The Self-Compassion Skills Workbook: A 14-Day Plan to Transform Your Relationship with Yourself Paperback – May 9, 2017

I am finding this book so helpful and am actually beginning to feel a genuine sense of compassion for myself. Buyers of the book have access to and can download Tim's fine audio guided meditations for all of the skills introduced in this book. I have particularly appreciated the guided meditations for mindful breathing and mindfulness of the body. I have been meditating for over 15 years and found these introductory guided meditations very helpful. There were some longstanding problems with the way I did these practices which I was able to correct with Tim's guidance. (My longstanding habit of judging and criticizing myself had infected the way I did and felt about both of these practices. Tim's guidance helped me to open up and use these practices as if they were brand new to me.) I like Tim's voice and have found his wording on all of the guided meditations to be helpful in developing self-acceptance and compassion. The workbook addresses a problem I've had that I have not seen any other book address- how to choose among different possible practices based on the current state of one's mind. Following Tim's directions we will come to choice points where we are instructed to ask ourselves questions such as, "do you notice any tension, agitation, heaviness or any other form of discomfort in your body?" And, if our answer is "yes", "Do you find the discomfort overwhelming?" " Do you feel exhausted?" " Are you able to stay present with it?" Each of these answers takes us to a different practice to do next. By the way, I made a commitment to myself to follow the directions and I am glad that I did. I think the directions are quite sophisticated and helpful. If we lack self-compassion (and we probably do if we've bought the book) we need guidance and help with "self-acceptance", with "embracing suffering", and with "healing pain from the past." We often need to "go deeper" in order to uproot obstacles to self-compassion and we need a hand "when compassion is difficult". When we are not struggling we need to water the seeds of joy so that we are building a "bank" of well-being to draw upon when we are struggling. And, with the help of this workbook, our journey will become lighter and lighter and cultivating joy will become a more regular practice. Thank you very much, Tim. I so appreciate all the work that you've put into this book and your deep understanding of what we who lack self-compassion need in order to heal.

I am not exaggerating when I say that this book changed my life within minutes of opening it. I read everything up until the meditations in one sitting the day it arrived in the mail. I could not get enough of it. I went through a cycle of shame for a long time about how I treat myself, but felt stuck and unsure of how to address it. I found this book randomly and it led me to a place of hope, rather than fear, for the future. I am so excited to continue using this personally, but professionally, as a mental health therapist, I can absolutely see applying this concept with my clients. I actually just recommended it to one the other day. This book is amazing. I will always keep it close. Make no mistake, it takes work to apply, but the lessons show themselves in the experience of trying them out. You won't be disappointed!

This is a clear concise way to practice and cultivate your inner compassion to feel more joy in your life. In 14 days you will have positive changes in you which will show up in your choices in your life. As a practicing psychotherapist, I decided this would be the year I focus on Self Compassion #Theyearofselfcompassion and see what is out there that would support myself and those who come to me for support in the field of Self Compassion. This book shows the way to begin and stay with a practice of Self Compassion not only daily but when you need it the most. Tim shows us the way to begin to recognize our inner care circuit and how to strengthen it for better emotional regulation. That means we feel better when life is good and when life is hard. Tim, with his approach to developing Self Compassion skills, gives us a chance to be our own best friend in the best of times and the worst of times. We bring in balance and care to our lives by developing our abilities to generate compassion for ourselves and grow our own resilence from the inside out.

This is the first book I've come across that combines Buddhist practices with healing techniques for people with PTSD from childhood neglect and abuse. It's a powerful combination. The guided meditations are for me especially helpful. My gratitude to Tim Desmond.

Very helpful, the meditations are full of love and self care. Written by a therapist with the wisdom of a Zen teacher.

I found this book very helpful to learn to be compassionate with myself and be OK with my mistakes.

Thank you

Excellent and very helpful.Unfortunately when things get really difficult, it has two limitations :- at the end of the sequence of things to try, it goes in a circle. In Practice A, it says if things get too difficult, go to Practice B. In Practice B, it says if things get too difficult, go to Practice A.- as a final resort, see a mental health professional. Well, here the mental health professionals in the local mental hospital are hard-line cognitive behaviourists and would not understand or want to have anything to do with this approach.So, what to do if I can’t manage to hold on to either Practice A or B. My most helpful resources are :- Complex PTSD, by Pete Walker (for me, the Self Compassion book is better than his other book). Full of understanding, and an excellent list of instructions for dealing with a flashback.- anything by Claire Weekes on anxiety.- Healing Walks for Hard Times, by Carolyn Scott Kortge. When life and thoughts are too much, life reduces to going for a walk and doing nothing more than saying ‘foot’ to myself every time a foot touches the ground.- Finding your own north star, by Martha Beck. This has a good section on looking after yourself when going through a transition and not sure what direction you want to be looking in.