Doug Lawrence is an internationally recognized mentor and has two mentor certifications. Ability Certificate-Mentor and Ability Certificate-Journey Mentor from the International Mentoring Community. Today, Doug is the only person in the world to hold a certificate of competence – a journey mentor.
Doug worked for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for 25 years and retired as a Sargent Staff in February 1999.
Doug has been involved in mentor certification since 2009, when he first partnered with an organization to provide knowledge-based mentor certification. Doug is currently partnering with qualification professionals to provide mentors with qualifications based on their abilities.
Doug’s mentoring practices continue to grow, being recognized as 1) teaching others how to effectively mentor, 2) mentoring others internationally, and 3) mentoring ideological leaders. It came to be.
He worked with researchers to investigate the role of mentoring in helping people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). His law enforcement experience, coupled with the mentoring of people suffering from PTSD, gave him a unique perspective on mentoring and PTSD. His personal story is compelling and fuels his passion for helping others.
Doug strongly believes that mentoring begins with personal growth and helps remove obstacles and barriers to professional growth and career advancement. As Doug discovered, some of these barriers can be a challenge to mental health and well-being.
“You are not alone” was born out of the too common stigma of those who were afraid to ask for help and were afraid to get out of the closet and say “need help”. I’m afraid to reach out, “OK, I’m with you on this trip.”
“You are not alone” resulted from a cry for help and an increase in anxiety and depression caused by waiting too long for treatment and healing. The journey had to begin.
This book provides a solution to this problem.
Here is an interview with author Doug Lawrence
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I have published two books so far. I am working on gathering the content for the next book. I had at one time point another book idea of taking responses to questions posed on a website (www.quora.com) and turning that into a book. The idea is still there but it is not a priority at this stage. The next book will follow along the same path of mental health and mentoring which is more important at this time.
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
“You Are Not Alone” took close to a year to write. I have learned that I am going to have to go away and sequester myself in order to write and write with some focus and meaning. I found that I had too many distractions with my last book. It is always good to come away from this having learned something for the next book!
Where did you get the idea for your recent book?
It came from requests of close friends and contacts who told me that I needed to write a book on mentoring and mental health and how mentoring could be part of the support structure. I started to pay close attention to situations where that might be true and found that there was a gap in support that could be filled by trained mentors.
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How did you develop your plots?
My chapters were created with providing some background around what is mentoring and what is mental health. A chapter on my personal story was also included as was the interviews that I did with some close colleagues who had lived experience with mental health.
How do you select the names of your characters?
Any reference to people in my book is without names in order to respect confidentiality of the mentoring process and their mental health.
If you didn’t write, what would you do for work?
I am an international certified mentor full time. I would continue to mentor others and to look for ways that we can have mentoring as a part of the mental health support structure. I am a guest on a large number of podcasts and I would want to continue with that as well. Telling my story is very therapeutic and healing.
How did you get inspired to write your recent book?
I was already mentoring people that were dealing with mental health challenges so when a couple of my inner circle suggested writing a book it started to take shape. I had a colleague who is reading my book tell me a story this morning that by going through the book they realized that they had PTSD. Prior to reading the book they had discounted what the medical professional had said. It is stories like that, that give me the inspiration to continue my journey.
What is your favorite childhood book?
This would date me no doubt but my favourite book or series of books was The Hardy Boys. I read every single book that was part of that series. I think I may have read Nancy Drew after I ran out of the other books!
Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?
For me, a book has to grab my attention and hold it otherwise by the time I get to Chapter 2 I am distracted. I love Ken Blanchard’s books as they always tell a story.
What are you currently working on?
I am promoting my recently Amazon #1 Best Seller – “You Are Not Alone” and gather content for my next book at the same time.
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
I have occasionally looked at some of the reviews. Everyone has an opinion just like I do as to what excites them and makes them compelled to read a certain book. I respect that and will look at the comments and see if there is anything I can learn from them. One or two bad reviews are not bad as long as you learn from them. It may be to disregard the comments and it may be that you need to alter your approach.
What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
I would have to say that it is not so much being friends with as it is learning from their writing. I have never met ken Blanchard but have learned from his writing style and like using the story telling approach. That is what has me picking up his books and not putting them down till I am done.
What’s your advice for aspiring writers?
Determine what is really important to you and use that to fuel your desire to write a book. Set up times to write and be consistent with that. You might want to consider going away and sequester yourself to do some of your writing. I am going to do that this time.
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
My best investment was in my Publicist, Mickey Mikkelson of Creative Edge. He always has my back and is always looking out for opportunities for me. He is my mentor.
What’s the best thing about being a writer?
Being a part of the writing community and knowing that help is just around the corner. I find writing to be very therapeutic. It has helped me on my healing journey and given me a chance to help others as well.
Will you have a new book coming out soon?
I am targeting the end of 2022 for the next book. I have a title, framework and the start of content creation and collection. I have also signed with a publisher who will work with my Publicist and I to get the book out there for my readers to enjoy.
What is your preferred method to have readers get in touch with or follow you (i.e., website, personal blog, Facebook page, Goodreads, etc.) and link(s)?
I can be reached by LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/douglawrence-mentor or on my website at https://www.talentc.ca .
You can also send me an email and I will get back to you as quickly as I can email: doug.lawrence@talentc.ca.
What you want to say about our website?
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