McCoy, Dorothy

PERSONAL:

Education: University of South Carolina, B.A.; The Citadel, M.A.; University of Sarasota, Ed.D.; American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, diploma; certified cognitive-behavioral therapist and national certified therapist.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Police Stress Counseling and Assessment, 890 W. King St., Boone, NC 28607. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Psychologist and counselor in private practice; Police Stress Counseling and Assessment, Boone, NC, owner. Consultant to law enforcement agencies; volunteer cold-case investigator for the Richland County Sheriff's Office, Columbia, SC.

MEMBER:

International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, American Counseling Association, Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists.

WRITINGS:

From Shyness to Social Butterfly, The Wellness Institute (Issaquah, WA), 2002.

Reversing Your Type II Diabetes, Sourcebooks (Naperville, IL), 2005.

Thinking Yourself Thin: Using Adaptive Wellness to Realize a Lifetime of Healthy Living, Sourcebooks (Naperville, IL), 2005.

The Ultimate Book of Personality Tests: Personality Tests for Enjoyment, Entertainment, and Self-Discovery, Sourcebooks (Naperville, IL), 2005.

The Manipulative Man: Identify His Behavior, Counter the Abuse, Regain Control, Adams Media (Avon, MA), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including Cosmpolitan.

SIDELIGHTS:

Psychotherapist, counselor, and author Dorothy McCoy is a frequent consultant with law enforcement agencies in areas such as traumatic stress, crisis response, and the unique pressures of law enforcement work. Applying her adaptive wellness techniques, McCoy works with her counseling patients in areas such as anger management, weight control, smoking cessation, and stress management. She is a prolific writer whose syndicated articles have appeared in more than 275 papers throughout the United States.

McCoy's works cover topics such as social phobias, crisis intervention, victim sensitivity, weight loss, and personality issues. In The Manipulative Man: Identify His Behavior, Counter the Abuse, Regain Control, McCoy offers a "chilling exposé of ten types of manipulators" women may encounter in their relationships with the opposite sex, commented a Publishers Weekly reviewer. McCoy explores the ten types of manipulative male personalities in depth, identifying characteristics, warning signs, manipulative techniques, and the possible results of entering into a relationship with such a man. Among the personality types she identifies are the Mama's Boy, the Eternal Jock, the Workaholic, the Dependent Man, the Womanizer, the Narcissist, the Psychopath, and the Violent Manipulator. The Eternal Jock, for example, is a male who was likely extremely popular with females in high school, but has yet to realize that life is not a sporting event. McCoy does not shy away from identifying predatory behavior and offering advice for women who have become involved with such dangerous partners. In the end, she helps women find healthy relationships and develop the self-confidence that can prevent falling victim to a manipulator's initial charm. "This is not a feel-good book, yet it's compellingly readable," remarked the Publishers Weekly contributor. With this book, observed Connie Anderson in Armchair Interviews, a "woman of any age who is dating can learn a lot about men before it's too late—and she's been latched onto by one of these manipulators."

When CA asked McCoy how she started writing, she said: "A client needed a tool for extreme shyness. I wanted a workbook format since they are more interactive. I could not find anything I liked. Therefore, I started sending assignments to him and after awhile I had an entire book.

"I was surprised that anyone was interested in my work. I especially like my book The Ultimate Book of Personality Tests: Personality Tests for Enjoyment, Entertainment, and Self-Discovery because it was so much fun to write. I hope readers will laugh, learn, and ponder what I have written."