A Year to Change Your Mind: Ideas from the Therapy Room to Help You Live Better

Description

Psychology underpins everything we do, determining the decisions we make, the relationships we build, the roles we play and the places we live, and our behaviour is further influenced by the changing seasons, encouraging many of us to fall into unhelpful patterns again and again each year. In A YEAR TO CHANGE YOUR MIND, accredited practising psychologist Dr Lucy Maddox explains how psychological processes thread through our lives, pinpointing those issues most frequently encountered in each month, and shows us how by reflecting upon past experiences, both joyful and painful, we can learn to live a more thoughtful, positive life that better prepares us for the future. From the tendency to lack motivation in January and to experience red-hot anger in the heat of August, to the weight of expectation associated with that back-to-school feeling in September and the pressure to enjoy the December holiday season, we're shown recognisable features of behaviour over the course of the year. In sharing with us the most useful psychology ideas the author has learned in her 15 years as a clinical psychologist - ones she uses in her own life, and returns to time and time again with people who have come to see her for therapy - she provides plenty to think about that we too can put into practice to improve our own lives.

Dr Lucy Maddox is a consultant clinical psychologist with many years' experience of working in mental health, mostly in NHS and charity settings. She is an experienced lecturer, writer and podcaster, and has written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and Prospect magazine.

Twelve months' worth of smart self-help from someone you'd want on your team in a crisis . . . genuinely useful, charming, comforting -- Anouchka Grose * Guardian * It would be easy to be automatically dismissive about this sort of self-help book, but Dr Maddox doesn't sugar-coat all her pills . . . If psychology books are your thing, then this one comes in a warm, assuring tone. -- Martin Chilton * Independent * Brimming with compassion and wisdom, this accessible and relatable guide is not about quick fixes. Clinical psychologist Maddox structures it over the course of a year and the challenges we may face with each month, bringing her insight to bear. * Sunday Post Dundee * Compelling, warm and authoritative, this book is a gentle nudge towards improving your mental health and your life, guided by the seasons. A considered and compassionate antidote to those quick fixes that just don't stick. -- Viv Groskop * Viv Groskop * A compassionate book filled with useful tips to help us through life -- Claudia Hammond * Claudia Hammond * Compassionate and easy to read, this book can lead us to better ways of living. It is filled with unpretentious wisdom. -- Henry Mance * Henry Mance * This is a fantastic book crammed full of practical - and evidence-based - tips to shift your thinking. Lucy Maddox does a brilliant job of taking all the cutting-edge literature on our brains and how we think and converting it into easy-to-follow suggestions to help improve your mental health. -- Sonia Sodha * Sonia Sodha * The advice in this genuinely useful read is relevant all year round. -- Apple Books Reviewer * Apple Books *