Other books that might interest you

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  Narrative Therapy - Rewriting...

  Vivian Westlake

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  Narrative therapy is a therapeutic approach that views individuals as the authors of their own stories. This perspective emphasizes that people are not defined by their problems, but rather by the way they relate to and interpret their experiences. The central premise of narrative therapy is that we can rewrite our stories, even the ones shaped by challenges, in ways that empower us to lead fulfilling lives. 
  In narrative therapy, the idea of the "story" is both a literal and symbolic concept. We all live our lives through the stories we tell ourselves and others. These stories shape our sense of identity, how we make sense of our past, and how we envision our future. However, many people live with dominant narratives that are limiting, shaped by external pressures like family expectations, societal norms, or personal traumas. These dominant narratives often serve to reinforce negative beliefs about oneself, leading to feelings of helplessness or disempowerment. 
  The approach of narrative therapy seeks to externalize the problem—viewing the problem as separate from the person. This allows clients to step back and reflect on their issues from a more objective standpoint. For example, someone struggling with anxiety may learn to see their anxiety as a separate entity rather than an intrinsic part of their identity. By doing so, the person can begin to engage with the problem in a healthier, more manageable way.

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  The IFS Reparenting Workbook -...

  LCMHC Martina Williams, LICSW...

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  If you experienced trauma or neglect as a child, you may struggle with depression, anxiety, loneliness, and low self-esteem in adulthood. You are not alone. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) affect millions of people, and have led to many of the greatest unaddressed public health problems facing our world today. If you struggle with shame or lack of confidence, or if you have difficulty creating or sustaining healthy relationships with others, take heart. There are techniques you can learn to heal the pain of your past and take charge of your future. This workbook will help you get started. 
   
  Grounded in the evidence-based approach of internal family systems therapy (IFS), this workbook provides a supportive, effective framework for continued healing. By "reparenting" the parts of yourself that were affected by childhood trauma, you'll learn to build unwavering self-compassion, overcome common relationship and communication challenges, and form healthy and lasting connections. You'll also find soothing meditations, experiential exercises, and other skills to help you regulate your nervous system, so you can break free from the survival mode you've been stuck in for years. Finally, you'll be inspired by real-life stories from other people who have been through similar experiences, and who've successfully overcome their trauma.

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  Let the Wildflowers Grow - One...

  Brigitte M. Becker

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  Let the Wildflowers Grow: One Mother's Journey through Adoption, Attachment and Borderline Personality Disorder is a beautiful story of mother-daughter love that turns to anguish in the challenges of mental health. It follows the poignant narrative of Brigitte Becker, who along with her husband and son, open their heart and home to a bright, beautiful ten-year-old from Ukraine named Anna, embarking together on a journey of adjusting this cherished young girl to the United States. 
  As mother and daughter bond in shared adventures, the family grows closer. However, signs of attachment and borderline personality disorders emerge in Anna, thrusting Brigitte, like any mother in this situation, into uncharted territory.  
  As Anna grapples with the challenge of regulating her emotions amidst the escalating battle with mental illness, nonetheless she is steadfast in her resolve to assert herself as an independent human being. Meanwhile, Brigitte seeks out every medical means of help possible. Driven by a fear of abandonment, Anna faces unstable emotional states that erupt in risky behavior. 
  In the quiet moments of reflection, as she gazes out at the wildflowers dancing in the breeze, Brigitte’s heart aches with the weight of her responses and decisions. But amidst the sadness, there’s determination, a resolve to let things happen naturally, that they will work out over time. Will they? Do they? 
  This riveting, reads-like-a-novel memoir, is for you if you are a parent of a child with mental illness and are looking for resources, support, and understanding of the unique challenges for adoptees and their families. Through her candid yet heart-wrenching writing, Brigitte gives you a real-life look into a mother’s path towards happiness and healing—as her daughter looks ahead, striving for independence amidst an uncertain future.

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  Good Friends - Bonds That Change...

  Priya Vulchi

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  From the co-author of Tell Me Who You Are and a TED speaker, a book that reveals the importance of friendship as a tool of social justice. Friendship is good for your health. Studies show that loneliness is as deadly as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. Still, we are not taught how to be good friends to one another. We cancel plans, lose touch, blame technology, and neglect our non-romantic loved ones. In Good Friends, author Priya Vulchi explores friendships across history, continents, and identities to show how friendship can open up new levels of joy and community in your life. What is the meaning of friendship, these miraculous bonds with once-strangers? How do you begin friendships? End them? Keep them vibrant? For answers, Vulchi weaves through Western classical thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero, and uncovers the private moments between good friends like James Baldwin, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Yuri Kochiyama, Toni Morrison, and June Jordan. Friendship, she shows, has ripple effects beyond just any two friends; it awakens solidarity and changes in the world.  Through her inspiring and impassioned prose, Vulchi entirely reimagines our platonic ties, revealing that friendship, in the right hands, is a brilliant act of love and resistance. Intimate and engaging, Good Friends offers a resounding cry that friendship is not only vital for our own individual well-being, but for humanity itself. It invites you to be inspired not just by what people do but how people love. It invites you to look at your friends differently and enter a dazzlingly fresh philosophy of human connection.

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  Spetsnaz - A History of the...

  Tor Bukkvoll

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  In January 1951, Lieutenant Evgeniy Borisov was sent to the headquarters of the Soviet 5th Army in Spassk-Dalnii, a small city in the Russian Far East. Borisov was there on a secret mission. Together with his superior, Major Rusinov, his job was to establish the 91st Special Forces Company. The 91st was to be one of forty-six similar units spread out across the Soviet Union. The new forces were called "spetsnaz"—short for spetsnialnoe naznachenie, which translates to "special purpose." 
   
   
   
  In Spetsnaz, Tor Bukkvoll presents the first in-depth history of the Soviet, and, later, Russian special operations forces from their establishment until today. He focuses on three broad topics: Soviet and later Russian thinking on the use of special operations forces; the actual process of constructing these forces and how this was facilitated or hampered by other agencies of the Soviet and Russian states; and the use of these forces in combat. Bukkvoll uses a variety of sources, but the most important are the recollections of former spetsnaz soldiers and officers themselves, which allow Bukkvoll to present the history of these forces as the men of spetsnaz see and have seen it. Bukkvoll also draws upon observations and judgments from other parts of the Soviet and Russian militaries, from a number of KGB sources, and from independent Russian experts and journalists.

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  Prehistoric Warfare: The History...

  Editors Charles River

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  Most scientists believe the evolution of humans has a history nearly as long as life itself. Anatomically modern humans and all other life that has existed on the planet first came about from the single-celled microorganisms that emerged approximately 4 billion years ago. Through the processes of mutation and natural selection, all forms of life developed, and this continuous lineage of life makes it difficult to say precisely when one species completely separates from another. In other words, scientists still debate when a human became a human rather than the ancestor species that came before.  
  	Among paleontologists, the question of human propensity for warfare in prehistoric eons has persisted. Primitive conflict that in time grew into a modern military phenomenon has become an increasing avenue of study. Scientists seek to ascertain whether the distant ancestral line of humans is genetically disposed toward the act of war, or whether social and geographical development have created a circumstantial environment for large-scale societal collisions.  
  	Depictions of humans pierced with arrows began to appear in the Aurignacian-Périgordian eras (30,000 years ago), and in the early Magdalenian era (17,000 years ago). A work of Mesolithic art (20,000 to 10,000 years ago) shows an explicit battle between groups of archers, and in Valencia, a group of three archers are seen surrounded by four of the similarly armed enemy in the Cova del Roure la Vella in Castellón. In the Ares del Maestrat in Alcañiz of Aragon, another work depicts warriors fleeing a group of eight archers, while a similar work at Val del Charco del Agua in Aragon shows seven archers with plumed headgear. Other examples show warriors in lines and columns with a “distinctly garbed leader at the front.” In a sense, it’s entirely reasonable to believe that the earliest people were violent and engaged in warfare the same way people did throughout more recent eras. 

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