Search results for ""New Harbinger Publications""

Shame is one of the most destructive of human emotions. If you suffered childhood physical or sexual abuse, you may experience such intense feelings of shame that it almost seems to define you a person. In order to begin healing, it's important for you to know that it wasn't your fault.In this gentle guide, therapist and childhood abuse expert Beverly Engel presents a mindfulness and compassion-based therapeutic approach to help you overcome the debilitating shame that keeps you tied to the past. By following the step-by-step exercises in this book, you'll gain a greater understanding of the root cause of your shame. And by cultivating compassion toward yourself, you will begin to heal and move past your painful experiences.Recent studies show that trauma survivors, particularly those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from abuse, can greatly benefit from incorporating elements of self-compassion into their treatment. Furthermore, the practice of self-compassion has been shown to decrease PTSD symptoms, including, self-criticism, thought suppression, and rumination.This book is based on the author's powerful and effective Compassion Cure program. With this book, you will develop the skills needed to finally put a stop the crippling self-blame that keeps you from moving on and being happy. You'll learn to focus on your strengths, your courage, and your extraordinary ability to survive. Most of all, you'll learn to replace shame with its counter emotion-pride.

Read more less

Powerful and effective skills to help you manage psychosis, take charge of your emotions, and get back to living your life.Based in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), this first-of-its-kind workbook offers real skills to help you balance your emotions and stay grounded in reality. You’ll find self-assessments, worksheets, and guided activities to help you understand your symptoms and manage them in day-to-day life. You’ll also gain self-awareness, learn to navigate difficult or stressful situations, and discover healthier ways of interacting with others.If you have a history of psychosis or suffer from psychotic spectrum disorder, you know how difficult it can be. You may experience paranoia, auditory hallucinations, and emotional dysregulation. In addition, you may feel alienated from your friends and family if they have trouble understanding what you’re going through. The good news is that you can move beyond the stigma of psychosis, regain hope, and rebuild your life. This compassionate workbook will help you get started.In this workbook, you’ll learn the core skills of DBT to help you feel better: ·Mindfulness ·Distress tolerance ·Emotion regulation ·Interpersonal effectiveness You’ll also find important information on relapse prevention—including warning signs to watch out for, what to do if you have another episode, and an extensive resource list to help you manage your symptoms. And finally, you’ll find a wealth of practical tools that can be used every day for long-lasting psychosis recovery.

Read more less

A comprehensive treatment plan grounded in evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help you overcome body-focused repetitive behaviors for good!If you have body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRB) such as hair pulling (trichotillomania) or skin picking (dermatillomania), you may feel embarrassed about seeking help. But there are proven-effective strategies you can use to overcome these behaviors and improve your overall quality of life-this book will show you how.In this evidence-based resource, three renowned experts and clinicians offer powerful CBT skills to help you move past BFRB. You'll learn why you engage in these behaviors, and how to identify your own sensory "triggers"-places, things, or experiences that cause your behavior to become worse. Finally, you'll learn strategies to use when faced with these triggers, and develop your own customized "plan of action" for moving beyond BFRB for good.With time, practice, and solid skills for managing stress, anxiety, urges, and other triggers, this book will help you break free from BFRB and feel more in control of your life.

Read more less

Powerful, body-based practices to help you reclaim confidence, dignity, and self-worth. As a woman of colour, you are more likely to experience oppression, discrimination, and physical or sexual violence in your lifetime. In addition, your family may have experienced generational trauma and systemic racism going back for centuries. This old and new trauma can manifest in both the mind and body. However, there are ways you can free yourself from this trauma, build confidence in yourself and your abilities, and restore your powerful sense of self. Written by a woman of colour for women of colour, Decolonizing the Body offers proven-effective somatic, body-centred practices to help you heal from systemic oppression, trust the profound wisdom of your own body, and reconnect with your true self. And by slowing down, cultivating a daily ritual, and setting strong boundaries, you can reclaim your inherent dignity and worth-as well as those aspects of yourself that you may have cast aside in an effort to survive. With this empowering guide, you'll discover: ·How bodies are colonized through systems of oppression ·Why slowing down is essential for healing ·How to listen to what your body needs ·How to create a space for ritual in your daily life ·How to strengthen feelings of capability ·How to cultivate community-starting with yourself To decolonize the body is to become whole again, and to come home again. Let this book be your guide on this crucial journey.

Read more less

Are you feeling emotionally exhausted? Are you trying to do it all and be it all—all the time? This radical self-care guide will help you find the courage needed to express your deepest needs, nurture self-awareness, and be yourself in a world that expects you to be everything to everyone.If you’re like countless other women today, you probably feel overwhelmed, emotionally exhausted, anxious, stressed, frustrated, or depressed. Or all of the above! In addition to managing your own career, running a household, and taking care of others, you may be taking on an abundance of emotional labor—a form of emotional caretaking that includes managing others’ feelings or subverting your own emotional needs for another’s. At the end of the day, all these pressures can leave you feeling depleted—in body, mind, and spirit. So, how can you start taking care of you?Written by therapist and spiritual teacher Nancy Colier, The Emotionally Exhausted Woman offers the validation and emotional support you’ve been craving. You’ll discover insights grounded in compassion and self-respect to help you uncover your deepest psychological, spiritual, and emotional needs without feeling guilt, shame, or judgment. You’ll learn why you are feeling depleted, why you take care of others at the expense of taking care of yourself, and how to develop a deeper form of self-care beyond the temporary respite of a spa retreat, bubble bath, or manicure. Finally, you’ll nurture greater awareness of what you truly need to achieve lasting peace, fulfillment, and happiness.As women, we are culturally conditioned to believe that we can do it all, have it all, and keep smiling and looking perfect through it all. So, how do you live your truth and create an authentic life in a world that expects you to be everything to everyone—no matter the cost to your mental health? This empowering guide will help you gain a newfound awareness of your own needs, and help you find the courage to draw boundaries, speak your truth, and live a life that both nourishes and fulfills you.

Read more less

Do you overeat during times of stress? Do you often find yourself eating when you're not even hungry? The Intuitive Eating Workbook offers a new way of looking at food. Based on the best-selling book, Intuitive Eating, this comprehensive workbook addresses the ten principles of intuitive eating, and provides an evidence-based model to help readers develop a healthy relationship with food, pay attention to cues of hunger and satisfaction, and cultivate a profound connection with both mind and body.Do you use food to comfort yourself during stressful times? The Intuitive Eating Workbook offers a comprehensive, evidence-based program to help you develop a healthy relationship with food, pay attention to cues of hunger and satisfaction, and cultivate a profound connection with your mind and body.Have you tried fad diet after fad diet, only to gain weight back? Maybe you've tried the protein diet only to move on to vegetables only? Raw almonds and coconut water every forty-five minutes instead of big meals? Or perhaps you've tried counting calories, but the numbers on the scale still don't add up. If you are ready to throw in your hat and give up on dieting for good, take heart. You can enjoy food again-you just need to pay attention to your body's natural hunger cues. Based on the authors' best-selling book, Intuitive Eating, this workbook can show you how.The Intuitive Eating Workbook offers a new way of looking at food and mealtime by showing you how to recognize your body's natural hunger signals. Structured around the ten principles of intuitive eating, the mindful approach in this workbook encourages you to abandon unhealthy weight control behaviors, develop positive body image, and-most importantly-stop feeling distressed around food!You were born with all the wisdom you need for eating intuitively. This book will help you reconnect with that wisdom and ultimately change your life-one meal at a time.

Read more less

Mindfulness for Two is a practical and theoretical guide to the role mindfulness plays in psychotherapy, specifically acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). In the book, author Kelly Wilson carefully defines mindfulness from an ACT perspective and explores its relationship to the six ACT processes and to the therapeutic relationship itself. With unprecedented clarity, he explains the principles that anchor the ACT model to basic behavioural science. The latter half of the book is a practical guide to observing and fostering mindfulness in your clients and in yourself--good advice you can put to use in your practice right away. Wilson, co-author of the seminal Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, guides you through this sometimes-challenging material with the clarity, humour, and warmth for which he is known around the world. More than any other resource available, Mindfulness for Two gets at the heart of Wilson's unique brand of experiential ACT training.

Read more less

Nothing can destroy health and quality of life faster than chronic anxiety, that vague feeling of unease and distress that something, somehow is hopelessly wrong. Unfortunately, problems with anxiety, common before, are steadily on the rise. Anxiety disorders have always been the most common psychological problems, but new reports suggest that nearly 25 percent of Americans at any given time suffer from some form of anxiety. In response to this growing problem, the scientists at the Institute of HeartMath have adapted their revolutionary techniques into a fast and simple program that anyone can use to break free from anxiety once and for all.At the core of the HeartMath method of emotional regulation is the idea that, by focusing on positive feelings such as appreciation, care, or compassion, anyone can create dramatic changes in his or her heart rhythms. These changes precipitate a series of neural, hormonal, and biochemical events that dissipate stress and anger and lead to greater well-being. The benefits from using this system are remarkable and far-reaching: blood pressure drops, stress hormone levels fall, immune system activity increases, and anti-aging hormone levels rise. Through its interactive learning system, this book teaches you how to use the HeartMath method, enabling you to see and experience in real time how thoughts and emotions affect your heart rhythms. It shows you how to engage your heart to bring emotion, body, and mind into balance, and helps you stay in a zone of focused clarity, optimal health, and high performance. Changes brought about through this method are fast-acting and long-lasting - the perfect antidote to our chaotic and anxiety-provoking lives.

Read more less

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an extremely debilitating condition that can occur after exposure to a terrifying event. But whether you're a veteran of war, a victim of domestic violence or sexual violence, or have been involved in a natural disaster, crime, car accident, or accident in the workplace, your symptoms may be getting in the way of you living your life.PTSD can often cause you to relive your traumatic experience in the form of flashbacks, memories, nightmares, and frightening thoughts. This is especially true when you are exposed to events or objects that remind you of your trauma. Left untreated, PTSD can lead to emotional numbness, insomnia, addiction, anxiety, depression, and even suicide. So, how can you start to heal and get your life back?In The PTSD Workbook, Third Edition, psychologists and trauma experts Mary Beth Williams and Soili Poijula outline techniques and interventions used by PTSD experts from around the world to conquer distressing trauma-related symptoms. In this fully revised and updated workbook, you'll learn how to move past the trauma you've experienced and manage symptoms such as insomnia, anxiety, and flashbacks.Based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), this book is extremely accessible and easy-to-use, offering evidence-based therapy at a low cost. This new edition features chapters focusing on veterans with PTSD, the link between cortisol and adrenaline and its role in PTSD and overall mental health, and the mind-body component of PTSD. Clinicians will also find important updates reflecting the new DSM-V definition of PTSD.This book is designed to give you the emotional resilience you need to get your life back together after a traumatic event.

Read more less

If you or someone you love is dealing with a crisis right now, please call 1-800-273-8255 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.This gentle and effective guide can help you find support and hope.If you’re a teen who is having thoughts of suicide, the first thing to know is that you are not alone. Many teens experience suicidal thoughts, and there is help for you. Don’t give up: change is possible, and it’s worth it—you are worth it.Written by two mental health experts, Overcoming Suicidal Thoughts for Teens is here to help you reduce emotional pain, increase hope, and build meaningful connections in your life. Grounded in evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and filled with proven-effective activities and skills, this guide will help you: ·Identify your triggers and the type of support you need ·Create a safety plan for when things feel hopeless ·Manage intense feelings, thoughts, and stress ·Build and strengthen relationships ·Boost positive feelings ·Make healthy lifestyle changes and set goals Although it may be hard to imagine now, the strategies in this book can help you overcome suicidal thoughts, find meaning and purpose, and move forward into a more hopeful future. A change for the better is on the way.

Read more less

Are you looking for clear and reliable information about relationships, sexuality, safety, and consent? You can find it in this essential guide—just for teen girls.As a teen girl, you probably have a ton of questions about sex and relationships. For example, what do you do if someone sends or asks you to send an explicit picture or text? How do you know if you are straight, bi, pan, or gay? What do you do if you are being pressured to do something you don’t want to do? This book has all the answers you seek.Written by two experts in teen mental health, this go-to guide offers empowering tools to help you build self-esteem, clarify your values, understand your sexual identity and boundaries, decide what feels right for you, and know what to do when things go wrong. And by practicing the simple evidence-based skills in this book, you’ll learn how to handle any situation that you may encounter—whether online or IRL.As a teen girl navigating the world of sex, dating, and relationships, you need to feel empowered and confident to make important decisions for yourself that are grounded in self-respect and safety. This book can help, every step of the way.

Read more less

Learn to pull yourself out of the fire of pain and live a life of meaning and purpose.As Black people, we are more likely to face a traumatic experience or suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But being Black is about more than the violence that has been perpetrated against us. It also means living a life of dignity and self-worth. We can pull ourselves out of the fire of painful experiences and gain the psychological flexibility needed to thrive, not just survive. This book will help guide you.In Out of the Fire, Black clinician and professor, Jennifer Shepard Payne presents culturally tailored acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) skills to help you heal from trauma, so you can?live a meaningful life that is in tune with your own values.?The ACT approach in this guide is empowering, strength-based,?and non-pathologizing.?As you read, you will come to understand that your suffering is not a sign of dysfunction, but rather a product of circumstances and your experience. Once you face the pain of trauma head on, you will discover the tools needed to feel whole.Recovering from trauma in all its forms is something that we desperately need as Black people. Whether you are experiencing mental pain as a result of race-based trauma, or have lived through a personal traumatic experience, this book can help you take the first steps needed to heal and live the life you deserve.

Read more less

Stay one step ahead of stress with this fun and engaging mindfulness workbook—just for teens!Do you feel stressed out, anxious, or worried? You aren’t alone! Between school, friends, dating, social media, and a pandemic, many teens are feeling more stressed out and anxious than ever before. But what if you had a set of tools you could use to help you cope with the stress life brings? This workbook can be that toolkit! And better yet, you can learn to use these tools easily—right away.In The Mindful Teen Workbook, two physicians and a psychiatrist offer fun and proven-effective skills grounded in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to help you slow down, clear your head, recover quickly from setbacks, manage stress and balance emotions, cultivate compassion, and foster healthier relationships—online or IRL. With this evidence-based workbook, you’ll also find tons of tips and tricks to help you stay focused when you need to, stay calm in a crisis, and be the very best version of you that you can be.Don’t let stress get in the way of enjoying your teen years and reaching your goals. With this step-by-step workbook, you’ll discover the tools you need to be resilient in tough times and better appreciate life’s good moments.

Read more less

For anyone who struggles with food, eating, and body image, Intuitive Eating for Life presents easy and effective mindfulness skills to enhance, sustain, and deepen your intuitive eating practice!Intuitive eating is a great way to get off the diet roller coaster, stay healthy, build confidence in your body, and take the guesswork out of mealtime. But if you’re like many people, you may have trouble staying on track. Enter mindfulness! Based on the popular anti-diet book program, Intuitive Eating, renowned nutrition therapist and meditation teacher Jenna Hollenstein provides powerful mindfulness tools to help you find stability, discover self-awareness, and self-regulate—so you can respect your body and honor your health.In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn to practice intuitive eating using the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, a classic Buddhist framework. The Four Foundations include: ·Mindfulness of body, in which you will examine how the body awareness enhances your ability to practice the principles of intuitive eating—honor your hunger, respect your fullness, and exercise. ·Mindfulness of feeling, in which you will explore the ways that mindfulness and meditation can provide stability and self-awareness, allowing you to experience the full spectrum of your emotions in real time. ·Mindfulness of mind, in which you will examine your own beliefs and misconceptions about eating and the body and respond to them with compassion ·Mindfulness of dhammas (or phenomena), in which you will learn how phenomena such as the impermanence of life can shift our focus from improving our bodies to caring for them. Using these simple and easy-to-remember foundations, you’ll discover that you can easily stay on track with your intuitive eating path, and actually improve it for better health and overall well-being. So, what are you waiting for?

Read more less

A powerful SEL mindfulness program to help kids self-regulate, foster social and academic engagement, and bring peace back into the classroom.As a teacher, you know that preschool and kindergarten are difficult periods of transition in kids’ lives. This is true now more than ever, as young children in our world face increasing life challenges—including adverse childhood experiences, trauma, social disconnection, systematic discrimination, and a global pandemic. Students are struggling to balance their emotions and adapt to a classroom environment, the tools outlined in this mindfulness guide can help.Mindfulness for Preschool and Kindergarten offers an effective, adaptable, multisensory, and skills-based social emotional learning (SEL) program to help preschool and kindergarten-aged children learn to self-regulate, ensuring a peaceful and prosocial learning environment in the classroom. The hands-on OpenMind program in this book will help kids cope with stress and trauma, process and understand difficult emotions, and interact positively with others. Kids will also learn how to bounce back from challenges, build resilience, and experience greater social and academic engagement.The OpenMind program’s five foundations go well beyond sequenced lesson plans and strategies to help promote a positive classroom experience. These include: ·Wellness and mindfulness training for teachers ·Practices to help kids build self-regulation, executive function, and engagement ·Planned practices and lessons in response to arising individual and learning environment needs that are anchored to social and academic content ·Scaffolding and modification of practices and lessons to promote learning and active mindful engagement ·A process for transforming challenging behaviors into opportunities for learning, growth, autonomy, and agency You are on the frontlines of helping kids face some of life’s most difficult challenges, and ensuring that they feel valued, protected, and supported. The weight of this responsibility can create stress and feelings of overwhelm for you. Let this guide support both you and your young students in cultivating a loving, safe, and rewarding classroom environment—together.

Read more less

Based on the self-help classic, Stop Walking on Eggshells, this essential guide offers powerful skills and strategies for parenting a child of any age with borderline personality disorder (BPD)-without sacrificing their family or themselves.If you have a child with BPD, you are all-too-aware of the behavioral and emotional issues that are linked to this disorder-including rages, self-harm, sexual acting out, substance abuse, suicidal behaviors, physical and emotional attacks, and more. Traditional parenting strategies that work on other kids just don't work with a borderline child. But you shouldn't lose hope. The good news is that there are parenting strategies that do work.With this comprehensive resource, you will learn all about borderline personality disorder, how it shows up in children, adolescents, and your adult children, how to obtain proper treatment, and how to manage your child's condition at home. You'll find proven-effective strategies to help you communicate and improve your relationship with your child of any age, and, as a result, improve your own life as a parent and an individual. You'll also find real stories and advice from parents who have also experienced raising a child with BPD.Most importantly, you'll learn how to maintain boundaries and validate your child while also meeting your own needs. Whether your child is 5 or 25, this book offers tools to help you and your family thrive.

Read more less

In Pocket Therapy for Emotional Balance, three clinical psychologists and authors of The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook offer quick, evidence-based tips and tools for managing intense emotions in the moment. Using this handy, take-anywhere guide, readers will find freedom from overwhelming thoughts and feelings, find a sense of calm, and live a more balanced life.Bite-sized, evidence based tips and tools for managing intense emotions in the moment-from the authors of The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook!Sometimes emotions can feel like a big, powerful tidal wave that will sweep you away. And the more you try to suppress or put a lid on these emotions, the more overwhelming they get. So, how can you feel better when difficult emotions threaten to wash over you?In this take-anywhere pocket guide, clinical psychologists and authors Matt McKay, Jeffrey Wood, and Jeffrey Brantley offer quick and simple strategies based in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to help you take charge of your emotions and start living the life you want. Using this handy little book, you'll find freedom from overwhelming thoughts and feelings, discover a sense of lasting calm, improve your relationships, and feel more at peace with the world and yourself.If you're looking for small, easy ways to manage your emotions on the go, put this compact guide in your coat pocket, your purse, on your nightstand, or anywhere for quick and soothing relief.

Read more less

Unlock the power of neuroscience to optimize your memory so you can stay mentally sharp. Do you feel like your memory isn’t as great as it used to be? Do you sometimes find yourself walking into a room and forgetting why? Do you misplace things more often than you used to? As we age, our memory naturally declines. But there are scientifically proven ways to enhance brain and memory function. This book, grounded in cutting-edge neuroscience, will help you get started. The Neuroscience of Memory offers a seven-step memory improvement program based on the latest research. You’ll find powerful tools to optimize your brain and memory function, increase neural connections, and stay mentally sharp both now and in the long run. You’ll learn how to “feed your brain” with good nutrition, and how exercise can help you maintain mental acuity. And finally, you’ll discover how forming new memories is a key strategy for optimizing cognitive function, and how managing stress can help you not only think better in critical moments, but also help you keep the brain cells you have. When you understand how your memory actually works, you are better equipped to optimize it. Whether you’re looking for ways to improve your memory while you are young, have noticed that your memory is declining as you age and want to improve it, or are looking for resources for dealing with Alzheimer’s (either for yourself or a loved one), this book will help you hold on to those treasured memories for as long as you possibly can.

Read more less

Take charge of your emotions, take charge of your life! Now fully revised and updated, this workbook offers proven-effective dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills to help you find emotional balance and live the life you want.Let's face it: life gives you plenty of reasons to get angry, sad, scared, and frustrated-and those feelings are okay. But sometimes it can feel like your emotions are taking over, spinning out of control with a mind of their own. To makematters worse, these overwhelming emotions might be interfering with school, causing trouble in your relationships, and preventing you from reaching your goals and enjoying your teen years.Now a teen self-help classic, Don't Let Your Emotions Run Your Life for Teens has already helped thousands of teens take charge of their emotions using proven-effective dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills. This fully revised and updated second edition provides even more strategies for managing difficult feelings, and includes new information on how to accept your emotions, body-based practices for finding calm, and tips to help you identify the things in life that make you feel happy and fulfilled.This book offers easy techniques to help you:- Stay calm and mindful in times of crisis- Effectively manage out-of-control emotions- Reduce the pain of intense emotions- Get along with family and friendsIf you're ready to take control of your emotions, be the best version of you, and reach your goals, this workbook has everything you need to get started today.

Read more less

You have the power to lower stress and balance your emotions. Grounded in evidence-based mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), this engaging and empowering workbook will show you how. Are you stressed out or overwhelmed? If so, you're far from alone. More than ever, teens are feeling the stress of academic pressure; high expectations from family, friends, and social media; and an increasingly uncertain future. This workbook will show you how mindful breathing exercises and self-care strategies can help you curb stress and difficult emotions, so you can be your best and reach your goals.In The Mindful Breathing Workbook for Teens, you'll learn breathing skills rooted in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), so you can stay grounded, find calm, and shift out of bad moods quickly. By developing your own internal strategies for managing stress, you will feel more empowered and in control-even when faced with difficult situations beyond your control. It's kind of like having your own stress-busting superpower!As a teen, you're faced with more changes than ever-in both body and mind. The good news is that there are real tools you can use to manage life's changes, challenges, and setbacks. This workbook will be your guide.

Read more less

What can parents do to help their kids feel less anxious? In our increasingly uncertain world, helping children cultivate resilience is key. Written by pioneering experts in child psychology and anxiety, The Resilience Recipe offers parents of children ages 5 to 12 struggling with anxiety a proven-effective, evidence-based plan grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help kids build emotional resilience, manage the ups and downs of anxiety, worry less, approach life's challenges with confidence, and thrive in the face of modern stressors.Help your child face all of life's challenges with confidence. Based on the innovative Coping Cat program, this book offers a proven-effective "recipe" for raising resilient kids!We live in an age of anxiety. Amidst climate change and natural disasters, a troubled economy, and one of the largest global pandemics in modern history-is it any wonder our kids are anxious and stressed out? Add in the pressures inherent in social media and consumerist culture, as well as the pressure of academic success, and you've got a recipe for disaster. The good news is that you can help your child manage anxiety and stress-no matter what life throws their way. This book will show you how.Written by two pioneering experts in child psychology and anxiety, The Resilience Recipe offers an evidence-based plan grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help kids build emotional resilience and adaptability, worry less, and thrive-despite the stressors of modern life. With this guide, you'll learn to help kids feel more in control of their moods and emotions; cope with difficult experiences; and recognize the first signs of stress and anxiety in both their mind and body, so they can find quick relief. You'll also discover a wealth of tips and strategies to help you manage your own anxiety.Most importantly, you'll find a solid action plan to help your child feel strong and capable in the face of unprecedented challenges.

Read more less

As a mental health clinician, you know that every client is unique and a client's symptoms are the result of a complex combination of psychological, environmental, genetic, and neural factors. However, the de facto DSM model poses considerable constraints on how you can treat clients-often resulting in a one-size-fits-all diagnosis. This important volume challenges the assumptions and approach made by the DSM, and provides a vision and plan for an evidence-based, process-based approach to individualised care.With contributions from renowned experts in the field-including Steven C. Hayes, Stefan G. Hofmann, Joseph Ciarrochi, Matthew McKay, Uma Vaidyanathan, Sarah Morris, David Sommers, J. Scott Fraser, and many more-this groundbreaking book will show you a new way to recognize the complexity of human suffering and human prosperity. You'll find solid tips for treating a wide variety of psychological issues in a more flexible way. And, finally, you'll come away with a greater understanding of the "processes of change," and how to build a solid foundation for an alternative to syndromal diagnosis.The future of mental health treatment is process-based. Whether you're a clinician, researcher, student, instructor, or other professional working in the mental health field, this breakthrough volume offers everything you need to understand process-based treatment and create a more customized and effective approach to treating clients.

Read more less

A powerful and compassionate guide for cultivating self-confidence, independence, and the executive functioning skills you need to live your best life! Being a teen with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) doesn’t stop you from wanting what almost every other teen wants: independence, good grades, and a healthy social life. But ADHD also presents obstacles that can keep you from reaching your goals. At times you may become frustrated, sad, or even angry at your inability to achieve the things you want. This book can help. This unique guide will help you develop the skills you need to strengthen your executive functioning, foster the self-compassion essential to overcoming self-criticism often caused by ADHD, and gain the confidence and resilience necessary to take control of your ADHD—and your life. You’ll also learn how to manage your emotions, focus, practice flexible problem solving, change habits, and improve communication skills. Finally, you’ll learn how these skills can improve your relationships with friends and family, and help you succeed in school—and life! Your ADHD doesn’t have to define you, and it certainly doesn’t have to determine your life. This book will allow you to step off the path of self-criticism, and guide you on the path toward self-compassion, self-confidence, and success.

Read more less

To fear is to be human. But fear can also keep us stuck living lives that are stale, stagnant, or downright miserable. Stop Avoiding Stuff offers 25 "microskills" to help readers identify how their fears are holding them back. Drawing on proven-effective acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), readers will learn how to get comfortable with discomfort, do the very things that scare them, and use values-based action to live their very best lives.Afraid? Do it anyway! The 25 microskills in this little book will help you stand up to your fears, so you can live the life you really want.To fear is to be human. But fear can also keep us stuck living lives that are stale, stagnant, or downright miserable. Fear leads us down paths that feel more safe, but that deep down we know are wrong for us. The good news is that you can stand up to your fears and change your life for the better. If you're ready to stop avoiding stuff and say yes to opportunity, the easy-to-implement strategies in this book will help you break the avoidance habits that have been keeping you in a rut.Drawing on evidence-based acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), this accessible guide offers 25 microskills to help you face your fears so you can live a truly courageous and meaningful life. With this book, you'll learn: ·Why you avoid stuff ·Tips to increase self-awareness in moments of fear ·Strategies for untangling from distressing thoughts ·How to hold the inevitable pain and discomfort of life lightly ·Ways to connect with your values and take action We are hardwired to avoid, control, and escape the stuff that makes us uncomfortable. But if you're ready to stop living scared, the tips and tools in this little book will help you pivot back to what really matters to you.

Read more less

Calm the chaos and rewire your brain in just five minutes a day! Do you ever feel like your stress levels are off the charts? You aren’t alone. Every day it feels like there’s something new to juggle or a fresh crisis to avert. And just keeping everything in the air requires an exhausting amount of attention and a dizzying amount of responsibilities. The more chaotic life becomes, the more we tend to forget what we truly value—from family and friends to mental and physical health. Fortunately, there are things you can do to stay grounded that won’t eat away at your increasingly precious time. Quick Calm is a practical and fun guidebook designed to fit perfectly into a fast-paced lifestyle. You’ll discover the what, why, and how of developing your own mindfulness practice. You’ll learn all about the essential, life-affirming benefits of this ancient practice, including mindfulness meditation’s positive effects on both mind and body. And, most importantly, you’ll find daily practices you can do in just five minutes a day! So, if you’re ready to discover the gift of mindfulness, but you don’t have the time to attend a meditation retreat, set aside five minutes a day with this handy little guide. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better return on your time investment!

Read more less

A fun and engaging workbook to help kids ages 6-12 build resilience, perseverance, and a growth mindsetAs a parent, you want to give your child a solid foundation for living a happy, successful life. But if you have a child who is easily sidelined by obstacles, has trouble bouncing back from setbacks, who melts down easily, or gives up quickly when things get tough-you may worry about their ability to succeed in our competitive, high-pressure world. So, how can you help your child develop grit-a trait that embodies tenacity and self-control?Fortunately, grit can be learned. Written in a kid-friendly tone and grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), The Grit Workbook for Kids offers a unique approach for learning and practicing the tools, strategies, and skills that make up grit. These activities will help your child: ·Build stamina ·Keep perspective ·Be optimistic ·Solve problems ·Cope with change ·Practice mental flexibility ·Stick up for themselves ·Build good relationships ·And much, much more! Grit is key to helping kids succeed in what they want or need to do-whether that's getting good grades, making the sports team, or just building an awesome treehouse. By practicing the skills and activities outlined in this accessible workbook-whether on their own or with you-your child will gain powerful tools to help them thrive, well into adulthood.

Read more less

Turn off the light. Turn off your phone. Turn off anxious thoughts.Do you have trouble getting to sleep at night? You aren't alone. There are so many reasons teens today have a difficult time going to sleep-including early school start times, too much late-night screen time, or just being anxious about what the future holds. You are at an important crossroads in your life, so it's natural to feel overwhelmed at times. But it's essential that you get the sleep you need. This book can help.Written by a renowned sleep expert, Goodnight Mind for Teens offers tips based in proven-effective cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help you get your zzzs and be your best during the daytime. You'll learn how to set your own ideal sleep schedule, overcome sleep lag, cope with sleep anxiety, and manage the anxious, over-stimulating thoughts and worries that are keeping you up at night.If you're ready to start feeling better, less cranky during the day, and more at ease at bedtime, this book has everything you need to... zzzz...

Read more less

Who are we? What is our place in this vast and ever-evolving universe? Where do science and spirituality meet?If you've pondered these questions, you're not alone. Join some of the most spiritually curious and renowned minds of our time for an exploration into the mystery of being. From founders of the Science and Nonduality (SAND) conference, Maurizio and Zaya Benazzo, On the Mystery of Being brings together an array of visionary spiritual leaders, psychologists, philosophers, scientists, teachers, authors, and healers to celebrate and explore what it means to be human.This beautifully arranged collection of essays and insights highlight topics on the convergence of spirituality and science, weaving scientific theory and spiritual wisdom from some of the most influential thinkers of our time-including Deepak Chopra, Rupert Spira, Adyashanti, and many more-with pieces that get straight to the heart of the matter.As a powerful antidote to our chaotic and materialist modern world, this dazzling volume offers timeless wisdom and new insight into humanity's age-old questions. On the Mystery of Being also reveals the cutting-edge explorations at the intersection of science and spirituality today. May it encourage your spirit, challenge your mind, and deepen your understanding of our interconnectedness.

Read more less

An innovative and customisable n 8-week plan to help you take control of your eating habits-once and for all.Do you feel like your eating gets out of control? When it comes to food, does it feel like your life is controlled by cycles of deprivation and bingeing? Whether or not you've been formally diagnosed with a binge-eating disorder, you know that something needs to change. But like many disorders, what helps one person may not help another. That's why The Binge Eating Prevention Workbook offers a wide range of evidence-based tools to help you take charge of your eating habits. Using the eight-week protocol in this workbook, you'll learn how to recognise your triggers, cope with difficult emotions, improve relationships, and make healthy food choices that will ultimately improve how you feel. You'll learn to understand the underlying causes of your binge eating, how to recognise binge-inducing environmental factors, why dieting just doesn't work, and mindfulness techniques to help you stay present when the urge to binge takes hold.If you're ready to break the shame-filled cycle of binge eating, this workbook has everything you need to get started today.

Read more less

If your loved one is one of millions of Americans who suffers from an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia, you may feel alone, without guidance or understanding. As a romantic partner, you need to know how to navigate issues such as parenting, sex and intimacy and running a household. This book provides that help by addressing your uniquely complex and difficult situation and provides much-needed support for growth and healing.In Loving Someone With an Eating Disorder, you'll find valuable information about eating disorders, diagnostic categories and common misconceptions. You'll also learn about the importance of self-care and boundaries for yourself and find writing and perspective-taking exercises to help you gain a greater understanding of your partner's struggle.You'll also learn skills to help you address specific problems, such as managing groceries and meals together, sex and intimacy issues and concerns about parenting.Finally, you'll find a practical discussion about treatment and recovery from disordered eating-making it clear that both you and your partner need healing-as well as information about seeking further support.

Read more less

The ancient wisdom of yoga meets the evidence-based effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in this breakthrough professional guide for both yoga instructors and ACT clinicians.Mindful yoga-based acceptance and commitment therapy (MYACT) is a holistic mind-body program that integrates psychology, yoga, and behavior change. In Mindful Yoga-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, a psychologist, social worker, and yoga instructor team up to offer comprehensive training in MYACT. Using the holistic therapy outlined in this manual, clinicians and yoga instructors alike will discover ways to guide clients toward emotional balance and wellness, with the perspective that healing suffering requires treating both the body and the mind.This unique book offers proven-effective interventions informed by the model of psychological flexibility-the foundational underpinning of modern third-wave cognitive behavioral therapies. Mental health professionals who are interested in yoga, mindfulness, and holistic approaches to health will rejoice in this evidence-based program, while yoga instructors who wish to incorporate well-researched health care interventions into their yoga practice and teaching will also celebrate this much-needed resource.Whether you are new to yoga or ACT or both, or have a long history with either, this book will provide you with the tools and foundational understanding needed to bring this practice into the scope of yours.

Read more less

By breaking free of your own self-limiting beliefs, you'll discover the unlimited potential of who you really are. It's time to get over your self!There is an insidious, global identity theft occurring that has robbed people of their very recognition of their true selves. The culprit-indeed the mastermind of this crisis-has committed the inside job of creating and promoting the idea that we are all a separate self, which is the chief source of our daily distress and dissatisfaction.No more than a narrative of personhood pieced together from disparate neural activations, the self we believe ourselves to be in our own minds-although quite capable of being affirming, inspiring, and constructive-often spews forth a distressing flow of worry and second-guessing, blaming and shaming, regret and guilt. This book offers an antidote to this epidemic of stolen identity, isolation, and self-deprecation: no-self (a concept known in Buddhist philosophy as anatta or anatman).The No-Self Help Book turns the idea of self-improvement on its head, arguing that the key to well-being lies not in the relentless pursuit of bettering one's self but in the recognition of the self as a false identity born in the mind. Rather than identifying with a small, relative sense of self, this book encourages you to embrace a liberating alternative-an expansive awareness that is flexible and open to experiencing life as an ongoing and ever-changing process, without attachment to personal outcomes or storylines.To help you make this leap from self to no-self, the book provides forty bite-sized chapters full of clever and inspiring insights based in positive psychology and non-duality-a philosophy that asserts there is no real separation between any of us. So, if you're tired of "self-help" and you're ready to explore who you are beyond the self, let The No-Self Help Book be your guide.

Read more less

Eliminating Race-Based Mental Health Disparities offers concrete guidelines and evidence-based best practices for addressing racial inequities and biases in clinical care.Perhaps there is no subject more challenging than the intricacies of race and racism in American culture. More and more, it has become clear that simply teaching facts about cultural differences between racial and ethnic groups is not adequate to achieve cultural competence in clinical care. One must also consider less "visible" constructs-including implicit bias, stereotypes, white privilege, intersectionality, and microaggressions-as potent drivers of behaviours and attitudes.In this edited volume, three leading experts in race, mental health, and contextual behaviour science explore the urgent problem of racial inequities and biases, which often prevent people of color from seeking mental health services-leading to poor outcomes if and when they do receive treatment. In this much-needed resource, you'll find evidence-based recommendations for addressing problems at multiple levels, and best practices for compassionately and effectively helping clients across a range of cultural groups and settings.As more and more people gain access to services that have historically been unavailable to them, guidelines for cultural competence in clinical care are needed. Eliminating Race-Based Mental Health Disparities offers a comprehensive road map to help you address racial health disparities and improve treatment outcomes in your practice.

Read more less

Written by spiritual medium Austyn Wells, The Invisible Path reveals how you can tap into your soul's wisdom, connect with the universe, and communicate with loved ones and guides in the spirit world. Drawing on the author's extensive training and experience, you'll learn how to develop intuition, cultivate your soul senses, and create a personal spirituality that interweaves the invisible world with the everyday fabric of your life. We are all connected--to each other and to an infinite intelligence that some call spirit, source, universe, or God. To come to the understanding that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, we must reacquaint ourselves with our very essence, or soul. This book invites you to embark on that magical journey and explore the eternity of the universe within each of us. The Invisible Path is the first guide to offer practical tools based in grief counseling, spirit communication, hypnotherapy and regression, indigenous medicine, and energy exercises to help you align your everyday thoughts and actions with your deepest wisdom for a soul-centered life. Drawing on the author's extensive training and experience--including training in shamanism, as well as years of working with other souls seeking similar illumination--this book will help you: Explore the illusions and truths of self, and honor the oneness of dark and light Discover the soul senses and how they connect you to universe and spirit world Explore soul-to-soul communication with loved ones, animals, and spirit guides Strengthen your connection to nature and with divine guidance Deepen your soul presence in self-care and relationships And much more! With the meditations, activities, and experiments in this unique guide, you'll create a bridge to the invisible world and move toward living a more authentic, soul-fulfilling, spiritual life.

Read more less

Motivate your BPD clients with values-based treatment! This 16-week ACT protocol will help you get started today.As you know, clients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and emotion dysregulation often struggle with negative beliefs about themselves-beliefs that can lead to feelings of shame, problems with personal relationships, and dangerous behaviors. And while dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is the standard treatment for BPD, more and more, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has shown promising results when treating BPD clients by helping them focus on their core values and forgiveness.Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder provides a comprehensive program for delivering ACT to clients with BPD. Using the session-by-session, 16-week protocol in this professional guide, you can help clients work through the main driver behind BPD-experiential avoidance-and gain the psychological flexibility needed to balance their emotions and begin healing. You can use this protocol on its own, or in conjunction with treatment.With this guide, you'll learn to target the fundamental causes of BPD for better treatment outcomes and happier, healthier clients.

Read more less

Stress is a part of life-but it doesn't have to take over your life. With this guide, you'll develop the skills needed to help you manage difficult emotions, cultivate self-compassion, adopt positive physical and emotional habits, build resilience, and connect with your true values.Everyone experiences stress. From the moment we wake up in the morning to the moment we finally settle into bed at night, our days are packed with stressful moments-some big and some small-that can quickly add up and feel overwhelming. Unfortunately, you can't escape stress. But you can change the way you relate to it. This important workbook will show you how.Written by internationally renowned ACT experts, The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Stress Reduction offers a powerful ten-week program for stress management drawing on the latest research in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and mindfulness. You'll gain a better understanding of what stress really is, how it affects the brain and body, and what you can do to manage and reduce stress in your life. You'll discover how to build resilience and set smart, effective personal goals that align with your values. And finally, you'll learn to be more aware of how you deal with stress in the moment.Stress is an unavoidable side effect of being human in today's fast-paced world. But with this workbook, you'll build the skills necessary to keep stress in its place and live a more vital life!

Read more less

In this playful and sexually savvy guide, "Dr. Cheryl" Fraser presents enlivening mindfulness exercises, techniques from couples and sex therapy, and the wisdom of Buddhist teachings to help you spark the passion and thrill you've been seeking in your relationship. With this book, couples can break free from the monotony of familiar routines and bring a little nirvana back to the bedroom for a more exciting, loving, and fulfilling connection.The beginning of a relationship is always thrilling-butterflies in the stomach; that sense that someone really gets you; that "love drunk," "walking on air" feeling. But as time goes by, and the tedium of daily life intervenes, you may find yourself too busy, tired, or just unmotivated to devote quality time and attention to the connection you crave. So, how do you uncover the passion and thrill you're longing for, and how can you make it last?Inside Buddha's Bedroom, you'll discover how the essential Buddhist teachings of mindfulness and awakening can be applied to your love life-showing that true passion absolutely is sustainable, if you're willing to shift your perspective. By exploring your deepest desires and expectations, and also learning to see your partner as they really are, without the need for them to change, you'll be able to create a deep and mindfully loving connection for a fabulous relationship And with these spiritually scintillating tips and techniques, you'll have the keys to igniting and sustaining all the thrill, intimacy, and sensuality you seek.

Read more less

When trauma occurs, the logical mind is hijacked and physiology takes over in an effort to protect you. This leaves an imprint-your body wants to ensure that nothing like that will ever happen again. Being reminded of a traumatic event can trigger these automatic responses, leaving you feeling paralyzed or unable to take action. This book will help you understand why and how unresolved trauma can infiltrate all aspects of your life, including your mind and body-even when you're not aware of its influence.With Heal the Body, Heal the Mind as a gentle guide, you'll learn about different types of trauma, find helpful assessments, and discover how traumatic experiences-even childhood and incidental traumas-can affect all aspects of your life: your relationship choices, the roles you play in them, your sense of pleasure and desire, and how you approach your career, spirituality, and interactions with others.Using the combination of mind-body interventions, cognitive behavioral theories, research, case studies, and exercises woven into each chapter of this warm-hearted, relatable book, you'll begin to address the unresolved trauma held in your body and advance your healing process. So, if you're ready to move beyond the trauma that's been holding you back in your relationships, at work, and in your spiritual practice, this guide will show you how.

Read more less

Do you feel insecure, jealous, or anxious in your relationships? Do you have a deep fear that people will abandon you? Have you ever stayed in a toxic situation because you didn''t believe you deserved better? If so, you may have an anxious attachment style-a way of coping with difficult situations or emotions that is often rooted in an adverse childhood experience (ACE), such as neglect or abuse. Fortunately, there are ways to heal this anxious attachment, and even transform it into an earned secure attachment.In this holistic guide, therapist Jennifer Nurick offers a trauma-informed approach grounded in neuroscience, mindfulness, and polyvagal theory to help you feel more secure in who you are; cultivate self-worth, self-trust, and confidence; and approach your life and relationships from a place of calm, clarity, and connectedness. You''ll also learn to release your anxious fear of abandonment, move past reactivity and critical self-talk, and curb the negative impu

Read more less

If you experienced physical or emotional abuse, neglect, or abandonment as a child, you may struggle with unhealthy relationships as an adult. Hurtful attachments with our caregivers in early childhood can lay the foundation for toxic relationships. Those experiences can even affect the way we handle conflict, our feelings toward sex, and our expectations of our partners. But this doesn''t mean you can''t change. This book will help you gain a greater awareness of the trauma bonds that prevent you from getting the love, safety, and security you desire.In Why Can''t I Let You Go, relationship expert Michelle Skeen will help you identify your attachment style, core beliefs, and the harmful behaviour patterns that are keeping you stuck in toxic relationships. You''ll learn proven-effective skills to help you interrupt these unhelpful patterns and attachments in new and old relationships. You''ll also discover what you really value in relationships and go on to develop he

Read more less

Powerful and customizable tools grounded in process-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help you heal emotional pain and live a vital, values-based lifeDo you struggle with overwhelming emotions, such as anger, anxiety, sadness, shame, or self-blame? Emotions—even intensely distressing ones—are a natural part of life. But if your emotions are so intense that they’re hurting your relationships or getting in the way of your happiness, it’s time for a change.Written by a team of mental health experts, Healing Emotional Pain Workbook is a step-by-step guide to understanding your emotions and enhancing your overall well-being. Rather than a one-size-fits-all treatment, this workbook takes a tailored approach to help you treat the root cause of your emotional pain—whether it’s avoidance, internalization, or rumination. As a result, you’ll create a personalized plan to help you overcome intense emotions and live the life you want.With this workbook, you’ll learn to: ·Stop avoiding and start showing up to your life ·Replace self-blame with self-compassion ·Make decisions based on your values, not your emotions ·Break free from repetitive negative thinking ·Increase psychological flexibility ·Accept your thoughts and emotions—rather than trying to outrun them! When our emotions spiral out of control, they can result in chronic mental suffering. This workbook can help you change the way you react to emotions, before they negatively impact your life.

Read more less

Your trauma doesn't need to define you. In The PTSD Survival Guide for Teens, trauma specialist Sheela Raja-along with her teen daughter Jaya Ashrafi-offers evidence-based skills to help you find strength, confidence, and resilience in the aftermath of trauma. If you've experienced trauma or suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the world can seem like a very frightening place. You may even question your own deeply held beliefs, as well as the motives of others. It's important for you to know that you aren't alone, and there isn't anything wrong with you. Many teens have suffered traumatic events, and there are solid skills you can learn that will help you recover. So, how can you begin healing and start building the life you were always meant to lead? In this compassionate guide, you'll find skills based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to help you tackle anxiety and harmful avoidance behaviors; manage negative emotions; cope with flashbacks and nightmares; and develop trusting, healthy relationship -even if your trust in others has been shaken to the core. You'll also learn more about the diagnosis and symptoms of PTSD and understand what kind of help is available to you.Whether you've been diagnosed with PTSD or are simply living with the aftereffects of a traumatic event, you shouldn't have to suffer alone. This book will help you to find strength within so you can move forward.

Read more less

Could jealousy be a positive thing? In this groundbreaking book, Robert L. Leahy-author of the hugely popular self-help guide, The Worry Cure-invites you to gain a greater understanding of your jealous feelings, keep jealousy from hijacking your life, and create healthier relationships.We've all heard tales of the overly jealous spouse or significant other. Maybe we've even been that jealous person, though we may not want to admit it. It's hard to imagine anyone sailing through life without either having feelings of jealousy or being the target of someone's jealousy. But what if jealousy isn't just a neurotic weakness? What if it signals that your relationship matters to you? In short-what if jealousy serves a purpose? In The Jealousy Cure, renowned psychologist Robert L. Leahy takes a more nuanced approach to tackling feelings of jealousy. In this compelling book, you'll uncover the evolutionary origins of jealousy, and how and why it's served to help us as a species. You'll also learn practices based in emotional schema theory, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and mindfulness to help you overcome the shame jealousy can bring, improve communication with your partner, and ultimately make room for jealousy while also making your relationship more meaningful. You will learn that confronting jealousy in your relationship does not have to be a catastrophe, but can redirect you and your partner to build more trust, acceptance, and connection.We often feel jealous because we fear losing the things or people that matter to us the most. With this insightful guide, you'll discover how jealousy can both help and hurt your relationship, and learn proven-effective skills to keep jealousy in its place.

Read more less

Writing to Awaken is an inspirational investigation of the self through expressive writing, guiding you along the path of awakening through radical truth-telling and self-inquiry. With targeted and revelatory questions, you'll be prompted to explore your own personal narrative-to write honestly about your deepest wounds, greatest challenges, hidden gifts, yearnings, and opportunities for growth-in order to discover a deeply authentic understanding of yourself and move toward a more liberated, truthful life.We each have our own story, a personal myth constructed from the content life presents us: we connect dots to shape the narrative, devise plotlines from circumstance, change characters, fashion conflicts, and adjust structure, settings, and themes as our lives unfold. But so often, over time, we come to believe that we are our story, identifying so strongly with the tales we've told ourselves and others that we cling to them for our very existence-even when they don't quite fit. The realization that there's a discrepancy between the narrative you've crafted and your authentic self can be disconcerting at first, but the exploration of that gap is a doorway to personal freedom, and this book will lead you through it.The writing exercises in this guide, one for nearly every week of the year, ask you to tell the whole truth about your experience. In doing so, you'll come to realize that once you engage in this radical truth-telling, expressing yourself with complete honesty, your story changes; and when your story changes, your life is transformed. Rather than sticking with your illusive and tricky "Story of Me," you'll be prompted to go even deeper, piercing your personal myth and illuminating aspects of psyche and spirit that give way to profound moments of understanding and personal healing.This is not a how-to book for writers; it's an invitation on a journey of self-discovery-a guide to facing yourself without flinching, accepting yourself as you are, surrendering to what is, and daring to question and transform what isn't true. With Writing to Awaken, you'll learn how to break free from the trance of mistaken identity and discover your essential, authentic self.

Read more less

All that is known is experiencing, and experiencing is not divided into one part (an inside self) that experiences and another part (an outside object, other, or world) that is experienced. Experiencing is seamless and intimate, made of "knowing" or awareness alone. This intimacy, in which there is no room for selves, objects, or others, is love itself. It lies at the heart of all experience, completely available under all circumstances.

Read more less