Contents
- 1. Ekaterina Sigitova «The Perfect Storm»
- 2. Edith Eva Eger “Choice. On the freedom and inner strength of man»
- 3. Ekaterina Oksanen “On the nerves. How to stop worrying and start living
- 4. Ryan Holiday and Steven Hanselman “Stoicism for every day. 366 Reflections on Wisdom, Will and the Art of Living»
- 5. Christine Neff, Christopher Germer “How to survive the difficult moments of life. Healing self-compassion»
- 6. Nikita Nepryakhin «I manipulate you: Methods of counteracting hidden influence»
- 7. Gina Biegel Coping with stress. Workbook for teenagers
Courage, resilience, common sense, empathy for oneself and loved ones — these qualities are in demand today more than ever. We have collected several books of recent years that help you understand yourself and give support.
1. Ekaterina Sigitova «The Perfect Storm»
A clear story about what crises are and how we experience them, supplemented by a self-help program in the form of special tests and tasks at the end of each chapter. An excellent navigator in a situation of chaos and uncertainty from psychotherapist Ekaterina Sigitova.
“We are standing at the crossroads, like Ilya Muromets, in front of us is a stone with an inscription and four roads. One to the right, one to the left and two straight ahead. There is a way to «solve the problem», there is «to change your attitude», there is «to accept» and there is «to remain unhappy». It is important to understand that if you made a choice from the first three, went down one of these roads and practiced this way, then you will no longer be unhappy. (Alpina Publisher, 2020)
2. Edith Eva Eger “Choice. On the freedom and inner strength of man»
sincere, poignant Edith Eva Eger, PhD, about her youthful experience of living in a concentration camp and being freed from the excruciating fears and guilt of a survivor. Eger speculates that “healing is not a matter of recovery, it is a matter of gaining”, there is no hierarchy of suffering (“There is nothing that makes my pain stronger or weaker than yours”), and the right formula of self-acceptance leading to healing is “Only I can do what I do and how I do it.”
“Where does power reside? Is it enough to find inner strength, inner truth, or does true confidence come only after we take action on the outside? I sincerely believe that the most important thing is what happens inside of us. I also believe that it is necessary to live in harmony with our values and ideals — our morality. I believe it’s important to defend what’s right and stand up to what’s unfair and inhuman. And I believe in choice. Freedom lies in examining the choices available to us and in examining the consequences of those choices.” (Mann, Ivanov & Ferber, 2022)
3. Ekaterina Oksanen “On the nerves. How to stop worrying and start living
Anxiety, low self-esteem, burnout, depression, stress, delayed life syndrome — these and similar difficulties not only prevent us from living a good life, but often lead to serious disorders in the body. Ekaterina Oksanen, a practicing psychologist and lecturer at the educational project «Introvert’s Right Hemisphere», suggests how to get out of the swamp into which we drive ourselves, relying on our own strengths.
“Anger is energy. Sometimes only she can help break the shackles and unnecessary ties, defend your interests, take risks or overcome some obstacles. Anger is necessary for a person in order to become himself, to give up the unnecessary, alien and superfluous. (Peter, 2022)
4. Ryan Holiday and Steven Hanselman “Stoicism for every day. 366 Reflections on Wisdom, Will and the Art of Living»
Lucius Annei Seneca, Epictetus, Emperor Marcus Aurelius… The ancient Stoics strove for moderation, courage, firmness and wisdom. They believed that calmness and balance are the result of our choices and our judgments, and not the world around us. The authors collected the works of the great Stoic philosophers in one book, choosing a deep thought for each day of the year. They analyzed each of the wise sayings and supplemented them with stories and exercises.
“Of existing things, some are in our power, others are not. In our power is opinion, aspiration, desire, deviation — in a word, everything that is ours. Outside the limits of our power, our body, property, good name, public career — in a word, everything that is not ours. What is in our power is by nature free, knows no obstacles, and what is outside the limits of our power is weak, slavish, burdened and alien. Epictetus. (Mann, Ivanov & Ferber, 2021).
5. Christine Neff, Christopher Germer “How to survive the difficult moments of life. Healing self-compassion»
Why is it so important to be able to support yourself in difficult times? How to get rid of excessive demands on yourself and come to emotional well-being? This is told by developmental psychologist Christine Neff and psychotherapist Christopher Germer, one of the founders and teachers of the Institute of Meditation and Psychotherapy, provide valuable practices for working with shame, resistance, pain and self-criticism.
“Many fear that self-compassion is a form of self-pity. But in fact, this is a guarantee of the absence of pity. Because the latter says: “Poor thing,” and self-compassion recognizes that life is difficult for everyone. Research shows that self-sympathetic people are more likely to see future prospects rather than throw ashes on their heads. They’re also less obsessed with how terrible everything in life is.» (Peter, 2021)
Famous business coach in detail scenarios of the 13 most dangerous manipulations and 30 most common tricks that are constantly used not only by the media, advertisers and politicians, but also, perhaps, by people close to us. And offers ways to counter tricks and manipulation.
“Each of us believes that he is less likely to become a victim of hidden aggressive influence, run into, for example, a manipulator or become a victim of propaganda than any other person. We all suffer from the illusion of our own invulnerability. No wonder we exaggerate our ability to resist subterfuge and manipulation. This is what experienced manipulators use. They benefit from our rose-colored glasses.” (Alpina Publisher, 2018)
7. Gina Biegel Coping with stress. Workbook for teenagers
A collection of exercises for teenagers from a licensed family and marriage therapist. Written tasks and checklists will help teenagers notice their feelings and behaviors under stress, respond more consciously to acute situations and better control themselves.
“Paying attention to painful emotions and life circumstances that you are not at all delighted with can be especially difficult. But understanding the situation can give you huge advantages. The more you know, the more power you have over your decisions.” (Mann, Ivanov & Ferber, 2021)