How Surreal. My First Ever Book Is Now Available on Amazon!
Written at the time of publication
Hare and Tortoise Have Counselling
A winning approach to counselling realised through a classic fable.
My first book, Hare and Tortoise Have Counselling, was published in 2020, and seeing it available to readers was an incredibly special moment.
As the title suggests, the book is inspired by the much-loved characters from Aesop’s classic fable, The Tortoise and the Hare. For those unfamiliar with the moral tale, a boastful hare and a reserved but ingenious tortoise race each other. On the surface, the race seems unequal because of the hare’s remarkable speed and the tortoise’s slow-paced reputation. However, during the race, the hare decides to take a nap, allowing the tortoise to overtake him and ultimately win.
But what happens after the race?
I wanted to explore that question.
In Hare and Tortoise Have Counselling, I imagined what might happen to both characters once the cheering had stopped. How does the Hare cope with losing? And how does the Tortoise deal with his unexpected victory and newfound fame?
Through their journeys, I explore different counselling approaches and consider how our experiences, beliefs and patterns of behaviour can shape the way we respond to life.
“Tortoise returned the smiles, stunned himself at his unexpected victory. But, despite winning the race, Tortoise did not himself feel the enthusiasm of the crowd. He felt no joy. Instead, his stomach felt in a knot.”
The book explores how deep-rooted issues can sometimes be understood by looking beneath the surface:
“One’s personality can be firmly rooted in your childhood experience. To truly address your issues, we must dig deep into your unconscious. This is where we store our unspoken values, the beliefs we do not even realise we have and the patterns of thought and behaviour developed in childhood.”
Through the Hare and the Tortoise, I explore different approaches to counselling and some of the questions that can arise when trying to understand ourselves and others.
The book touches on subjects including depression, relationships and anxiety, while introducing readers to different counselling approaches and therapeutic ideas.
I wrote the book while studying to become a counsellor, with the hope of helping people understand more about counselling, the different approaches available, and some of the techniques used by counsellors.
The idea actually began with a simple question I had always wondered about:
What happened to the Hare and the Tortoise after the race?
That question became the starting point for a story about winning and losing, expectations, self-belief, relationships and, ultimately, understanding ourselves.
Available on Amazon
Hare and Tortoise Have Counselling by Maria Claridge was available in paperback on Amazon in the UK and US.
Paperback edition: £6.50 / $7.97
ISBN-13: 979-8633910919
ASIN: B086PPCK5R
About the Author
Maria 慧 Claridge is half-English and half-Japanese and was born in Lymington, England. She wrote Hare and Tortoise Have Counselling whilst studying to become a counsellor, with the intention of helping people understand the different types of counselling and the techniques used within them.
Her interest in counselling grew alongside a longstanding curiosity about what might have happened to the Hare and the Tortoise after their famous race. By using these familiar characters, she found a way to explore subjects such as depression and anxiety and to consider some of the challenges people can face in their own lives.
Maria also works as a yoga teacher, teaches Japanese, and works as a personal trainer and class instructor.
What a surreal and wonderful moment it was to finally see my book available for people to read. ❤️