Curl Up With a Book…Suggestions from the New Hope Staff

January and February can limit your outdoor activities and find you wanting to snuggle under a blanket to ward off the chill.  You may find yourself pulling inward a bit and watching more TV or spending time online, playing games and connecting with friends. 

It can also be a great time to read a book! Maybe there has been an issue you and your family have struggled with for some time, or an area of interest that you wish to increase your understanding. Over the next two months the staff at New Hope has decided to provide a list of books that we have found helpful and that some of our clients have used and recommended. We encourage you to take a moment to browse the this list and check back next month to see if there is a title that stands out to you or a book that opens a door for NEW HOPE in your current situation.  You may want to check with your local library, church or a friend before purchasing. 

Anxious Kids Anxious Parents:7 Ways to Stop the Worry Cycle and Raise Courageous and Independent Children
 by R. Wilson & L. Lyons

With anxiety at epidemic levels among our children, Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents offers a contrarian yet effective approach to help children and teens push through their fears, worries, and phobias to ultimately become more resilient, independent, and happy.
How do you manage a child who gets stomachaches every school morning, who refuses after-school activities, or who is trapped in the bathroom with compulsive washing? Children like these put a palpable strain on frustrated, helpless parents and teachers. And there is no escaping the problem: One in every five kids suffers from a diagnosable anxiety disorder.

Far from the Tree:  Parents, Children and the Search for Identity
by Andrew Solomon

Solomon’s startling proposition in Far from the Tree is that being exceptional is at the core of the human condition—that difference is what unites us. He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, or multiple severe disabilities; with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender. While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, the experience of difference within families is universal, and Solomon documents triumphs of love over prejudice in every chapter. All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent should parents accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves. Drawing on ten years of research and interviews with more than three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges.

Thoughts and Feelings: Taking Control of Your Moods and Your Life
by Matthew McKay, PhD

This book is a great workbook to help you understand your thoughts and moods from a cognitive behavioral perspective. It provides plenty of worksheets and activities that you can use in your daily life to reduce anxiety, overthinking, release stress, ease depression, etc.

Healing the Wounds of Sexual Addiction
by Mark Laaser

This is a great book on overcoming sexual addiction. It defines what sexual addiction is, explores the roots of sexual addiction, and talks about what the journey of healing looks like.

Hiding from Love
by John Townsend

This is a helpful book for those who tend to withdrawal or isolate from relationships. It gives insight into how those patterns might have started and how to develop new patterns that lead to the love and connection we so deeply long for.

Healing after Loss: Daily Meditations for Working through Grief
by Martha Whitmore Hickman

For those who have suffered the loss of a loved one, here are thoughtful words to strengthen, inspire and comfort.

A Little Spot of Feelings- Coping with Emotions (for children)
by Diane Alber

This box set of 8 life skill books for children includes the following social and emotional skills: Courage; Perseverance; Teamwork; Talent; Thankfulness; Giving; Optimism; and Creativity

In This Moment: Five Steps to Transcending Stress Using Mindfulness and Neuroscience
by Kirk D. Strosahl, Phd and Patricia J. Robinson, PhD

This book offers “powerful skills based in mindfulness and neuroscience to help you stay calm in any situation.  Imagine feeling stressed and being able to work through it by paying attention to your thoughts and feelings, moment by moment, no matter where you are or what you’re doing.  The exercises in this book will help you strengthen the parts of your brain that support vitality and awareness in the here and now.  With a little practice, you will learn to stay balanced and collected – no matter what challenges arise.” 

The Smart Stepfamily Marriage: Keys to Success in the Blended Family
by Ron Deal and David H. Olson

These authors and family experts show readers how to build on their relationship strengths and improve on their weaknesses.  This book is for all ages and stages of life, providing tools to create a remarriage that will last. The chapters explore different key qualities of a satisfying remarriage as identified by research.  There are discussion questions that can help readers and their partners discover where they are, where they would like to be and how to get there. There is an online survey that gives a report with personalized results for your relationship.