Counseling Persons with Parkinson’s Disease

“Parkinson’s disease is the fastest growing neurological illness in the world. This thoughtfully written, must-read book effectively provides a framework for those that may be in a position to counsel people impacted by living with Parkinson’s or any chronic, progressive illness. Allan Cole is able to personalize the theory being taught in a way that is extremely engaging, touching, and relevant. By sharing his personal experiences in such an honest, candid way, he gives all of us insights into the lived experience and emotional toll this disease takes, as well as the perseverance and the hope we need for the future.”

Soania Mathur, M.D.
Co-Chair, Patient Council
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research

“Dr. Cole’s book is a must-read for persons with Parkinson’s disease and their family members. He reviews the key aspects that must be addressed to live a happy life. His approach to wholeness, certainty, control, freedom to act, and the familiar world are a breath of fresh air. His experiences as a social work educator and as a patient meld together to bring a unique perspective. This book has the potential to impact the lives of many fighting this disease.”

Michael S. Okun, M.D.
Executive Director, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases
University of Florida Health
Chair and Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Florida

Author, Ending Parkinson’s Disease

“Allan Cole weaves together witty philosophy, history, and science with his own personal stories of his diagnosis and discoveries as a person with Parkinson’s disease. The result is something truly engaging and insightful that teaches us how, ‘…Illness can be a transformative and constructive experience.’ The book itself is a human-centered framework desperately needed in a brutal healthcare system.”

S. Claiborne Johnston, M.D., Ph.D.
Dean
Dell Medical School
The University of Texas at Austin

“In this moving book, Professor Allan Cole provides a new window into understanding Parkinson’s disease. Using both his experience as a person with Parkinson’s and his expertise as an educator of social workers, he tackles the hardest questions that individuals with the disease have to face and provides a roadmap for moving forward.”

Ray Dorsey, M.D.
David M. Levy Professor in Neurology
Director, Center for Health and Technology
University of Rochester Medical Center

Author, Ending Parkinson’s Disease

“Anyone interested in counseling people living with serious illness should have Allan Cole’s latest book on the shelf alongside the dog-eared textbooks and manuals already there. Part clinical guidebook, part personal narrative, Cole provides us with an accessible loss-based framework for counseling that is founded not only on the knowledge of a scholar in the field of chronic illness but also the singular and invaluable perspective of someone living with one. Through both of these lenses, Cole walks us through important focused conversations and actions that counselors can adapt as they set out to work collaboratively with clients. I have read many books about loss and grief—academic and literary—and until now have not found one that bridges both genres in such a way that neither eclipses the other. Cole’s book provides many entry points to the essential issues and questions that counselors must grapple with. The professional literature would be enriched with more contributions like this one.”

Mary Sormanti, PhD, MSW, MS
Professor of Professional Practice
Columbia University School of Social Work

“Dr. Allan Cole has written a poignant first person account of living with Parkinson’s full of intimacy and insight. His personal story and professional wisdom as a social worker combine to offer the reader an unprecedented guide through the life of a person with Parkinson’s (PwP). This book should be essential reading for all counselors and caregivers wishing to support PwP. The personal narrative is inspirational and pulls you directly into the lived experience of a young man facing a new diagnosis and trying to create meaning for himself and his family. Cole then introduces us to a new short-term counseling approach, which is both evidence-based and deeply personal. This book is hard to put down, beautifully written and full of vulnerability, humor, and wisdom. I will be recommending this book to all of my staff and students.”

Barbara L. Jones, PhD, MSW, FNAP
Chair, Department of Health Social Work
Dell Medical School
The University of Texas at Austin

“Allan Cole has given us a rare treat: a book that is at once a guide to counseling persons with Parkinson’s disease and a personal account of his own experience of the illness. This combination of medical information, memoir, and therapeutic guidance is as inspiring as it is instructive. The loss-based counseling approach described here revolves around the tasks of grieving one’s former life, taking actions to help cope in the present, and preparing for the uncertain future. In alternating chapters, Cole offers readers a glimpse into his journey of growing awareness that begins with the shock, sadness, and hiding of diagnosis and evolves into a way of open, unmasked compassion and connection with others. Cole relies on a loving family, good medical care, and starlit skies to chart his path. Therapists and caregivers as well as families and friends of persons with Parkinson’s disease will want to read this beautiful and wise book. As well, anyone who has suffered a loss or faced an unwelcome diagnosis can find insight and hope in these pages.”

Mary Clark Moschella
Roger J. Squire Professor of Pastoral Theology and Care
Yale Divinity School

“Inspired by decades of existential searching and emotional learning, Allan Cole turns inward as he reflects on the meaning of a new diagnosis for him, Parkinson’s disease, and on what it might mean for others as well. This book is as personal as it is informative. More than a pathography, readers will learn the latest information on this disease as well as effective strategies for counseling people with it. It is insightful, heartbreaking, authentic, and hopeful.”

Nathan Carlin, Ph.D.
Samuel Karff Chair and Professor
McGovern Medical School

“Author and educator, Allan Cole’s new role of being a Parkinson’s disease patient illuminates an illness one can live with. Personal authenticity, spiritual strength, scientific and philosophical bedrock, and clinical competence unmask the disease in ten evocative chapters. Loss is perceptively placed at the center of a patient’s experience as the work of mourning denies the illness any power to define a person’s identity. Cole empowers counselors to provide evidence-based, short-term care. He invites patients to write their own stories. If care includes creating space for others to grow, Counseling Persons with Parkinson’s Disease provides care providers, persons with a chronic and progressive illness, and their families and friends, a practical way to better, resilient, and hope-filled living.”

Jaco J. Hamman, Ph.D.
Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture
Vanderbilt University

Insightful and tender, this book relays the story of the author’s diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease, and the ripples it sends through his life. It offers counselors working with persons with Parkinson’s acuity of insight and a useful framework with which to work with such clients.”

Havi Carel, Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy
University of Bristol, U.K.

“Allan Cole’s book will be a useful—in fact, necessary—book for those counseling persons with Parkinson’s disease or other chronic illnesses. Cole writes wisely and authoritatively as both a professor of social work (and psychiatry) and as one living with the illness. Counselors will find here both incredible insight into the struggles with chronic illnesses such as Parkinson’s as well as research-grounded interventions.”

Kenneth J. Doka, Ph.D.
Senior Consultant, The Hospice Foundation of America
Professor Emeritus, Graduate School of the College of New Rochelle

Author, Counseling Individuals with Life-Threatening Illness

“In this unique and enlightening book, Professor Allan Cole tells his story of life with young-onset Parkinson’s disease while guiding counselors on how best to understand, support, and empower persons living with this illness. His adept knowledge of both Parkinson’s and counseling approaches, paired with his honesty, vulnerability, strength, and hope, model work in the health humanities at its best. I highly recommend this book to physicians, counselors, persons living with Parkinson’s, and to those who offer them support and care.”

Bastiaan R. Bloem, M.D., Ph.D.
Medical Director, Department of Neurology at Radbound University Medical Center
Nijmegen, Netherlands