This book presents scientifically-supported guidance for people who want to replace stress and painful emotions with a sense of well-being and contentment. With empathy and unfailing good humor, Dr. Pamela Hays outlines a four-step process that has proven successful in her professional clinical psychology practice as well as in her own life. She invites readers to step onto the path of well-being by recognizing their stressors, avoiding negative thought-traps, re-examining their thinking, and taking action wherever possible, using environmental change, better communication skills, social support, and self-care. Each chapter demonstrates how taking small, manageable steps adds up, over time, to real and permanent change. Packed with tips and tools for self-reflection, this book shows readers how to build well-being from the ground up.
This was a nice, action oriented, book about improving your life through small changes. Easy to read since you just had to do one chapter a week and work on the new tip for the week!
Many great tips! She had a lot of worksheets and exercises in her toolbox. She helps you determine your stressors and tap into your strengths. She explains and gives examples of thinking traps people can get into and how to shift your focus to change your thoughts. She recommends a 'small step' at the end of each chapter for focusing on putting into practice what the chapter is about. even thought it was published by the APA, it's in a very readable format for the layperson and isn't a heavily scholarly book with advanced information. It's very practical and readable. I want to go through it again and take notes!