Book Review: Self-Guided Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy for OCD: A Compassionate Workbook for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Paperback by Natalia Aíza

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First off a few terms that may need explanation - 

obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) 

Exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP) and ERP as a treatment is based on CBP

cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) 

Self-Guided ERP Therapy for OCD was created by an OCD specialist who has lived with the condition herself. If you have OCD, but are new to ERP, this workbook is for adults and aims at making people afflicted by OCD help understand their symptoms, face fears safely, and build the resilience to manage OCD long-term. 

It is important to know that ERP has been around for decades and has a proven trackrecord of helping cope with OCD. And most importantly, ERP is proven to work, even when practiced in private.

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 The book is roughly partitioned into these subjects:

• This book is a self-guided version of ERP for beginners. Using author tested evidence-based strategies to trigger fears and resist compulsions effectively without needing third party help.
  

• CBT-based tools and step-by-step exercises provided by the author allow the reader to map. the OCD cycle and guide the reader through recovery.
  

• The author uses her therapy skills to build distress tolerance, emotional awareness, and cognitive flexibility to allow progress. 
  

• Rather than teach and admonish, the author focuses on empathy and stresses self-compassion to boost recovery success. 
  

• The author is an expert in the field and provides super helpful guidance throughout the book.  
  

Focused on empathy and backed by science, the author shows that ERP doesn’t have to be harsh or intimidating.

This book was provided free of charge to me in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and have not influenced by any third party.   

Review = The Ultimate Maze Challenge!: 175 Mind-Bending Mazes for Kids (Hours of Fun, Screen-Free Activities)

 

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If you have a child or grandkid that is find of maze puzzles or it is something you enjoy, this book is a great gift. Not only does oit have a large variety of puzzles in maze form to offer, but they even includes puzzles that involve math. Overall, I found this book to be definitely appropriate for the age group.

Maze are a fun puzzle type because they can be done quickly during a break and teach kids to be busy on their own without requiring an adult to entertain them. I personally was surprised by the variety of Maze puzzles that were included and I love to do them. But even I found some new varieties in here like the one requiring math to solve the Maze. 

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This book was provided free of charge to me in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and have not influenced by any third party.  

Review = Training for a Healthy Life: A Daily Food and Fitness Journal by Zeitgeist Wellness

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This book is all about consistency and persistent behavior. It provides a simple planner for daily entries to monitor food intake, weight and exercise routine. It also has spots for wellness  aspects such as water intake and sleep. 

It is an easy back to basic approach to training and wellness. The one concern I have is that people should obsess about weight too much in their fitness journey. Especially if you start using weights, the muscle gain may actually lead to increases in weight. So clothing size is a better measure or best off all, go with how you feel. For that reason I wish the wellness aspects would be a little bit more comprehensive than just how much water you drink or how much sleep you are getting.  

 

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This book was provided free of charge to me in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and have not influenced by any third party.  

Review = The Body Boundaries Parenting Guide: Eight Essential Body Safety Conversations to Have with Your Kids by Julie Bemerer PsyD

 #partner @penguinrandomhouse Thanks for the free book  

Parenting has challenges and often especially first time parents struggle with certain topics. As a parent, you want to educate your kids on certain topics and not leave it up to the kindergarten teacher or the daycare mom. Teaching your kids of about boundaries is one such topic. Not just as it relates to body boundaries, but in general. Each chapter deals with a specific topic, such as saying No or identifying people you can trust and seek help from. Saying No may seem like a general option, but may not always work. What options are available then is one such important lesson this book helps parents explain to their kids. I found the chapters and the language used to be easy to follow. The author uses a number of tools, drawings, sample conversations and a general approach to use. I found this book to also comprehensively cover the topic of body boundaries and to realistically reflect how kids may approach the topic and what thought process they may have.  

 

This book is a guide for parents to teach kids, especially ages 3 to 6 about body boundaries. Touching on difficult topics, the book does a phenomenal job of helping parents cover these topics with young kids. Many chapters also have hints on what to do to expand the topic as the child gets older or asks more questions. 

 

A really good, easy to follow book for parents to help with covering this sensitive topic. I like that the author uses tools such as drawings in addition to explanations to help kids understand and parents to huide in these topics. 

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This book was provided free of charge to me in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and have not influenced by any third party.  

Review = A Walk Down Memory Lane: Short Stories for Seniors to Spark Joy and Stay Sharp by Sarah Bracey White

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This is an interesting book. I contains short stories that can read in a few minutes. But the more important part is two-fold. There are guiding questions that both make the reader focus on the essentials of the story, maybe go back and focus while reading. As well as at least one question that is aimed at jogging the memory of the reader to events from their past life. 

 One story deals with a kid getting a pet and overcoming their fear of dogs. Another story deals with the first job, such as a paper route and asks what the reader's first job was. And then a story deals with pen pals, going back to a time when actual letters were still exchanged and the anticipation when a letter finally arrived.  

To me the book covers a nice variety of topics and experiences of people that are now either retired or approach retirement age. I think every reader will find some stories that resonate with them and remember some events of their youth. I also enjoyed the questions that related to events in the youth of the reader. While citing specific milestones, they were still generic enough that almost everyone can relate to the experiences such as a first pet or a the first job.

This is a really nice book by the author and I find it useful to pick topics to talk about with aging relatives who should read, but do not have the energy for a whole book. I should also mention that the book is in large print and so very easy to read by older readers.  

 

 

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This book was provided free of charge to me in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and have not influenced by any third party. 

 

 

Would You Rather? Junior: That's So Gross! Edition: Funny, Smelly, Slimy, Disgusting, Yucky Questions that Make You Say Eww!

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This is a fun book. My nieces are now past the gross equals fun and interesting phase, but I remember that stage of development well and this book would have been so helpful back then. from wondering whether clogged toilets or throwing up on a bike is more fun or a better experience to such ideas as swallowing worms, this book will keep your kids entertained wondering what some of the experiences in the book are like. Some definitely gross, some also maybe painful and many are interesting to think about and figure out what it would be like. 

Just make sure your little readers do not get ideas that these ideas have to be tried out.  Because some of these ideas are not just gross, but definitely not worth trying out. That should be also some guidance on when to have kids engage in this book. Do not give young kids ideas. This book is therefore perfect on a trip when kids are bored and need to be entertained without screen time. And this book is perfect for that. 

 

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This book was provided free of charge to me in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and have not influenced by any third party. 

 

 

Review Journal Like a Stoic: A 90-Day Stoicism Program to Live with Greater Acceptance, Less Judgment, and Deeper Intentionality by Brittany Polat

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This is a workbook, but it can be customized to some degree by the reader. The author uses prompts to make the reader rethink their life and choices while facilitating the move towards a Stoic lifestyle. Each prompt gives a reader a choice between two options and no matter which prompt you choose, the new day will have another choice that guides you on your way to follow in the footsteps of Seneca. Of course, Stoicism has other great thinkers in his history, but as a student of Latin, I am quite familiar with the writings of Seneca and his philosophy. 

The book is broken up into sections, starting with an introduction to the Stoic philosophy and then the actual workbook that contains 90 workbook entries to guide the reader. The section on The Stoic way of life is further broken down into three section enttitled:

• Examining the inner critic
• The road to acceptance
• Living with virtue

 

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I should also mention that the author Brittany Polat has a doctorate in applied linguistics and is the founder of the nonprofit organization called "Stoicare" which promotes Stoic principles for wisdom, well being and community.I am happy to see Stoicism being still considered a worthwhile philosophy in the modern age. I do believe that Stoicism provides value in this day and age, especially as people struggle with their lives and often lack social contacts. Stoicism can provide an approach to deal with problems alone and find positives in their lives. 

I can recommend this book for people that have experienced Stoicism before or are totally new to it.  The workbook can act as a guide to find a good life, no matter what the current circumstances may be. 

The opinions expressed are my own and only reflect my personal impression of a product or book.  No financial compensation was received, but I was provided with a free copy of the book for review purposes.