Debbie Ford was an internationally recognized expert in the field of personal transformation and a pioneering force in incorporating the study and integration of the human shadow into modern psychological and spiritual practices, She was the Executive Producer of The Shadow Effect movie. She personally led thousands of people from around the world through her renowned Shadow Process Workshop and was founder The Ford Institute. She was the New York Times best-selling author of nine books. Debbie died of cancer on February 17, 2013, but her legendary work lives on.
Debbie’s first three books, The Dark Side of the Light Chasers, Spiritual Divorce and The Secret of the Shadow, are still known as groundbreaking, pioneering work in emotional and spiritual education. They take the reader on amazing journeys into the internal world, laying out the blueprint of the human psyche. They are honest, straightforward and practical.
Her next two books, The Right Questions and The Best Year Of Your Life, birthed out of her innovative and unique coaching training programs, guide people and give them an outer map to follow to reach their goals, to overcome their limitations, and to make choices that empower and lead them forward.
In her sixth book Why Good People Do Bad Things, which her publisher called her “tour-de-force,” Debbie used her 15 years as a writer, teacher, coach and speaker to pull together and expose the greatest human tragedy, the internal split that happens for each and every human as they develop and get socialized into a world of conflicts and polarities. Her seventh book The 21-Day Consciousness Cleanse provided a map for an incredible personal journey to transform consciousness and unlock purpose, meaning, and passion in our lives.
Debbie was the executive producer of The Shadow Effect Movie and co-authored her eighth book, which had the same title, with Deepak Chopra and Marianne Williamson.
Debbie’s ninth book Courage: Overcoming Fear and Igniting Self-Confidence was her most personal, powerful and potent work. She wrote about how she found the courage, confidence and strength to become one of the worlds’ foremost thought leaders even in the face of her own life challenges and she shared a proven process and guiding principles for overcoming insecurity and fear and unlocking the enormous courage that resides deep within. Debbie’s books are used by universities, teachers, lawyers, mediators, and therapists around the world to support others in a true healing of the heart.
Debbie loved to engage with the audience, invite them to discover the source of their discontent and resignation, and reconnect with their greatest dreams. Her comfort and unparalleled capacity to be transparent, vulnerable and authentic encourages and inspired her audience to be the same. This process was magical to witness. The palpable experience of freedom emerged by the end of her talks. A light came on in people’s eyes, a light which comes from opening to something outside one’s own mind, a light of connection to a deeper knowing. To the observer, the process and the power Debbie unleashed in her audiences by tapping into their internal wisdom was awesome. It is a process of moving from the mind to the heart. When Debbie led people literally out of our minds, they stepped into a consciousness level of authentic truth where they were able to see outside the limited perspective of reality as it is right now. Instead, people saw beyond and through the eyes of the whole.
Debbie’s quick wit, her ability to stand strong in the presence of human pain and suffering, her true belief that we are all encoded with the ability to serve and be our greatest admirer gained her the support of the greatest spiritual teachers of our time, from Deepak Chopra and Marianne Williamson to Neale Donald Walsch and Andrew Harvey. Debbie was never willing to settle for anyone being less than what is possible for themselves. Debbie offered straight, honest talk and feedback which always made a difference in the lives of others. She had an uncanny and unique ability to see beyond the mask and the false personas that we all wear and because of this, she earned the right to be known as one of our greatest teachers.
“Debbie Ford is a terrifyingly dynamic life coach who could coax a storm cloud into purging itself of unhealthy tendencies toward lightning and thunder.' - People Magazine
What is so terrifying? To be present to someone who is willing to speak the truth, someone who is willing to acknowledge that we all have the tendency to lie, betray, cheat and inflate ourselves. We also have the ability to have impeccable integrity, to be faithful, to be courageous and to be an expression of the divine. Debbie’s laser eye and her courageous voice have popped millions out of denial and terrified the weak of heart.
Early in her career, Debbie realized that one of her gifts was to bring large groups of people through the transformational process. Participants came from around the world where her books are translated into over 20 languages. She was a proven master at enrolling people in excellence, impeccability, integrity, risk, powerful choices, responsibility, cleaning up the past and letting go, forgiving, and ultimately in caring for themselves like they are the most precious people on the planet.
After experiencing the power and effectiveness of the personal transformation her work delivers, Debbie founded The Ford Institute to support the highest expression of those people who want to make a difference in the world. She mentored hundreds of highly trained professionals in innovative coaching models, tools, techniques and processes to support others in healing their hearts, clarifying their goals, creating lives beyond the limitations of their old beliefs and behaviors, and embracing and integrating their whole selves. Her legacy lives on through The Ford Institute and the work that these professionals carry on today.
Debbie was featured on Oprah, Larry King LIVE!, Good Morning America, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, and Fox News. Debbie also hosted a weekly radio program on HayHouseRadio.com.
Debbie, her son Beau Bressler and her community of transformational coaches committed to building the first “Children’s Academy for the Collective Heart” in rural Uganda. Based on the contributions of hundreds of people from around the world in partnership with The Just Like My Child Foundation, the first school was built, and began educating students in the Spring of 2009. Currently there are six primary schools to be built in two African nations–5 schools in Uganda and 1 in Kenya–that will empower thousands of children over the next 20 years with the life-long gift of an education.
Debbie Ford Author
The Dark Side of the Light Chasers: Reclaiming Your Power, Creativity, Brilliance and Dreams. Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Debbie Ford. Shop the latest titles by Debbie Ford at Alibris including hardcovers, paperbacks, 1st editions, and audiobooks from thousands of sellers worldwide.