Always motivated by the desire to learn, grow and assist other people on their journeys as best I could, I was very fortunate to meet Dr. Frank A. ("Sarge") Gerbode through mutual friends in the early 1980s. When I found out what he was working on, the development of metapsychology (what we might call the philosophy of human existence) and Applied Metapsychology, the practical application thereof, I was delighted. Finally, I had found where I belonged.Applied Metapsychology is a rich, deep, broad subject. In addition to being fun to study in itself, the subject provides elegantly simple tools for effectively helping people. I have been making use of these tools and the person-centered paradigm that supports their effectiveness for close to 40 years at the time of this writing and I never get tired of it. Trying to help and failing leads to burnout. Having tools that work is a constant delight. Working with my clients, training new practitioners of the subject, and training trainers are my idea of the very best fun.At some point, I realized that I spend a fair bit of time with my client introducing them to basic concepts within the subject to find out if they seem useful a relevant to the person I am talking with. (They nearly always do.) Then it occurred to me that I could not reasonably expect my clients to remember all this great stuff and that was when I decided to write Life Skills. Dr. Gerbode had written the textbook "Beyond Psychology: An Introduction to Metapsychology" (now in its 4th Edition). I wrote this book for anyone to study these principles and try them out, at whatever pace they like.