The Self-Compassionate Teen: mindfulness & compassion skills to conquer your critical inner voice by Dr. Karen Bluth, a book chat

Listen as I chat about and share passages from this amazing book for teens (and tweens)! It was originally posted on my private membership website, but in response to the recent tragedy that occurred at Robb Elementary School in Texas, I wanted to share it with the general public. If you have a tween or a teen, work with 11 to 18-year-olds, GET THIS BOOK!

About the book: "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!" ~Amazon.com description

“Research shows that practicing self-compassion decreases stress, anxiety, and depression, while it increases resilience and motivation. This is especially relevant during the tumultuous teen years when so many physical and emotional changes are taking place. Each chapter tackles a different aspect of teens’ lives, including schoolwork, relationships, self-image, and LGBTQIA+ identity. While the general advice is helpful, such as taking breaks from social media if it’s causing someone to feel like they don’t measure up, the most practical aspects of the book are the meditation exercises, which include links to audio versions. Teens can create a free account on the New Harbinger website to ­access these audio files. Many of the exercises cover similar concepts, but they can all assist teens in acknowledging their emotions and treating themselves with more empathy. VERDICT: A solid purchase for libraries serving teens during troubled times.” ~School Library Journal, published on 2020-11-02 (Amazon.com)

“Karen Bluth is one of the world’s leading experts on self-compassion for teens. This well-written book shows teens how to be kind to themselves in the midst of daily challenges such as school, body image, and social media. After switching from self-criticism to self-compassion for just one moment, you’ll probably be convinced. You might be giving yourself the biggest favor of your life.” ~Christopher Germer, Ph.D., faculty at Harvard Medical School, and co-creator of the Mindful Self-Compassion program

"This book also includes 21 downloadable audio practices the reader has access to indefinitely. This is such an important addition to a book like this because practicing is so important to learn any skill, and the same goes for acquiring mindfulness and compassion skills. I know this to be true because I introduce young people to mindfulness and self-compassion skills in a course I teach called Making Friends with Yourself (MFY).

"I confidently endorse this book to therapists who want helpful ways to introduce mindfulness and self-compassion skills into their therapeutic interventions with young people. I write this because as a Child, Youth, and Family Therapist myself, with years of experience working with teens with a variety of well-being challenges I have seen the benefits of doing so.

"As for Dr. Bluth’s writing style; her writing is almost like she is in the room with you; speaking to you in a down-to-earth fashion, in a highly respectful tone, and with deep compassion. She is clearly on a mission to bring mindfulness and self-compassion skills to as many young people as possible."

~Eileen Beltzner, Goodreads, learn more here.

~Lisa Nolan