About the Book
Learn how to bounce back from setbacks, stress and challenging times
Resilience is the ability to cope with and recover from difficult situations. It includes our capacity to make the best of things, deal with stress and rise to the occasion. We all have this ability, though not always as much as we'd like. This engaging, practical book draws together scientific understanding, real life examples and proven methods in describing how you can develop seven essential skills that help your resilience grow.
Author Chris Johnstone experienced burnout and depression when working as a junior doctor, crisis becoming a turning point when he had a near fatal car crash. His journey of recovery led him to make the study, practice and teaching of resilience his central life work.
This self-help guide includes:
- A toolkit of resources for emotional first aid
- Techniques for storyboarding your life and seeing the positive pathways you can take
- Practical strategies and insights for dealing with tough times
- Skills for thinking flexibly and creative problem-solving
- A science-based system that helps the gains you make 'stick'
If you're feeling challenged in your personal life, workplace or relationships, Seven Ways to Build Resilienc offers you proven pathways to protect your wellbeing. If you have hopes or ambitions with inevitable hurdles in the way, the resilience tools described here can help you survive the bumps and keep to your path.
About the Author :
Dr Chris Johnstone is one of the UK's leading resilience trainers, with more than three decades' experience teaching in this field. He graduated in medicine with distinction in 1986, after a first degree specialising in psychology. Experiencing burnout and depression as a junior hospital doctor, he became a leading figure in the campaign to improve working conditions. He trained as a GP before moving into the mental-health field, where for many years he ran groups teaching resilience skills. Influenced much by positive psychology, he trained with Martin Seligman and other leading practitioners in 2005. Since then he has pioneered the role of resilience training in mental-health promotion, coaching practice and the workplace. His previous book Active Hope (co-authored with Joanna Macy) has been published in more than eight languages, his video-based online course Personal Resilience in an Hour has participants from more than 55 countries. He lives in the north of Scotland, where he teaches online at CollegeofWellbeing.com.
Review :
'Practical and clear with strategies that work, this is, by far, the best book I've read on resilience' - Miriam Akhtar, Author of Positive Psychology for Overcoming Depression
'This timely and important book is packed with brilliant, practical ideas to help us respond constructively to whatever life throws at us. Recommended' - Dr Mark Williamson, director of Action for Happiness
'After working through the programme described in this book, I had an emergency admission to hospital. Being encouraged to see challenging situations as opportunities to practice using resilience tools, I asked myself 'what would a story of resilience look like here?' and applied my resilience toolkit. Doing that transformed a potentially horrendous situation. These tools really work. Thank you' - Heather Thompson, personal development coach, www.positivelycoaching.co.uk
'Full of useful wisdom that helps us cope with the challenges of life, this highly readable book is both a resource for self-care and guide for practitioners' - Dr Alan Kellas, psychiatrist and specialist in nature-based mental health care
'If you want to strengthen your unique tapestry of personal resilience, this inspiring and far-reaching book weaves in much needed threads' - David Peters, professor emeritus, The Centre for Resilience, University of Westminster
'If you are dealing with a difficult situation in a personal or professional capacity, then this book provides a well-researched and practical step-by-step guide to finding a new positive direction. Can't recommend it highly enough!' - Deirdre Murray, executive coach, trainer and author, PeopleResources.ie
'Chris Johnstone is a writer whose voice is inviting, engaging and to the point' - Joanna Macy, co-author of Active Hope and Coming Back to Life
'Chris Johnstone is a gifted trainer who manages to turn complex ideas into clear and practical guiding wisdom. I'm so pleased he has written such a useful and clear-sighted toolkit for developing resilience which is much needed at such a tumultuous time in society' - Nicola Banning, editor of BACP Workplace
'I am familiar with the practical value of Dr Johnstone's work, having successfully used his tools many times with clients of differing backgrounds and situations, from executives in highly complex organisations to the long-term unemployed. There is a wealth of material here for anyone wanting help to nurture their own resilience. The book will also be an extremely useful resource for educators, coaches, business owners, or anyone wanting to support resilience in other people' - Lisa Rossetti, academic researcher, executive coach and community writing practitioner
'I find Chris Johnstone's approach to resilience both inspiring & easy to implement. He offers useful tools & practices that get results. A much needed approach in today's world' - Lisbet Michelsen, coach-therapist, Somerset
'Chris Johnstone has assembled a treasure trove of practices, background science and real life examples of how to build resilience. I see particular relevance for anyone working to help make not only their own lives, but also their community, more resilient' - Kathy Sipple, co-author of Empower Your Life and other books about sustainable living, kathysipple.com
'Chris Johnstone's sparkling insight, playful wisdom and clarity of understanding never fails to inspire and energise' - Sarah Pugh, educator for resilience and sustainability, www.shiftbristol.org.uk
Sometimes I wonder if the troubles of our times will keep growing faster than our capacity to handle them, but Chris's book offers us all the chance of a big step-up in our resilience . . . Being a self-help writer myself, I'm fussy about style, and I find Chris's writing voice excellent. He's readable, and uses great stories and simple analogies, but he's also really well-informed. This book is exceptionally well researched and referenced . . . Chris has a great way of sharing his own struggles and finding vivid case histories to bring his ideas alive, and he repeatedly draws the reader into action with questions, self-review checklists, and easy ways to set yourself a goal
