MANNING, Martha M(ary) 1952-

PERSONAL: Born August 18, 1952, in Chicago, IL; daughter of John Eugene (an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation) and Mary Louise (an artist) Manning; married Brian J. Depenbrock (a clinical social worker), October 20, 1973; children: Keara. Education: University of Maryland at College Park, B.A. (with high honors), 1974; Catholic University of America, M.A., 1978, Ph.D., 1981.

ADDRESSES: Home—Arlington, VA. Agent—Anelle Eckstut, Levine Greenberg Literary Agency, c/o FWI, 307 Seventh Ave., Suite 1904, New York, NY 10001.

CAREER: McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, postdoctoral fellow, 1981-83; George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, assistant professor, 1983-88, 1989-93; private practice of clinical psychology in Alexandria, VA, 1994-96; writer.

MEMBER: American Psychological Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Named best columnist by Associated Church Press, 1994, and Catholic Press Association, 1995; Public Advocacy Award from American Psychiatric Association, 1996; Stephen Logan award from National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

WRITINGS:

A Season of Mercy, Ave Maria Press (Notre Dame, IN), 1985.

Undercurrents: A Therapist's Reckoning with Her Own Depression, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1994.

Chasing Grace: Reflections of a Catholic Girl, Grown Up, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1996.

All Seasons Pass: Grieving a Miscarriage, Sorin Books (Notre Dame, IN), 2000.

The Common Thread: Mothers, Daughters, and the Power of Empathy, Morrow (New York, NY), 2002.

Author of "Salt of the Earth," a column, 1993—. Contributor to periodicals, including Mirabella, New Woman, Ladies' Home Journal, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, New York Times Book Review, Washington Post, and U.S. Catholic.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Research on the diagnosis and treatment of clinical depression.

SIDELIGHTS: Martha M. Manning is a highlyregarded psychotherapist and author who has used her own experiences as a mother, a sufferer from depression, and a Catholic, to enliven her books. Manning drew particular praise for Undercurrents: A Therapist's Reckoning with Her Own Depression, an account of her own struggle with mental illness. In a review for Belles Lettres: A Review of Books by Women, Sarah K. Ball noted that in relating highly personal incidents, "Manning shows her true talent for humor and not-so-gentle self-deprecation." Ball added: "It is refreshing to see a therapist tackle the issues that her patients face everyday with such candor and humor. To her credit, her training in no way seems to have hampered her modus operandi for dealing with her patients on an emotional level.... Manning makes the observation that the real job of a therapist is to experience the pain with the patient, even if it means simply being present with them in the room. Perhaps this is the most valuable thing to be learned by anyone working in this impossible profession."

Manning's other works include Chasing Grace: Reflections of a Catholic Girl, Grown Up and The Common Thread: Mothers, Daughters, and the Power of Empathy. Chasing Grace is a memoir of Manning's Catholic upbringing that was deemed "witty and often irreverent" by Theresa Ducato in Booklist. The Common Thread details ways in which mothers and daughters can increase the bonds of empathy between them through many stages of life, from birth to advanced old age. To quote a Publishers Weekly reviewer on The Common Thread, the candid stories of Manning's own relationships with her daughter and her aging mother "personalize her message about empathy as a bridge across generations."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Belles Lettres: A Review of Books by Women, January, 1996, Sarah K. Ball, review of Undercurrents: A Therapist's Reckoning with Her Own Depression, p. 52.

Booklist, August, 1996, Theresa Ducato, review of Chasing Grace: Reflections of a Catholic Girl, Grown Up, p. 1860; March 1, 2002, Vanessa Bush, review of The Common Thread: Mothers, Daughters and the Power of Empathy, p. 1070.

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2002, review of The Common Thread, p. 162.

Library Journal, February 15, 2002, Kay Brodie, review of The Common Thread, p. 166.

New York Times, October 8, 2002, John Langone, "I've Become My Mother," review of The Common Thread, p. 166.

Publishers Weekly, July 15, 1996, review of Chasing Grace, p. 63; February 4, 2002, review of The Common Thread, p. 64.^*