The Self-Compassionate Teen: Mindfulness and Compassion Skills to Conquer Your Critical Inner Voice

by Karen Bluth, Kristin Neff (Foreword)

Are you kind to everyone but yourself? This book will help you find the strength and courage to move beyond self-criticism and just be you . Do you ever feel like you’re just not good enough? Do you often compare yourself to friends, classmates, or even celebrities and models? As a teen facing intense physical, mental, and social changes, it’s easy to get caught up in self-judgment and criticism. The problem is, over time, these negative thoughts can build up, cloud your world, and lead to stress, anxiety, and even depression. So, how can you start being nicer to yourself? Written by psychologist Karen Bluth and based on practices adapted from Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer’s Mindful Self-Compassion program, this book offers fun, everyday exercises grounded in mindfulness and self-compassion to help you overcome crippling self-criticism and respond to feelings of self-doubt with greater kindness and self-care. You’ll find real tools to help you work through difficult thoughts and feelings, navigate life’s emotional ups and downs, and be as accepting of yourself as you are of others. Learning to believe in yourself means being aware of the self-critical voice inside you, and then discovering how to not take it so seriously. With this book, you’ll learn how self-compassion can actually be a much greater motivator for reaching your goals than self-criticism. In fact, being kind to yourself when you’re struggling can actually reduce stress and make you more resilient! So, stop beating yourself up, and start reading this book. You have an important friend to make— you !

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology

192 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2020

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

*thank you to Netgalley, Karen Bluth and New Harbinger Publications, Inc. for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*


2.5 stars.

This was slightly better than 'just ok.'

I opened this book once I had gotten into my past teenage self state of mind and tried to read it from her perspective. On one hand, the information was helpful and you could really learn alot by reading this. Tpbut on the other hand, I would have read a few pages and probably put it aside. Why? Well because it just had this big bubble of 'im bored now' around it. Take a kids picture book for example. Thenkids need the often night colourful large pictures to help with their attention and interest. Teens, while it's different it's also the same. I would have been more interested if it was in a better format, such as something like a graphic novel or just something to make it less like a text book.

So yeah, I'm 50/50 on my feelings about this.

[Kimberly Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a teen is quite challenging. Now, more than ever. There are so many more outside influences due to social media and the ever present connection to electronic devices. This book is a keeper and should be read by every young adult. The practices explained in this book can be implemented wherever you are. As explained by the author, “If you start the habit of being a good friend to yourself now, you’ll have this resource to draw upon for a lifetime.” This book provides a step by step process of how to become more compassionate toward yourself. It is easy to read and follow. The following skills/topics are introduced and discussed in this book: mindfulness, self-kindness, finding wonder, school stress, social media, difficult relationships, self-image, and LGBTQIA and identity. There is something in this book to help every teen and young adult. This book may also be a help to adults that have never experienced or displayed self-compassion. I highly recommend this book to all parents, educators, and educational administrators. Thank you to Netgalley for providing me this book for review.