In Book 2 of the Love Catalogue series, Dr. JV Connors explores the human journey of love, from elemental and relational concerns to spiritual levels. Inspired by her clients and their courageous struggles that she has witnessed as a psychotherapist, she has distilled these stories, pains and triumphs into verses that explore the many ways that love works. Inside this book, you will find poems about healing love’s internal and interpersonal heartaches, as well as the ways that love can heal the struggles of society and the grand trials that we are swept up in as part of this living universe.Fourteen years ago, Dr. Connors began a surreal journey into writing poetry that eventually turned into hundreds of poems. Since that journey began, she has found poetry to be a powerful format for sharing her professional knowledge and personal wisdom on the many things that influence the course of life, love and its healing.Love Catalogue, Book 2 is the third book of psychological poetry about love written by Dr. Connors. This book and her two previous books, Love Catalogue, Book 1 and Poems on the Road to Love are compilations of poems written over those years that she has painstakingly revised, expanded and rearranged. She hopes these books encourage readers to pursue the guidance that love provides to life’s mysteries and troubles, or even become convinced that love really is the answer.
Love Catalogue, book 1, Love Catalogue, book 2 and Poems on the Road to Love, are three books of poems that explore love from a psychological perspective. They were written by JV Connors (aka Joanie), a licensed psychologist who combined her academic knowledge about relationships with the wisdom she learned from therapy clients, distilling their courageous struggles and triumphs into verses that explore the many ways that love shapes our lives.
Connors began writing poetry 20 years ago to help a friend in crisis, then discovered that poetry enabled her to bring together all the perspectives of her life work – psychotherapist, systems scholar, nature lover, Buddhist and friend – towards understanding love’s journey. She hopes these books encourage readers to pursue the guidance that love provides to troubles, or even see that love really is the answer.
She earned a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Missouri at Columbia and taught classes in counseling, peace studies, psychology and sociology for 20 years as an adjunct faculty at four universities. She has written numerous articles for publications such as the Journal of Group Counseling, Desert Exposure, and the Northwest Earth Institute (these can be found here). She also co edited the book, Teaching Peace through Popular Culture.
Current writing projects include completing a play for the Silver City Community Theatre (Poker Queens of Silver City) and a biography about her father (E. Bruce Connors in War, Love, Work & Life). In addition, she is nurturing a new flock of poems towards compiling Love Catalogue, book 3.
Connors lives in the foothills of the Gila National Forest near Silver City with two cats and a dog. She is a steering committee member for the Silver City branch of the Great Old Broads for Wilderness and previously volunteered for peace, human rights, trauma remediation, and animal welfare causes, along with serving as a peace witness in Central America for seven summers.
