Lindsey Wilson University Professor's Debut Book a Tool for Counselors
Jodi Crane's 'Time for Me: 44 Journaling and Expressive Art Prompts for Busy Therapists' encourages counselors to take time to reflect.
COLUMBIA, Ky. (08/11/2026) — Lindsey Wilson University counseling professor Jodi Crane reminds her students that in order to be a successful therapist, they must also take care of their own mental health. And she's produced a tool to help them achieve that.
Crane has published a book, "Time for Me: 44 Journaling and Expressive Art Prompts for Busy Therapists," that helps therapists remain on the top of their game.
"I tell students all the time that you can only take your clients as far as you're willing to go yourself," said Crane, who lives in Glasgow, Kentucky. "I tell them that even after they graduate, they need to keep working on themself."
Set up in a workbook format, "Time for Me" focuses on the self of the therapist and the therapist's work with clients. The book contains 44 brief essays that include reflection questions for journaling and prompts to create a piece of art or a sandtray, which is used by many play therapists. Crane is a registered play therapist supervisor.
The book is divided into two sections -- a focus on clients, which features 12 mini-essays; and a focus on self, which features 32 mini-essays with journaling or reflection questions and expressive art prompts focusing on self-care.
Although "Time for Me" was written primarily to assist therapists, Crane said the book could also benefit other human services professionals, such as nurses and teachers.
"As they are reading it, they would substitute whatever word feels right for them whenever they encounter the words 'therapist' or 'client' in the book," said Crane. "For example, they might use the words 'teacher,' 'nurse' or 'student' to help the book be more relevant to their work."
Crane has published several professional articles during her distinguished career, but "Time for Me" is her first book. She said that she had explored writing a book to help fellow therapists for a number of years, then "I definitely got more serious about it last summer."
When she received copies of the book earlier this summer, Crane said it "felt so surreal because this was something I had wanted to do for a long time."
In addition to being a registered play therapist supervisor, Crane is also a licensed professional counselor supervisor and a national certified counselor. She has taught counseling at Lindsey Wilson for more than 25 years, and she has been a therapist for more than three decades.
Crane is a former chair of the board of directors of the Association for Play Therapy and the founder of Art and Play Haven. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Texas Christian University, a master's in counseling with a specialization in marriage and family therapy from St. Mary's (Texas) University and a doctorate in counselor education with a specialization in play therapy from the University of North Texas.
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 30 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university's 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
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Lindsey Wilson University counseling professor Jodi Crane has published the “Time for Me: 44 Journaling and Expressive Art Prompts for Busy Therapists.”