michael Jones, Swallow Press (Chicago, IL), 1979, reprinted, New Page Books (Franklin Lakes, NJ), 2002.

(With Robert Young and Loy Young) Reincarnation Handbook, Reincarnation Research and Education Foundation (Santa Monica, CA), 1980.

The Power of Your Other Hand: A Course in Channeling the Inner Wisdom of the Right Brain, Newcastle (North Hollywood, CA), 1988, revised edition, New Page Books (Franklin Lakes, NJ), 2001.

The Creative Journal for Children: A Guide for Parents, Teachers, and Counselors, foreword by Gerald G. Jampolsky, Shambhala (Boston, MA), 1989.

The Well-Being Journal: Drawing upon Your Inner Power to Heal Yourself, Newcastle (North Hollywood, CA), 1989.

The Picture of Health: Healing Your Life through Art, Hay House (Santa Monica, CA), 1990.

Recovery of Your Inner Child, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1991.

The Creative Journal for Teens: Making Friends with Yourself, Newcastle (North Hollywood, CA), 1992.

(With Sandra Bardsley) Creating a Joyful Birth Experience, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1994.

Putting Your Talent to Work: Identifying, Cultivating, and Marketing Your Natural Talents, Health Communications (Deerfield Beach, FL), 1996.

The Creative Journal for Parents: An Inner Guide to Parenthood: Preparation, Pregnancy, Birth, Adoption, and Parenting, Shambhala Publishers (Boston, MA), 2000.

Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams, J. P. Tarcher (New York, NY), 2000.

Living with Feeling: The Art of Emotional Expression, J. P. Tarcher (New York, NY), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS: Lucia Capacchione began her career as a child development supervisor for the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and her responsibilities included establishing a dozen Head Start programs. She became certified through Dr. Thomas Gordon's Parent Effectiveness Training, or P.E.T., and Teacher Effectiveness Training, T.E.T., and then taught teachers, parents, and school administrators. She became an art therapist after experiencing the healing effects of writing and drawing with her nondominant hand on her own ill health, which led to a full recovery without medication. Many of Capacchione's books focus on the healing powers of art therapy and journaling.

With Sandra Bardsley Capacchione wrote Creating a Joyful Birth Experience, a volume for expectant mothers that offers exercises to reinforce positive affirmations, right-brain exercises, and visualization. Here too, using the nondominant hand is recommended, as are journaling and creating collages. The authors write that by performing these functions women will "clear a space" so that they can then "claim the territory of birth." Jennifer Stover commented in Special Delivery that although the book will be beneficial to all couples, it is "a must" for women who need to resolve emotional issues, such as previous negative birth experiences or abuse. Stover felt the volume adds "a new dimension" to preparing for childbirth and "fills the gap" between the information found in classes and books and the actual emotional experience of pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting.

In Capacchione's Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams, she bases her advice on her observations of architects, designers, and engineers, including the creators of toys and theme parks. She writes that their methods to create ideas can also be used to improve one's health, home, and life. Capacchione suggests that readers pick a theme, then collect images and words that "grab" their attention, create a logical order of them, then commit their vision to paper with scissors and glue. She then suggests getting feedback from others and expanding the vision. She also recommends journaling and using both hands to engage both sides of the brain. A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote that "Capacchione provides a fun and empowering approach to creativity for those willing to roll up their sleeves and play in the rich field of their desires."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Booklist, December 15, 1990, Mary Ellen Quinn, review of Recovery of Your Inner Child, p. 787; June 1, 1992, review of Recovery of Your Inner Child, p. 1725.

Library Journal, November 1, 1989, Shirley L. Hopkinson, review of The Creative Journal for Children: A Guide for Parents, Teachers, and Counselors, p. 100.

New Age Journal, March, 1991, review of Recovery of Your Inner Child, p. 29.

Publishers Weekly, November 22, 1999, review of Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams, p. 49.

Special Delivery, fall, 1994, Jennifer Stover, review of Creating a Joyful Birth Experience, p. 29.