Category: Book Reviews
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Gratitude: St. Teresa of Avila
I am reading a book called Holy Daring about St. Teresa of Avila. Let’s just say that it is not pious scribble. No! It is invigorating, about the rich and joyful and marvelous life of St. Teresa of Avila, the bridal mystic from the 16th century. As I read, I am filled with joy. As…
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Self-acceptance and Self-Awareness: Zabian’s Welcome Home
Self-acceptance and self-awareness are key to building a solid foundation in our lives, writes Najwa Zabian in her book Welcome Home. When I started reading the book and its powerful description of how the foundations of the homes of our lives are built on self-acceptance and self-awareness, rather than on other things that would lead…
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Stability continues…: My Grandmother’s Hands
I think that it is important to realize that we are all at different stages of wellness. Medication does not guarantee wellness, but neither does avoiding medication and thinking that you’re well because you are not medicated. I have worked through more trauma in the past few months and am making serious headway in building…
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Watching my wellness with Kay Redfield Jamison
The hardest thing about mental illness is the beginning of life with it, which for me took place in my late 20’s. The issues stem from this, and Kay Redfield Jamison talks about this in her book An Unquiet Mind: when we get well again, we don’t realize that we can also get ill again,…
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The Rabbit Hole: Reading 19th-Century Literature
If you can at all avoid it, please consider avoiding the rabbit hole and staying on the surface of things. Depth doesn’t always yield accuracy; in fact, it often yields projection. Allow me to explain. Mental health issues, especially schizophrenia, have to do with a system of thoughts that become interlocked and in which a…
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Book Review: Treating Psychosis: A Clinician’s Guide
I have been reading books on mental health written for professional practitioners. NOT for psychiatrists, but for therapists. They are therapeutic. Ones for psychiatrists are very very depressing and I don’t recommend it. I’ll be sharing details from ones that are helpful. I bought these books a little while back in an urge to commit…
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Be Kind, Especially Now. But How? (a.k.a. Reading Peter Levine)
As a person who is neuroatypical, people are often surprised by what ends up having hurt me, and also by how I bounce back quickly after setbacks that others might never recover from. The problem with this is that it has had the following unexpected side effect: I can really hurt people’s feelings, and since…
Erin Michael Grimm 