Synopses & Reviews
Resilience is a crucial ingredient-perhaps
the crucial ingredient-to a happy, healthy life. More than anything else, it's what determines how high we rise above what threatens to wear us down, from battling an illness, to bolstering a marriage, to carrying on after a national crisis. Everyone needs resilience, and now two expert psychologists share seven proven techniques for enhancing our capacity to weather even the cruelest setbacks.
The science in The Resilience Factor takes an extraordinary leap from the research introduced in the bestselling Learned Optimism a decade ago. Just as hundreds of thousands of people were transformed by "flexible optimism," readers of this book will flourish, thanks to their enhanced ability to overcome obstacles of any kind. Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatté are seasoned resilience coaches and, through practical methods and vivid anecdotes, they prove that resilience is not just an ability that we're born with and need to survive, but a skill that anyone can learn and improve in order to thrive.
Readers will first complete the Resilience Questionnaire to determine their own innate levels of resilience. Then, the system at the heart of The Resilience Factor will teach them to:
• Cast off harsh self-criticisms and negative self-images
• Navigate through the fallout of any kind of crisis
• Cope with grief and anxiety
• Overcome obstacles in relationships, parenting, or on the job
• Achieve greater physical health
• Bolster optimism, take chances, and embrace life
In light of the unprecedented challenges we've recently faced, theres never been a greater need to boost our resilience. Without resorting to feel-good pap or quick-fix clichés, The Resilience Factor is self-help at its best, destined to become a classic in the genre.
From the Hardcover edition.
Synopsis
One might imagine that a clinical psychologist and trauma counselor would be unusually self-aware in times of pain and transition, and from that very expert lens comes this healing journey that will leave the reader with tears of sorrow – and laughter. Dr. Gail Feldman may have seen it all before in her patients, but no amount of prior knowledge could prepare her for the impact of a series of bodily and emotional shocks: a divorce after 35 years of marriage, a subsequent relationship that imploded with upending revelations, and a skiing accident that resulted in broken bones and a head injury. Both deeply personal and universally relatable, Dr. Feldman tells not only her own story, but that of the mythological heroine archetype. Midlife Crash Course stands as an inspirational missive for women who have been stopped, stunned, left, lost, wounded – women who wonder what’s next. The climatic endings and ensuing pursuit for new beginnings that characterize midlife journeys are recounted, tussled with, reveled in – uniquely and unflinchingly honest, Dr. Feldman’s latest book is a reminder that as we all suffer, so shall we recover.
About the Author
'
Dr. Gail Feldman is a clinical psychologist, award-winning author, and dynamic public speaker. She has been featured on radio and television programs across the United States, including Larry King Live, and has given presentations in countries from Puerto Rico to Vietnam on crisis, creativity, and resilience. Dr. Feldman served for twenty-two years as a clinical assistant professor at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, facilitating conflict resolution with families, and providing psychotherapy for trauma survivors. Her previous books have been praised by such best-selling authors as Ann Rule, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Bernie Siegel, and Lois Duncan. Dr. Feldman was a contributing writer for Current Health Magazine for several years, has authored numerous professional articles, and produced a “Children’s Coping” series of audio tapes to address moments of stress particular to toddlers and young children.'