Emotional First Aid: Healing Rejection, Guilt, Failure, and Other Everyday Hurts

I heard the author interviewed on a couple of podcasts and found his approach refreshingly direct, particularly when so many authors/books dealing with emotional issues can be frustratingly abstract. His approach is that we should treat emotional hurt the same way we treat physical hurt. If we burn our hand we know to remove it from the heat source, and can assess whether the burn will heal by itself, if it can be treated at home or if medical assistance is required, and what might happen if we don't treat it at all. Unfortunately few of us are equipped with the skills needed to assess our emotional injuries and treat them accordingly. This book attempts to remedy that in a very practical way. Each chapter covers a specific issue (eg. rejection, rumination, loneliness, guilt, failure) and looks at causes, symptoms and recommended treatments depending on the severity of the 'wound', and suggests when we might need to speak to a professional. It's written in a logical, down to earth, sympathetic way, with plenty of examples from his experience as a therapist to remind you that you're not alone in feeling the way you do. Although his approach is simple, that doesn't make it easy - just reading the book won't "fix" anything. The reader still has to be pro-active and actually apply the treatment methods suggested.... and unfortunately that's often the hard part! But this seems like an excellent companion to help you along your journey to recovery.

Was so impressed with this book have bought it 5times for different people who all found it really helpful. Easy to read, down to earth, exactly what you need to know to self help. After reading the first chapter I like the way you can jump to the chapters that you need help on. These relate to specific emotions eg guilt, rumination, anxiety ,etc. Would reccomend to everyone. Would be especially helpful to adolescents also. What our parents and schools should be teaching to help us stop small mental health moments from becoming major problems.

I liked the methods presented by the writer in the book. I have bookmarked many of the tips given in the chapters. I can say I will use a great deal of the examples used in my mindfulness. Also to help family, friends and people I mentor.

This book is amazing. I am not even half way through the book and I already see changes. I thought I would write this review early because I have a habit of not reading books all the way through. This book however I have been savouring, i didn't want to read it too fast as there is so much useful information that I want to take my time with it. I have already felt a huge change in myself after reading through the first activity of arguing with self-criticism. He mentions in the book that it is possible to see instant changes rather than constantly digging 'deep' and working through the issues. It has definitely worked for me. I absolutely recommend this book.

I have never made it past the first few pages of a self help book before but came across this one when the title jumped out from a magazine review. I am over the moon with its simplicity, ease and lack of pretention. I cannot recommend this highly enough if you are anything like me; sensitive but practical. The tips given are straightforward, memorable and useful daily and he writes in a friendly way that didn't put me off as previous, similar books have. Well worth a read.

Excellent, wonderful book with many insights and practical advices that one can confidently apply to oneself thanks to the powerful metaphor of the mental injury the author is developing throughout the chapters. As it may seem obvious that taking care of your physical body isn't innate and must be learnt, I start to believe that many of us may simply be untrained at taking care of our minds and souls. If you are looking for serious, professional but affordable advice on mental health, you can buy this book trustfully and read it carefully. :)

I initially came across Guy Winch's lecture on TED talks. What an amazing insight he has into human frailties. This book teaches you to look after your mental health and 'fix' the injuries we suffer on a daily basis, before they become destructive forces. A book that may not change your life but could make it so much more enjoyable and joyful.

Good read...

Give you a very good overview of mental health and situations that can engulf your life, tools that can have great positive impact on our life

I recently suffered from a breakup with somebody I had been dating for almost a year. The timing was not great, as it occurred right when my previous job was ending and I was starting the job-searching process. I quickly realized I was spiraling into depressive tendencies (staying in bed most of the day, ruminating about things my partner did and what she might be doing now), and I decided to try to help myself out of it by buying this book. The major premise of the book is that we should treat our emotional wounds like our bodily wounds: allowing sufficient time to let them heal AND, most importantly, taking special precautions to make sure they don't get worse. If the former part of that statement is a bit of a truism, as some of the other reviewers have noted, I have found Winch's suggestions for the latter part to be on the whole very interesting and helpful. So far I have read the three chapters on Rejection, Loss, and Rumination. The tone of the Rejection chapter is markedly different from the others and, in my opinion, not effective – it sounds like he had a buzzfeed editor insert quips at the end of each paragraph, all of which fall flat. Fortunately, this trend does not continue into the other chapters, which are more serious in tone and I think more comforting (I don't really want somebody making sh@tty jokes about my sadness). Some of the suggestions he makes for rumination (use a third-person perspective instead of a first when remembering events) and for loss (to try to ask yourself why events happened instead of just how they happened) are both novel and research-based. So far, I think this book has achieved what it set out to. It won't be winning any awards, but it will help stock your "emotional medicine cabinet," if you don't have one already.

Fue un libro de regalo, por lo que no tengo opinión respecto a su contenido.

I think this book should be in every home just as a first aid kit. It is really eye opening and worth reviewing regularly. It will not only help yourself, but it will also help you to better understand others, therefore improve your interpersonal relationships.

Maybe the best book for those who soffer for rejection, guilt, failure and other everyday hurts! Guy Winch is telling where those problems come from and how to handle them.