Boosting Your Mental Wellbeing: 10 minute steps for stressed healthcare professionals using CBT and mindfulness Paperback – 20 Mar. 2023

As a specialist in this field I found this book refreshingly clear and easy to read, and jam-packed with great evidence based tips and tools to make your life a bit less stressfulThere’s so much packed in, but in a way that can be easily digested, reused, worked through, dipped in and out of in simple 10 minute chunks…I wish I’d had this book years ago to help me with my own well-being as a doctor.

I love the way this book is structured which makes it easy to read and digest.So many helpful tools to help your mind/thoughts and attitude move your life forward in a really positive direction. Would highly recommend it.

I have found this book incredibly helpful for both myself and the clients that I see. The information is clearly presented and easy to digest with lots of anecdotes, pictures and reflective points along the way. Perfect to dip into as a busy health care professional. I can't recommend it enough!

Really liked this book. Very useful and easy to follow and dip in and pou of. Lots of useful exercises and ideas to follow. This is such a useful tool for any healthcare worker, particularly at the moment when there is a large amount of stress and a shortage of staff.

I was recommended this book by a healthcare colleague who had found it life changing in helping her to manage her stressful NHS role. As a CBT and ACT therapist I was curious to see what the authors had to contribute to the area of workplace stress, as it has been an increasing issue for many of my clients and colleagues. What I particularly liked about the book was the easy to understand GROWTH model, which was explained in bite-sized pieces making it simple to apply to the individual's particular situation and priorities.The authors have comprehensively included well researched, tried and tested strategies that have been proven to work, in a format that is easy to follow with relatable vignettes to bring the content to life. I have found the book easy to use both personally and as a therapist with my clients from all walks of life. It helps you to reflect and evaluate what is important to you and how to work towards living the life you would like amidst all the busyness and challenges. I would recommend it to both healthcare professionals and anyone finding their work stressful or struggling with the demands of modern living - a real treasure trove of a book.

The NHS is currently under a lot of pressure and staff are feeling the strain. The reality of working in the NHS (particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic) was also traumatic for many professionals. While systems need to change, there are things we can all do to manage our stress and help take the edge off. This is an excellent book which includes some very useful and proven techniques from a variety of psychological approaches including traditional Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and third wave approaches (more rooted in mindfulness and acceptance) such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectial Behavioural Therapy and Compassion Focused Therapy. The latter approaches may be particularly more useful than traditional CBT to develop psychological flexibility, cultivate self-compassion and help manage difficult emotions in the context of working in a highly stressful environment. The book has some useful skills from these different therapeutic models and something for everyone to take away and practice. There is also a section specifically covering some very common reactions to difficult or traumatic events. The book is well structured and easy to follow for those who are pressed for time.By James Pittman - Trainee Clinical Psychologist

A user friendly guide book with simple exercises to help healthcare professionals maintain their mental wellbeing, identify opportunities for improvement and take positive action. The authors experience permeates through their writing with a gentle balance of cases, ideas and academic knowledge.

If the conundrum is "How do GPs learn to look after themselves?" then what is the answer?As a full-time NHS GP Partner for over 25yrs, I still feel very invested in this question.Reading the book has given me fresh insight into how to protect my emotional well-being, faced with the constant pressure of full-time clinical practice in a busy urban setting.The first problem is, how does one identify, define or quantify the pressure we face? It is insidious yet glacial; amorphous yet cumulative. But the strange truth is that even as highly-trained professionals, the very skills we use every day with patients, to provide incisive and authoritative care, empathy and compassion, are not so easily applied to ourselves.So my main surprise takeaway lessons are that a little bit of practice stepping back to re-frame the problem - engaging a 'wise mind' - enables me to give of my best to patients whilst also caring better for myself as a GP (and that self-compassion really is all that it is cracked up to be); and that taking micro-steps in a positive direction may be all that is required to achieve meaningful change over time.Change may indeed be needed in personal, organisational and political spheres, and in my own career NHS pressures have never felt greater than they do now. But I would urge all front-line GPs to do yourself a big favour and read this book: strip back some of your old habits and thought processes, adopt some simple new techniques, and learn to care for yourself: it is important and actually not that difficult. And nobody is going to offer to do this for you!