WiseWords #8: on Resilience, Mindfulness and Self-Hypnosis

The eighth installment of our #WiseWords series, where therapists share with us the books they recommend to their clients, comes from London-based clinical hypnotherapist Jasminka Letzas.

Build Your Resilience by Donald Robertson

This book is very insightful and one of the books I find myself recommending time and time again. It is based on the premise that you can better deal with stress the more you are aware of and in tune with your own personal values. The book refers a lot to ideas originating in stoicism. It also covers techniques like Progressive Relaxation, Worry Postponement and Problem Solving Training.

Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn

A classic of mindfulness literature. I actually very much enjoyed the audio book version, which is read by the author himself. The book covers the basis of mindfulness techniques and guides the reader through exercises step-by-step. It helps the reader to practice mindfulness when dealing with stress, pain and illness. The book is the foundation of the MBSR mindfulness-based stress reduction programmes that is available in many clinics.

Strategic Self-Hypnosis by Roger A. Straus

This is another classic. It explains the principles and methods of strategic self-hypnosis to overcome stress, increase your performance or overcome unhelpful habits. Reads slightly dated in places, but overall in my opinion still the best introduction to self-hypnosis around.