Naked Online ― A Dozen Ways to Grow from Internet Dating

Is online dating driving you crazy? Maybe you want to try this modern-day matchmaking method but you've heard horror stories. Navigating the world of profiles and prospects requires a level of vulnerability that can feel like standing naked in front of strangers. Learn more at lustierlife.com. Three authors with online dating experience offer practical advice to assist with the emotional highs and lows that accompany what can be a complicated and intimidating process. Psychotherapist Dee Wagner, designer John Cargile, and freelance writer Kathy Jernigan combine their talents and experience to offer techniques of mindfulness anchored in social science theory. Each chapter provides highly effective self-care activities for managing fears and stress, with thought-provoking questions and space to journal and draw. Naked Online is a guidebook for any online dater who wants to stay sane, stay in the game, and transform the roller coaster experience of online dating into a more mindful journey.

Dee is a psychotherapist with a master’s degree in counseling and psychological services, and she holds a Georgia license as a professional counselor. She is also a certified dance therapist, which means she has training in the psychotherapeutic use of movement to promote the emotional, cognitive, physical, and social integration of individuals … which really just means that in writing about the physical aspects of emotions, about body awareness and breath, she knows what she’s talking about and has a credential to prove it. Having written essays, musical plays, and screenplays, she started writing this book to help herself navigate the emotional hurdles in the online dating process. After four months, she met John. John is a visual artist, and the designs in this book are his. He has degrees in art and industrial design. After his divorce, he found himself fighting loneliness. He joined Toastmasters. He dug through the library, studying the neuroscience of social connection. He interspersed traditional dating with online dating, which, of course, broadens substantially the pool of possibilities. He found that meeting more people helped him better define who he was looking for. By the time he met Dee, he had a system: Be sincere in your profile so you’ll find someone who gets you. Prefer real-life experiences, and so meet in person soon. Relax, because the more people you meet, the more likely you are to find a good fit. Dee and John turned out to be a good fit. They are both three-dimensional thinkers and creative types. They do yoga together. Kathy is a writer of children’s books and country-western songs. Her BA is in journalism, and she has written for newspapers, television, and magazines. Like John, she has had a lot of experience with online dating. She would dabble in it here and there over the years, but for her the whole process would periodically seem more stressful than it was worth, and she’d stop. Hearing from Dee about the ideas for this book, she joined the writing team. She felt she needed a book that approached the online dating journey as a spiritual one. Also, Kathy used to work for the FBI, and she offers helpful tips on safety in the use of Internet dating formats.