Menu
To listen to this week’s interview, click HERE! I will be welcoming “Quirks and Jerks” expert Faye Kufahl to my radio show this week!
Last year, I attended a Wisconsin Speakers Association – Wisconsin Chapter meeting, and I met a delightful woman there. We had such a wonderful long conversation, and I walked away thinking about her huge compassionate heart and wonderful message. I am so delighted that I have the opportunity to share her message with you on my radio show this week!
We have all had those encounters that make us feel a bit uncomfortable — those encounters with someone who appears to be a bit “odd,” or very “different” than we are. We may suspect that they may have a mental illness, or that there is some other issue at hand, but we don’t know how to deal with our feelings when it comes to our interactions with them. We may see them homeless, walking the street, or perhaps we may encounter them as we are volunteering at a shelter.
Our interactions with people who have these “odd behaviors” may not be on the street or in a shelter — they may be in our homes; they may be at our workplaces, or they may be in our neighborhoods. We may notice them, or we may actually become frustrated with them if we have to deal with them on a regular basis. It’s easy for us to look at these people who we consider “different” than us and become judgmental or angry. It’s easy for us to “de-humanize” them and cast them off as being “less-than-human.” The reality is that they are just as human as we are — they are somebody’s child, brother, sister, or friend. They are somebody, and we need to change the way we think about these issues. That’s why I am so delighted to have Faye join me today!
Faye is a Quirks and Jerks Expert. Faye has spent a lifetime dedicated to serving people who are chronically mentally ill. When she was a young girl, her older sister was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. For much of her childhood, Faye witnessed first hand what it was like to live in the often-misunderstood spiral of mental illness. As licensed social worker Faye interacts on an intensely personal level, helping people live a better quality of life while coping with their illnesses.
She is the author of two books addressing the topics of weird and wonderful behavior of quirks, jerks, and mental illness. A gifted actress, Faye embodies characters to illustrate odd behaviors and gives real-world strategies to cope with the quirks and jerks. Growing up in Nutterville, Wisconsin, (No kidding! Nutterville) with a one-room school house, a colorful community, and an older sister diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, Faye learned the lesson of compassion and how to cope with extreme behavior very young. Her poignant memories and thoughtful insights are the basis of her first book, Nutterville. Faye didn’t realize the uniqueness of her perspective until she left to pursue her passion for opera in college and explored the world outside Nutterville.
Her struggles to cope with her husband’s mental illness is chronicled in her second book, Prisoner of God. Earning her degree in social work, escaping to a shelter for abused and battered women, and making a new life for herself led to a career helping other people understand mental illness. Faye has a unique combination of experience as a family member, professional member, and member of society at large in coping with quirks and jerks. She has always been an observer of behavior and how to handle difficult situations. Heralding her 60th birthday, she is more determined than ever to share these experiences in a positive way by helping others learn how to interact with the very different people in our culture.
Faye is also a great nature lover and a lover of all things that are gentle and kind. She lives with Bill Krupinski at the edge of the mighty Rock River that flows through Wisconsin. She is enthralled with the migration of birds and all the beauty of her area. If you would like to find out more about the important work Faye is doing, I invite you to visit her website: www.QuirksandJerks.com. I am so delighted to have the opportunity to discuss this important issue with Faye, and I invite you to listen in on our conversation today!
Don’t miss the interview!
Session expired
Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page.