In her popular A Year by the Sea
, Anderson wrote about a time she chose to live apart from her husband on Cape Cod in order to better understand herself. Anderson has turned her private retreat into a program, Weekend by the Sea Retreats, to help women learn how to have a full life apart from the needs and demands of spouses, children, aging parents and careers. Here, Anderson shares the exercises and activities she has developed to encourage change and growth. She draws on Erik Erikson's eight stages of life from infancy to old age and suggests listing the gains and losses from each phase in order to identify one's personal strengths. Another technique is the beach walk, which allows women to get in touch with their bodies and emotions as they trek alone on the shore, collecting shells, rocks and driftwood, swimming, or drawing pictures in the sand. Anderson's warm, inviting tone will appeal to women who feel, as she did, that they need time and space to reinvent themselves. (Apr. 4)
