Joe Bailey

Joe Bailey’s life purpose is to help people find true happiness and peace of mind. Towards this end, he studied psychology at the undergraduate and graduate levels, eventually becoming a licensed psychologist.  For the past thirty years, Joe’s desire to understand the connection between the psychological, physical and spiritual facets of human beings has pulled him into a deeper understanding of the whole person and away from the current fragmented view.  His search led to a health-based approach to counseling, prevention programs, workplace wellness and the attainment of a personal life of peace, joy and fulfillment for all people.

In his career, Joe has worked as a marriage and family counselor, university teacher, trainer of therapists, author, and consultant to organizations. He has been a pioneer in his profession, weaving together ideas and insights on psychology and spirituality. In his twenties, he became a trainer of counselors in family therapy and addictions and introduced ideas of primary prevention of addictions to the treatment profession. Over the next twenty years, Joe helped pioneer a revolutionary new psychology, Health Realization, which focused on seeing and actualizing health rather than the current disease model.

Joe brought a psychological/spiritual health model into the work place, especially healthcare. He helps organizations appreciate the importance of the mental well-being of their employees and managers in order to create healthy and productive organizations. This approach was used as a model, by Joe and other faculty members, to create “The Inner Life of Healers” program at the University of Minnesota Medical School, where Joe was an adjunct faculty member.

Joe’s first book, The Serenity Principle (Harper Collins, 1990) has had a significant impact on the treatment of thousands of clients and addiction professionals throughout the world. His best selling book, Slowing Down to the Speed of Life (co-authored with Richard Carlson, Harper San Francisco, 1997) and later The Speed Trap (Harper San Francisco, 1999) were other expressions of his approach in and out of the work place. In these books he communicates the principles of living and realizing inner peace and health and how to transcend a major problem facing our society—the frenetic pace of life and stress. Joe’s fourth book, Slowing Down to the Speed of Love, was an accumulation of his life’s realizations that take the reader in a more spiritual direction than his previous books. It guides readers to practically live their life from their true spiritual core and shows them how this awareness impacts all of their relationships.

Joe’s recently completed book, Fearproof Your Life, to be released in October, 2007 (Conari Press), was written in response to the wave of fear that has swept our culture in this new century.  In this book he offers us a way out of a life tainted by fear, insecurity and worry. He shows the reader how to connect to an inner source of security, wisdom and peace of mind, no matter what is happening around them. By living our lives from the source of a fearless state of mind—the true Self, we are able to wisely and creatively respond to the challenges of today’s world. Living our lives collectively from our ego selves and fear has gotten us into the crisis we now find ourselves in the world. A spiritual realization is the only antidote to the stress and fear that have become the norm in our world.

Joe spreads his message of hope and understanding through public speaking, seminars and retreats, consultation to organizations and through this website.

Joe lives and works with his wife, Michael, in St. Paul, Minnesota and is a father and grandfather. He is passionate about being in nature whether fly fishing, kayaking or skiing in the mountains. He combines his passions and his purpose in his fly fishing for the mind retreats. (see www.flyfishingseminars.com)  His interest in the mind/body/spirit connection has led him to the study of Russian Kettlebells, Qi Gong and Tai Chi.

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