Peggy D. Snyder

Peggy D. Snyder, Ph.D. (aka Peggy Dougherty) is a clinical psychologist now retired, who has thirty-five years of clinical experience working with adults, couples, children, and families. In 2013 Peggy published a self-help book, The Ten Minute Cognitive Workout: Manage Your Mood and Change Your Life in Ten Minutes a Day (authored by Peggy D. Snyder, Ph.D.). The book won the 2013 San Diego Book Award for Best Self-Help. The book teaches a simple version of Cognitive Restructuring, a tenet of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Just as its name implies, Cognitive Restructuring modifies thoughts. Changing thoughts changes emotions. How we feel derives from what we think. Peggy Dougherty is an award winning playwright whose work has had more than thirty-five productions. Her plays (all comedies) have been performed in New York City, San Diego, Los Angeles, Boca Raton, Houston, San Francisco, Great Britain, Toronto, and elsewhere. Peggy is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. Age Matters, Peggy Dougherty’s first novel, is a satiric take on age, Hollywood, and relationships. The protagonist, Kay Baldwin, following a financially-crippling divorce, writes a cathartic screenplay that becomes slated to win a prestigious competition—if only she were younger. By convincing her thirty-year-old daughter to impersonate her, Kay manages to outsmart Hollywood ageism—and disrupt her daughter’s life. When an arrogant producer who holds the key to Kay’s success decides to ensure her failure, Kay, in her efforts to thwart him, rushes headlong from one madcap caper to another. In the process, she jeopardizes her relationship with her daughter and puts at risk what might be Kay’s last chance at love. In 2017, Peggy moved from San Diego to Walnut Creek, California where she continues to pursue her passion for writing. In her leisure time she enjoys ballroom dancing, the study of the Spanish language, travel, and participation in the arts, especially theater and cinema.