A little collection of free resources to help you grow from adversity.
There is no bribe-to-subscribe (refreshing huh) but if you want to know when I release new resources, clog articles, videos and workshop announcements you can sign up to my email list (I send stuff once or twice a month max).
There’s also a few book recommendations at the bottom of the page.
Feel free to share the resources with others you think might find them useful.
QUICK CONFIDENCE
Real confidence is a marathon, not a sprint. But sometimes you just need to get a quick boost so you can stuff done and get through a difficult moment.
In this guide, I take you through three simple questions to help you create perfect-fit confidence hacks for every occasion (while building self-awareness), plus share 40 ideas of my own (including quality suggestions like kicking your wheely bin).
Download it here: Quick Confidence
THE LITTLE BOOK OF POWER
Tough times knock us around a lot when it comes to our connection to personal power. Combined with a society-wide lack of education about power and how to use it well, means a lot of us struggle do develop a good relationship with our own power.
In this nifty guide, I’ve summarised some fabulously complex concepts about power to help you build your power literacy, with tips about how to build more, own what you already have, and why power gets us in so much trouble!
Download it here: The Little Book of Power
SUPPORTING SUCCESS
Supportive relationships are essential when you’re on a mission. But intentionally supportive relationships are even better.
This guide is all about how to set up and run a small, intentional peer support group for people trying to make meaningful progress towards their goals.
I’ve whittled down my 15+ years facilitation experience to explain the hard-love boundaries essential to run a successful and long-lasting group, plus some great ideas of what to do when you get together.
Download it here: Supporting Success
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO FINDING THE RIGHT THERAPIST
Shopping around for a therapist, when you really need one, is hard. Where do you start, what do you look for, how do you know who’s right for you?
To help you think through these questions and more I’ve created this comprehensive guide and checklist for therapist hunting.
Download it here: Ultimate Guide to Finding the Right Therapist or read it on The Clog.
EARTH SPOT GUIDED MEDITATION
This meditation exercise (just under six minutes) is adapted from Dr Arnold Mindell’s book Process Mind and appears here with his permission. Use it to connect with a deeper more sentient experience of yourself, and find wisdom to help with everyday issues that are troubling you. Just get comfy and hit play (and have paper and pen nearby).
Earth Spot Guided Meditation
BOOKS I RECOMMEND
I read a lot of self-help and clinical practice books. Every so often in The
Here are a few I love and recommend:
Specifically for people who’ve experienced complex trauma…
Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker – there aren’t many great books for people who’ve experienced complex trauma, most are targeted at clinicians, but not this one. Written by an experienced specialist with his own lived experience, this is a fantastic book for clients.
About spiritual approaches to trauma healing…
Healing the Soul Wound by Eduardo Duran – weaving mainstream psychology and approaches from the First Peoples of North America
Trauma and the Soul by Donald Kalsched – a neo-Jungian approach to understanding trauma
https://www.donaldkalsched.com/
About transgenerational trauma…
Trauma Trails, Recreating Song Lines by Judy Atkinson – intergenerational healing particularly in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
http://www.spinifexpress.com.au
It Didn’t Start with You by Mark Wolynn
About psychodynamic approaches to trauma…
The Inner World of Trauma: Archetypal Defenses of the Inner Spirit by Donald Kalsched
https://www.donaldkalsched.com/
Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors by Janina Fisher – a bit somatic and a bit psychodynamic and explores the concept of Structural Dissociation
About somatic (body-based) trauma approaches…
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk – a foundational text in somatic trauma theory
http://www.besselvanderkolk.net
In an Unspoken Voice by Peter Levine – Peter has heaps of great books published, this one is a good place to start. His book Trauma and Memory is really helpful for those confused by disjointed or absent explicit and/or chronological trauma memories. He also has Trauma Healing which is a DIY program with CD for reconnecting with your body.
The Body Remembers by Babette Rothschild
http://www.somatictraumatherapy.com
Trauma and the Body by Pat Ogden
About the impact of childhood trauma on adult health…
Scared Sick: The Impact of Childhood Trauma on Adult Disease by Robin Karr-Morse and Meredith Wiley
Google the Adverse Childhood Experiences research by Vincent Felitti
About liberation psychologies…
Writings for a Liberation Psychology by Ignacio Martin-Baro – the main developer of the LP concept that looks at the impact of social marginality on individual wellbeing
Toward Psychologies of Liberation by Mary Watkins
About relationships…
The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work by John Gottman – an immaculately researched book that’s incredibly useful for all relationships (married or not)
https://www.gottman.com/new-seven-principles-marriage/
The Passionate Marriage by David Schnarch, where marriage therapy and sex therapy collide
http://passionatemarriage.com/
More than Two by Franklin Veaux and Eve
The Ethical Slut by Janet Hardy and Dossie Easton – another great guide to polyamory and consensual non-monogamy
About physical health…
Health in Sickness, Sickness in Health by Dr Pierre Morin – an excellent book that challenges the mainstream perspective on health
http://www.creativehealing.org/
About suicide…
Thinking About Suicide by David Webb – I highly recommend this one
http://thinkingaboutsuicide.org/
About contemplation and spirituality…
Anything by Thomas Merton
The Immortal Diamond by Richard Rohr
No Boundary by Ken Wilbur
Jesus for the non-religious by John Shelby Spong
Miscellaneous…
Anything by Brene Brown. She has written a range of books based on her fantastic grounded-theory research into “
Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain by Dan Siegal – essential reading for parents of teenagers (watch this long but excellent youtube video to get a taste).
P.S. None of these
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