Mental Health Stress

From elementary schools to psychotherapy offices, mindfulness meditation is an increasingly mainstream practice. At the same time, trauma remains a fact of life. Drawing on a decade of research and clinical experience, psychotherapist and educator David Treleaven shows that mindfulness meditation - practiced without an awareness of trauma - can exacerbate symptoms of traumatic stress. This raises a crucial question: How can we minimize the potential dangers of mindfulness for survivors while leveraging its powerful benefits?

Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent more than three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust.

Explaining that an impaired capacity for connection to self and to others underlies most psychological and many physiological problems, clinicians Laurence Heller, PhD, and Aline LaPierre, PsyD, introduce the NeuroAffective Relational Model™ (NARM), a unified approach to developmental, attachment, and shock trauma that emphasizes working in the present moment. NARM is a somatically based psychotherapy that helps bring into awareness the parts of self that are disorganized and dysfunctional.

We are all touched at some point by the dark emotions of grief, fear, or despair. In an age of global threat, these emotions have become widespread and overwhelming. While conventional wisdom warns us of the harmful effects of "negative" emotions, this revolutionary book offers a more hopeful view: there is a redemptive power in our worst feelings. Seasoned psychotherapist Miriam Greenspan argues that it's the avoidance and denial of the dark emotions that results in the escalating psychological disorders of our time.

Meditation offers, in addition to its many other benefits, a method for achieving previously inconceivable levels of concentration. Author B. Alan Wallace has nearly 30 years' practice in attention-enhancing meditation, including a retreat he performed under the guidance of the Dalai Lama. An active participant in the much-publicized dialogues between Buddhists and scientists, Alan is uniquely qualified to speak intelligently to both camps, and The Attention Revolution is the definitive presentation of his knowledge.

The simple truth is that PTSD can be extremely debilitating - not just for the person who has experienced trauma firsthand, but for their partners, as well. And while there are many books written for those suffering from PTSD, there are few written for the people who love them. In Loving Someone with PTSD, renowned trauma expert Aphrodite Matsakis presents concrete skills and strategies for the partners of those with PTSD.

Burnout. Many women in America have experienced it. What’s expected of women and what it’s really like to be a woman in today’s world are two very different things - and women exhaust themselves trying to close the gap between them. Sisters Emily Nagoski, PhD, and Amelia Nagoski, DMA, are here to help end the cycle of feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Instead of asking us to ignore the very real obstacles and societal pressures that stand between women and well-being, they explain with compassion and optimism what we’re up against - and teach us how to fight back.

We've all tried to think our way out of bad habits and unhealthy thought patterns, only to find ourselves stuck with an out-of-control mind and off-track daily life. Pastor and New York Times best-selling author Craig Groeschel understands deeply this daily battle against self-doubt and negative thinking, and in this powerful new book, he reveals the strategies he's discovered to change your mind and your life for the long-term.

Overwhelmed by stress? Struggling with low energy or mental fog? What if the key to clarity, balance, and peak performance was something you already do 25,000 times a day—but have never been taught to harness as a holistic healing tool? In The Power of Conscious Breathing, breath science researcher Sowmiya Sree blends ancient yogic wisdom with cutting-edge neuroscience to reveal how breathing—a foundational practice in both Eastern and Western wellness traditions when done with awareness—can transform your mind, body, and performance. At the heart of this book is Maya’s compelling ...

There's no other book like this. Longtime running writer Scott Douglas marshals expert advice (including his own, cultivated from more than 100,000 miles of personal experience), and a growing body of scientific research to show how running can make us happier. How? Everyone knows that running builds stronger muscles and a healthier heart; science now shows it also helps develop a healthier brain. For those struggling with depression and anxiety, a consistent running routine can enhance the mental-health benefits of talk therapy, antidepressants, and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Are you a man trying to keep it together while feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, or emotionally stuck? You're not alone. More men than ever are silently struggling with stress, anxiety, emotional fatigue, and the pressure to "stay strong." But it doesn’t have to be this way. Men’s Mental Health & Self-Care Handbook is your practical, stigma-free guide to reclaiming your mental and emotional well-being - without therapy jargon, fluff, or shame. This book is for real men navigating real challenges: work stress, emotional suppression, relationship struggles, burnout, and the outdated belief ...

Doing small things to prioritize your own well-being is essential, especially for women, who are often the caretakers of everyone else in their lives. Self-Care Activities for Women encourages you to spend time on you, with a wide variety of ways you can relax, reset, and find a little joy.

Are you ready to heal from past traumas, manage PTSD, and break free from negative thinking? Your Somatic Therapy Toolbox is a transformative guide designed to help adults of all ages harness the power of somatic therapy to promote emotional and physical healing. This book is for everyone, regardless of your past experiences or current struggles. This workbook is not just a theoretical guide. It combines mindfulness, body-based practices, and self-compassion to take you on a practical journey to reconnect with your body and mind. It offers tools that you can use in your daily life to ...

In Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Jonathan Shay used the story of the Iliad as a prism through which to examine how ancient and modern wars have battered the psychology of the men who fight. Now he turns his attention to the Odyssey, the story of a soldier's homecoming, to illuminate the real problems faced by combat veterans reentering civilian society. The Odyssey, Shay argues, offers explicit portrayals of behavior common among returning soldiers in our own culture: danger-seeking, womanizing, explosive violence, drug abuse, visitation by the dead, obsession, vagrancy and homelessness.

From Marine sniper Jake Wood comes a riveting memoir of leading over 100,000 veterans to a life of renewed service, volunteering to battle, hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, pandemics, and civil wars, and inspiring onlookers as their unique military training saved lives and rebuilt our country.

Jeff Krasno, the founder and CEO of the global wellness platform Commune Media, thought he was pretty healthy. Though he suffered from brain fog, chronic fatigue, and bouts of insomnia, those symptoms seemed utterly normal in today’s society. When he learned he had diabetes, his first thought was, How can that be? I run a wellness company! His diagnosis propelled him to consult every expert at his disposal and engage in intensive “me-search” in order to turn his health around. On this journey, he began to form a larger picture of what’s wrong with our health in the modern world.

As a social worker, jail chaplain, and justice advocate, Bethany Dearborn Hiser pushed herself to the brink of burnout - and then kept going. Stress, despair, and compassion fatigue overwhelmed her ability to function. She was called to serve the abused, addicted, and homeless people in her community. Yet she was emotionally and spiritually exhausted. Something needed to change. Searching for answers, Hiser learned that trauma affects everyone who is exposed to it - not only those experiencing firsthand violence, homelessness, and addiction, but also those who are trying to help.

Overthinking is a challenge faced by many people globally which make them unhappy. It is something that you need to stop to be happy again. You need the techniques that will help you to stop overthinking and be in the present. This book will help you out as it is written by someone who once found himself in that state but today is free from the mental illness. On the other hand, stress is what we find ourselves in as we make efforts to meet demands. If you do not manage it well, you may find yourself in a worse state. A guide on how it can be managed is provided in this great book. Among ...

Still, Together is an exploration of the ways we feel detachment from our lives, goals and friendships, and how we can begin to reclaim ourselves through human connection. Technology has enabled us to be more connected than ever before, but in many ways, it has come at the cost of our sense of humanity. The reality is that we live in a world where innovation promises to keep us more up-to-date and connected but leaves us feeling more disconnected than ever before.

Moms can feel as if they are sprinting through life, crashing onto the pillow at day's end only to start again the next morning. In Breathe, Mama, Breathe, psychotherapist Shonda Moralis outlines the benefits of daily meditation and shows moms how to do it - in just five minutes.