Author:Hilary Jacobs Hendel
American Book Fest Best Health Book (Mental Health & Psychology) Award Winner 2018
Cutting-edge and accessible psychotherapy to put us back in touch with our emotions - and fast
'I loved it ... I have drawn my own picture of the change triangle - both fascinating and useful' - Cathy Rentzenbrink
We were all taught that our thoughts affect our emotions, but in truth it is largely the other way around: we have to experience our emotions to truly understand our thoughts, and our full selves. This is why we should think not only about cognitive behavioural therapy or medication, but also about our emotions, when addressing psychological suffering.
In It's Not Always Depression, pioneering psychotherapist Hilary Jacobs Hendel reveals the most effective techniques for putting us back in touch with the emotions we too often deny - methods which can be used by anyone, any time, anywhere. Drawing on stories from her own practice, she sheds light on the core emotions (such as joy, sadness and fear), defences (anything we do to avoid feeling) and inhibitory emotions (anxiety, shame and guilt), and how understanding their interaction can help us return to mental well-being.
This is the basis of 'accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy:' it accelerates healing through having an emotional experience in the here and now. It allows you to reacquaint yourself with your feelings, to recover a more authentic self and to be more calm, curious and connected.
Winner of Nautilus Silver for Personal Growth Books 2019
The bottom line is this: if you're a human, I recommend that you read this book.
—— Diana Fosha, the founder of AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy) and the author of the book's foreword.I loved it ... I have drawn my own picture of the change triangle.
—— Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love and A Manual for HeartacheWhat is unique in this book is Hendel's mission to take psychotherapeutic tools and present and rework them in a way that can be used by individuals . . . like Penn and Teller showing us how a magic trick is really done . . . she is able to translate the method in ways that individuals can use for themselves . . . the genius of this book is converting formal psychotherapeutic strategies into a self-help toolbox
—— Alan Eppel, Professor of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Supervisor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, OntarioThis intriguing book turns some age-old questions about the human condition upside down . . . In an engaging, storytelling voice that rests on 30 years of clinical practice, he offers a series of insights.
—— The ObserverInsights that radically reframe psychiatric conditions ... As Good Reasons for Bad Feelings boldly posits, many of the core dysfunctional components of mental illness ultimately help to make us human.
—— Adrian Woolfson , NatureUsing [...] fascinating insights, Nesse suggests novel and revolutionary ways to treat mental illness.
—— The Daily Mail[Nesse's] basic conception of the mind feels like good, common sense.
—— The Sunday TimesAll psychiatrists and patients who find themselves having occasional "bad feelings" about our current understanding of mental illness will have many "good reasons" to consult this book. I do fully expect that someday nearly all psychiatry will be identified as evolutionary psychiatry. If so, Randolph Nesse's book should be seen as the field's founding document.
—— David P. Barash , The Wall Street JournalHighly accessible, scholarly and deeply illuminating . . . this will become a treasured classic; not just for clinicians but for all those interested in how to facilitate well-being and create more moral communities and societies.
—— Professor Paul Gilbert OBE, author of Compassionate Mind, and Living like CrazyTwo sets of ideas inform this fine book: one, the cold-hearted logic of natural selection; the other, the practical wisdom of a compassionate psychiatrist. The tension is palpable. The result is riveting.
—— Nicholas Humphrey, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, London School of Economics, author of Soul DustA personalized and lively but well documented treatise on how we humans function and on needed changes in the way psychiatry thinks about troublesome mental experiences and behavior. . . . Many readers will find it hard to put the book down.
—— Eric Klinger, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of MinnesotaThose powerful feelings that fill our day, that give us the oomph to act one way or another are the guardrails to living and this wonderful books explains all of them. Randolph Nesse has done it again.
—— Michael S. Gazzaniga, Director, Sage Center, UC Santa BarbaraA book as wise and illuminating as it is relevant to our daily lives.
—— Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, author of The Woman that Never Evolved and Mother NatureIn this very accessible book, Nesse explains how an evolutionary framework can be to psychiatry
what physiology is to the rest of medicine. Evolutionary science bridges the gap between
neuroscience and the environment.
A bold book that would have made Darwin proud. Cutting-edge and compassionate at the same time.
—— Lee Dugatkin, Professor of Biology, University of Louisville, co-author of How to Tame a Fox and Build a DogIt is no exaggeration to say that Nesse opens the door to a new paradigm in thinking about human beings and their conflicted lives. A pathbreaking book by a man who is truly humane and caring. A privilege to share time with him.
—— Michael Ruse, Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy, Florida State University, author of On PurposeRandolph Nesse, who trained psychiatrists for many years, has for a quarter century been a key leader of evolutionary medicine. Good Reasons for Bad Feelings integrates these two strands of his life and thought in a readable, insightful book, as much a philosophy of emotions as it is a new window on mental illness. All who want to know themselves should read it.
Randolph Nesse is one of the key architects of evolutionary medicine. He's been an inspiration to a generation of scientists, who explore evolution to understand why we get sick from diseases ranging from cancer to obesity to infectious diseases. Now Nesse has turned his attention from the body to the mind, in a provocative book full of intriguing explanations about human nature in all its strengths and weaknesses.
—— Carl Zimmer, author of She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of HeredityA masterful, groundbreaking book that persuasively challenges standard clinical wisdom and provides a roadmap for the transformation of our conceptually confused psychiatric nosology . . . Anyone interested in mental health-laypeople, students, clinicians, and scholars-will be grateful for the novel insights to be gained from this important book. The distillation of decades of pathbreaking contributions to evolutionary psychiatry, this book will be an influential watershed in the mental health field, and a worthy successor to Nesse's earlier celebrated book on medical disease. If joy is indeed a biologically programmed emotional response motivating us to take advantage of unexpected bounty and opportunity, then every reader will experience joy in reading Randy Nesse's beautifully written, profound book.
—— Jerome C. Wakefield, Professor of Psychiatry, New York University, co-author of The Loss of SadnessRandolph Nesse's book Why We Get Sick put evolutionary medicine on the map. His follow-up, Good Reasons for Bad Feelings, promises to transform our understanding of mental illnesses in the same way.
—— New ScientistRandolph Nesse's new book ... is clear and engaging, and the narrative reflects a masterful blend of history, novel ideas, and clinical experience in an insightful and coherent manner. I hope it is widely read and discussed.
—— Eric Charnov, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Evolutionary Ecology, University of Utah, MacArthur FellowWhat is the nature of suffering, its origin and its adaptive significance? Good Reasons for Bad Feelings may well become a legend, as it is a book about psychology, psychiatry, biology and philosophy that is also a good read, and it opens the door to deep questions in a manner that is tender, quizzical, and industrious.
—— Judith Eve Lipton, MD, co-author of Strength Through PeaceGood Reasons for Bad Feelings by Randy Nesse is a delightful book. It is insightful about the human condition, sanguine and not over-stated. And it is written in a straight-forward and delightful manner, personal and professional, and with humor. Neese is one of the originators of the field of evolutionary medicine. This is a welcome book in evolutionary psychiatry and on the biological basis of the emotions and our cultural evolution.
—— Jay Schulkin, Research Professor of Neuroscience, Georgetown UniversityIn Good Reasons for Bad Feelings, leading evolutionary theorist, psychiatrist Randolph Nesse, begs us to ask the right question: Why did natural selection make us so prone to mental disorders of so many kinds and intensities? It is no exaggeration to say that he opens the door to a new paradigm in thinking about human beings and their conflicted lives. A pathbreaking book by a man who is truly humane and caring. A privilege to share time with him.
—— Matthew Ruse, Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy, Florida State University, author of On PurposeWhy I am I feeling bad?' This is the first burning question of everyone who suffers. This accessible new book will be an essential tool to help patients, their loved ones, and treating professionals arrive at more satisfying answers.
—— Jonathan Rottenberg, Professor of Psychology, University of South Florida, author of The DepthsHow did we end up recognizing that every system in the body has a function shaped by evolutionary selection and yet thinking that systems in the mind do not? How did physical and mental health drift so far apart? Randolph Nesse explains, in this highly readable book, how 'symptoms' in psychiatry should be seen in their evolutionary context, and that anxiety and depression for example have functions, just as do inflammation, blood clotting, or a cough. Nesse is a pioneer of evolutionary psychiatry, which has the potential to revolutionize mental health care.
—— Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology, Cambridge UniversityThis book sets out to show how evolution underpins (or should underpin) psychiatry. In doing so, it will surely change the face of medicine -- and deservedly so.
—— Robin Dunbar, Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Psychology, University of OxfordRandy Nesse has brought a new and important synthesis to the study of illnesses that psychiatrists deal in. This engagingly accessible, pioneering book provides a wide range of answers for how something as maladaptive as bipolar disorders could have evolved. It provides a wide range of answers for why natural selection has left us vulnerable to so many mental disorders, and the "mystery of missing heredity" is identified as a key problem. Nesse shows that by taking into account complex pleiotropic effects, natural selection may push some useful trait close to a fitness peak near a "cliff edge" despite the disabling consequences for a few individuals who go over the edge. Thus a gene may be useful to many, but with bad luck contribute to victimizing the few. This complex problem surely will yield to further research.
—— Christopher Boehm, Professor of Biological Sciences, USC DornsifeThe book is aimed at a wide audience including the general public. However, it is testament to Professor Nesse's command of the field of evolution and medicine as well as his extra-ordinary ability to explain enormously complex ideas in plain English with minimal use of jargon that the book is just as relevant to psychiatrists, psychologists of all levels as well as to academics interested in evolutionary science.
—— Riadh Abed, FRCPsych, Founding Chair of the Evolutionary Psychiatry Special Interest Group, Royal College of PsychiatristsA masterful braiding of the achingly personal and the incisively researched. . . . This book is a vital, illuminating window onto the world we all already live in, but find all too easy to ignore
—— Alexandra KleemanYou won't find any pity-baiting, sensationalism, or false positivity here; Wang is so candidly aware that I'd trust her over my own diary
—— Tony TulathimutteEsmé Weijun Wang offers us an all-access pass to her beautiful, unquiet mind. . . Rarely has a book about living with mental illness felt so immediate, raw, and powerful
—— Dani ShapiroThe Collected Schizophrenias is at once generous and brilliantly nuanced, rigorous and bold. It had me rethinking what it is to be well or ill.
—— R.O. KwonEsmé Weijun Wang sends out revelatory dispatches from an under-mapped land, shot like arrows in all directions from a taut bow of a mind. . . . Her work changes the way we think about illness - which is to say that it changes us
—— Whiting Award Selection CommitteeA remarkable book - intelligent, impassioned, consistently moving - that can’t help but make readers revisit the sharpest spikes of life, where nurses often are. Christie Watson looks directly at the fragility of human existence, and the importance of what we choose to value. I can't think of many better uses of writing, nor of writing more likely to make me a better person
—— Richard BeardI defy anyone to finish this without weeping and giving thanks to the NHS ... An important book that should be on every reading list
—— Fanny Blake , Woman & HomeChristie Watson’s book brings home the incredible strength and determination that nurses working in our critically underfunded NHS must possess – and how wildly underappreciated they are
—— Rachael Jolley, Editor, Index on CensorshipGripping and tender
—— Radio TimesA remarkable reflection on care, empathy and compassion ... packs massive emotional impact ... I urge you to read it
—— Caroline Sanderson , The BooksellerThis tender, truth-telling memoir will break your heart into little pieces ... This book is a salient reminder that at some point we are all going to need care and we can only hope we'll get someone like Christie who understands the need for "sympathy, compassion, empathy" in our most vulnerable moments
—— Eithne Farry , The Simple ThingsThe award-winning novelist writes about her 20 years as a nurse, taking us from life to death of the wards in a moving account
—— Hannah Beckerman , Sunday ExpressAs Watson observes, the ability to step into another’s shoes is essential for both nurse and novelist. So too is an eagle eye, and it is the details that prove so unforgettable ... I found myself compelled to go back, and freshly moved and humbled
—— Stephanie Cross , The LadyA highly emotional and eloquent retelling of different patients, staffers, experiences and departments ... A much-needed human voice
—— Tanya Sweeney , The Irish Times[Watson] writes with such considered awareness of medical procedure and resources, human frailty and resilience, that you know she dug deep for this book ... You are also privy to an extraordinary world and appreciate Watson's lasting belief: that most of us are inherently kind - and the better for showing it
—— Kerry Fowler , Sainsbury's MagazineThe Language of Kindness is teeming with humanity ... [It] puts other memoirs to shame, by narrating an ordinary working life which nevertheless confronts the dark, the sublime, the transcendental
—— Roisin Kiberd , Sunday Business PostHer book makes harrowing, heart-rendering reading.
—— Helen Brown , Daily MailAn engaging and authentic portrait of modern care ... Through Watson’s inclusion of relevant statistics and historical facts, as well as her meticulous observation skills, readers will better understand the value of nurses
—— Library JournalHypnotic prose ... quiet brilliance ... This is a wake-up book in the best possible way, a study in-the-round: amusing, hilarious even, enthralling and sad, and definitely an indictment of our time
—— The Arts DeskWe hear far less often from nurses and therapists… It’s time we heard their side of the story. And who better to tell it than this nurse-turned-award-winning literary novelist.
—— Charlotte Heathcote , Sunday ExpressAnecdotal story-telling wrapped up in hypnotic prose… This is a wake-up book in the best possible way, a study in-the-round: amusing, hilarious even, enthralling and sad, and definitely an indictment of our time.
—— Marina Vaizey , The Arts DeskA remarkable book. I learned more in chapter 3 than I have in all the other books I’ve read this year. Watson illustrates why a nurse has a harder job than 99 per cent of lawyers (I am one) and deserves to be paid more. Absolutely brilliant!
—— Clive Stafford Smith OBE, human rights lawyerThe Language of Kindness flows so beautifully, and naturally. Christie adds real warmth to very factual, and medical information … I urge all of you to read this book
—— Five Little Doves[Watson] beautifully describes the life-affirming impact of nurses doing and saying the right thing
—— Strong Words[Watson] tells us things we need to know
—— Chisholm , The Tablet[The Language of Kindness is] a tender and beautifully written account of how this process – learning how to be kind – challenges, teaches, sometimes harms, and then completes a person
—— Peter Dorward , TelegraphAt the heart of Christie Watson’s philanthropic memoir…lies a remarkable thesis on life, death and the kaleidoscopic narratives…that weave us together
—— Kat Lister , The PoolThis stunning read reminds us that nurses are human after all
—— Jude Rogers , Mail on SundayChristie Watson's memoir of 20 years as an NHS nurse is completely absorbing. The best books tell us about life as well as lives and I've read nothing recently that I found so moving and, even in its descriptions of suffering and death, so uplifting. Watson has an eye for detail that is practical, compassionate and very often funny
—— Lucy Lethbridge , The TabletChristie captures life as a nurse in the humblest manner, and anyone in or considering nursing is encouraged to read it
—— Julia Williams , Gastrointestinal NursingWatson’s prose…fizzes with real life, each story and encounter containing its own epic narrative sweep
—— Lucy Lethbridge , The OldieThis brilliant and profound book left an indelible mark on me this year
—— Ian Birrell , iMoving and compassionate…The Language of Kindness… is a sensitive, perceptive and blunt account of a nurse’s journey
—— Richard Barr , Solicitors JournalAn astounding account of life as a nurse
—— Liz Nice , Eastern Daily PressThe Language of Kindness exerts the power of a gripping novel threaded with science, philosophy, history and ethics. Like poetry, it resists paraphrase. A quick summary is out of the question, this brilliant life-changing book has to be experienced.
—— Martina Evans , Irish TimesWatson evokes the topography of each arm of nursing in vivid detail.
—— Irish TimesI defy anyone to finish this without weeping and giving thanks for the NHS… An important book that should be on every reading list.
—— Fanny Blake , Woman & HomeThe Language of Kindness could not be more compelling or more welcome. It's about how we survive, and about the people who help us do so
—— Roxana Robinson , New York Times Book Review[A] powerful account of her life as a nurse… reading her memoir is a truly uplifting experience.
—— Jacqueline Wilson , The WeekA nurse’s voice has never really been heard before on this scale. Now’s the time for it to ring loud.
—— Stylist[Watson] is an elegant, eloquent writer who brings an immediacy to her work. You are right there beside her all the way as she provides a fascinating insight into the trails and triumphs of life in an NHS hospital… a rallying call for kindness and compassion that every one of us should embrace.
—— Mernie Gilmore , Sunday ExpressThrough Watson, we are taken on an absorbing, all-seeing tour through the doors of the hospital
—— Molly Case , Guardian