![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newportcomplementaryhealthclinic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_9706.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nYesterday, I heard those words come out of my mouth, \u201cmaybe you should talk to someone, or maybe you could start with a book\u201d. I was talking to a friend and pushing back at her a bit when she was complaining about her life, whilst not making any \u2018noise\u2019 about how she was prepared to change in order to address the problems mentioned. I asked her what she was doing that represented personal growth and after a few moments of hesitation, she admitted \u201cnot much\u201d. And so the conversation went on.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s not alone. In my experience, many clients will turn to the internet to check their medical symptoms, only to be horrified that they are very quickly taken to posts that state death is imminent!!! (Please don\u2019t use the internet for this). But very few clients partake in the wonderful opportunity of reading or listening to a book – an opportunity that is quite literally at our fingertips (or our ears for the audio book fans amongst you).<\/p>\n
My stack (above) is the \u2018waiting to be read pile\u2019. Some have been there for a couple of months, some arrived this week. All wait to be \u2018devoured\u2019 – I can\u2019t get to them fast enough – there is never enough hours in the day. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Some of the pile got there after listening to the author on a podcast, some after I saw the author on tour, some having read the authors other books and some that I just saw and liked the look of. One was recommended by a client, and one or two mentioned in other books I have read.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Never before have we had such easy access to the huge variety of subject matter and its authors – with the ability to order on a Sunday night and take delivery on a Monday morning. We can access used, cheaper copies, digital and audio versions too. There is literally something for everyone. And within each and every book we are given the opportunity to learn, to be inspired, to grow and to improve in some way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n My stack contains a wide variety of subject matter. There are health books on cholesterol, blood sugar and menopause. There are personal development books around confidence and motivation. I have yet to read the book based on support through the grief experienced with the loss of a parent – and books inviting to educate me further on mental health conditions of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), neuro-divergence of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder) and how to explore sexual pleasure in relationships. And who wouldn\u2019t want the joy of living a magical life?<\/p>\n My preference is for an old fashioned book with pages that can have the corners turned down and the words highlighted in fluorescent yellow, pink or green. As I\u2019m a details kind of girl, I usually have post it notes and bookmarks added for good measure. These all serve as an easy reference point when I hear myself say in a client session……\u201dI was just reading something that resonates with what you just said…now where was it??\u201d<\/p>\n There is huge satisfaction, when the front cover is peeled open, the spine is cracked back (I know – sorry but I just like it) and I take a deep breath – here we go, lets begin.<\/p>\n The choices in my current stack are not only for me but for my clients too. As noted in my last blog, my clients are always on my mind. I\u2019m always researching something for a client with the intention of support and help. I might read some wisdom that I can share with them or recommend the book itself. I feel I owe it to my client’s to be as up to date as possible on matters that present regularly in the clinic. The bookshelf in my therapy room along with the library shelf in our reception, attracts much interest. I\u2019m asked often what is my current read? We operate a borrowing library at the clinic, encouraging all to be inspired.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A quick delve onto the internet tells me that reading self help books \u201cprovides actionable guidance to some everyday problems, challenges your perspective and delivers a healthy dose of motivation…….they offer affordable, private support to help boost your confidence, heal from stress and achieve personal or professional goals\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n Reading a book is no substitute for a therapy session with someone like me. But it can be a great place to start or to support your therapy along the way. A personal development book is also a wonderful gift for a friend or loved one that may be struggling, or who may need inspiration or a nudge to get some help. I can honestly say that some books have changed my life. Some have impacted me as person and some as a professional therapist. I have even been lucky enough to feature as a guest author in a book several years ago (proud moment). I am a walking example of the hundreds of self help books that have passed through my fingers in my life and they have absolutely added \u2018marbles\u2019 to my jar. And I\u2019m pretty proud of the person that those books have helped me to become.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I dedicate this blog to all authors in my stack and I cannot wait to read and recommend you all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday, I heard those words come out of my mouth, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newportcomplementaryhealthclinic.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newportcomplementaryhealthclinic.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newportcomplementaryhealthclinic.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newportcomplementaryhealthclinic.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newportcomplementaryhealthclinic.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3539"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.newportcomplementaryhealthclinic.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3542,"href":"https:\/\/www.newportcomplementaryhealthclinic.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3539\/revisions\/3542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newportcomplementaryhealthclinic.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newportcomplementaryhealthclinic.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newportcomplementaryhealthclinic.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}