Collection: Self-Development

Challengeyourbiasesandbroadenyourunderstanding of power and how we wield it with this essential guide.

Power is complex. But Do The Work is a guide to navigating those complexities. From ancient theories of power to contemporary examples, from cultural patterns to personal insights, this guide provides a foundation for examining hierarchies and inequalities and establishes a framework for understanding power and how it shapes our lives and communities.

Between these pages, theory, commentary, and analysis create an engaging, creative, and mindful reading experience. This guide features approachable overviews of complex topics, thought-provoking questions, evocative illustrations, pages for your reflections, and steps we can all take to reframe our relationship to power and reinvigorate our desire to empower the people around us.

Thanks to the work of writer and scholar Megan Pillow, educator and NewYorkTimes bestselling author Roxane Gay, and New York Times bestselling illustrator Aurélia Durand, Do The Work is a must-read for a more just future--and a more equitable now.

Do The Work asks:

- What can we learn about power from history and from our current moment?
- Who are the powerful, and who are the people denied power?
- Where are our own sources of power?
- How do we recognize our mistakes and become more self-aware?
- What does it mean to reclaim our power and to build community?

Do The Workexplains:

- How theorists from Aristotle to Hannah Arendt have shaped our understanding of power
- Why Kimberlé Crenshaw's theory of intersectionality is at the heart of power discussions
- What Laura Mulvey and Audre Lorde can teach us about power and gender
- How poverty, redlining, and The Voting Rights Act all illustrate power imbalances
- What the Stonewall Riots showed us about resistance and community
- How to train ourselves in collective thinking, and what it means to "choose the margins"

Are you the black sheep in your family who chafes at traditions and seeks examples of how to redefine them?

The Wisdom of Guncles is about queer people and their relationship with family - however they choose to define it. Featuring a diverse pantheon of gay uncles ("guncles") and other queer mentors, their stories offer unique perspectives about life, love, and personal empowerment.

With each chapter, Dumlao examines what various LGBTQ+ experiences teach about disrupting norms, exploring identity, and creating chosen families that affirm one's truth. Readers will ponder questions such as:

• How do I challenge and change traditions that hide those that are different?
• If I choose to never dim my light, will I become a beacon for others lost in the dark?
• How will recovering past stories and unsung heroes help us create a better future?
• How can I leave a space more welcoming than how I found it?

The Wisdom of Guncles shares ten powerful journeys, each bearing knowledge honed through struggle and triumph, on living with audacious authenticity and compassion. While these narratives are unapologetically queer, they hold universal lessons about the human condition that, like all stories about family, are grounded in love.

A dazzling, evidence-based account of one man's quest to heal from complex PTSD by turning to endangered coral reefs and psychedelic plants after traditional therapies failed--and his awakening to the need for us to heal the planet as well.

Professor Greg Wrenn likes to tell his nature-writing students, "The ecological is personal, and the personal is ecological." What he's never told them is how he's lived out those correspondences to heal from childhood abuse at the hands of his mother.

Weaving together memoir and cutting-edge science, Mothership is not just a queer coming-of-age story. It's a deeply researched account of how coral reefs and a psychedelic tea called ayahuasca helped Greg heal from complex PTSD--a disorder of trust, which makes the very act of bonding with someone else panic-inducing. From the tide pools in Florida where he grew up, to Indonesia's Raja Ampat archipelago and the Amazon rainforest, this is his search for wholeness when talk therapy and pharmaceuticals did little to help. Along the way, as his ecological conscience wakes up, he takes readers underwater to the last pristine reefs on earth, and into the psyche.

Written with prophetic urgency, Mothership ultimately asks if doses of nature will be enough to save us before it's too late.

A viral life coach offers a practical, empathetic, and inspiring guide to breaking people-pleasing patterns that can harm our careers, relationships, physical, and psychic health.

For most of Hailey Magee's life, people-pleasing came so naturally to her that she didn't even have a word for it. When somebody wanted something from her--even a stranger--she gave it, no matter how uncomfortable, exhausted, or resentful she felt inside. People-pleasing, she learned, was a coping mechanism that had kept her physically and emotionally safe in the past, but wreaked havoc on her life in the present--and she was committed to breaking the pattern once and for all.

The solution that social media and self-help shelves gave her was to "Advocate for yourself! Speak up! Set boundaries!" But after years of ignoring her feelings and needs, Magee needed more than boundaries; she needed to reconnect with the "self" who was supposed to be doing the advocating. You can't express yourself if you're cut off from your feelings. You can't fight for your needs if you don't know what they are. And you can't set boundaries with others until you believe you're worthy of more than the bare minimum. Radically reconnecting with herself gave Magee the confidence and self-respect she needed to stand up for herself in her relationships. As she experienced a freedom she never thought possible, she became a certified life coach with the mission of helping others do the same.

Stop People Pleasing explains how anyone can break the pattern by learning their own feelings, needs, values, and desires; ending cycles of enmeshment and codependency; overcoming guilt; developing physical and sexual agency; and more. It is a refreshingly nuanced guide, exploring fundamental questions like:
-How can I tell when my genuine kindness veers into people-pleasing?
-How can I set boundaries while maintaining my empathy and generosity?
-When is it appropriate to compromise on my needs, and when is it not?

Combining social science, psychology, and hands-on coaching exercises, Stop People Pleasing teaches you how to connect with your own feelings, needs, and dreams; courageously advocate for yourself in your relationships with friends, family, and colleagues; soothe yourself through the growing pains of healing; and dive headfirst into pleasure and play. With fresh insight, heartfelt empathy, and a keen personal understanding of the pitfalls of people-pleasing, Magee helps you say what you need and get what you deserve.

Answer the calling deep within for a simpler life: plant bountiful gardens, preserve fresh seasonal produce, make your own natural cleaning products, and more.

Join homesteader and founder of Azure Farm, Annette Thurmon, to connect with nature on a deeper level. In Simple Country Living, you'll find a sampler covering homesteading techniques that can be put to work no matter where you live. Recipes, tips, tricks, and family activities will help you reduce waste, save money, and harness new skills:

• The Natural- and Nature-Inspired Home: Create family traditions around nature, including strawberry and apple picking, natural egg dye, salt dough ornament making, and decorating your home with natural elements, plus some recipes too! Make DIY cleaning sprays, reduce food waste, learn self-sufficient laundry and bathroom tips, and share the bounty with nature-inspired gifts and gatherings.
• Cultivating a Garden: Master the essentials for a healthy garden, including soil health, garden layout, raised beds, choosing your seeds, frost dates, crop rotation, companion planting, compost essentials, and ways to involve the whole family in the garden.
• What to Plant in Your Garden: Decide what to grow based on your climate and preferences, figure out how much to plant, and garden through the seasons. Go further with home orchards or berry patches, and explore the benefits of natural pest control, greenhouses, and animals in the garden. There are also activities for the family inspired by the garden.
• Preserving the Harvest: Learn everything you need to can, freeze, dehydrate, and save seeds--including plenty of recipes, from salsa to fruit spreads. Have the whole family join in and create memories together.
• Mastering the Home Kitchen: Embrace garden-to-table eating with seasonal recipes. Learn how to stock a resilient homestead pantry and find a selection of tried-and-true recipes the whole family will love (and love to cook!).

No matter where you live or what skills you already have, the simple country life can be more than a state of mind. Start growing more, cooking more, and living in rhythm with nature.

Practice self-love with guided shadow work exercises and journaling prompts that help you heal old wounds, break harmful cycles, and accept all parts of yourself.

Shadow work is the process of uncovering the parts of you that you subconsciously hide or reject, such as unwanted traits or characteristics suppressed during childhood, and bringing them into your awareness. It allows you to identify, heal, and accept all parts of yourself--including the "bad" parts you've repressed--so you're no longer held back by emotional triggers, self-sabotaging behaviors, and self-limiting beliefs. 

With Shadow Work Journal for Self-Love, you'll connect with your inner child, release shame, guilt, and fear, and face the world anew as your whole, authentic self.  

• Embrace your shadow to embrace yourself with a step-by-step approach to shadow work that prioritizes self-love 

• Use guided shadow work exercises and activities to find your most vulnerable parts and hold them with gentle awareness  

• Support yourself with loving self-care rituals to care for your mind, body, and spirit as you explore uncharted territory 

• Grow more self-aware with 75 journaling prompts to explore your shadow and its impact on your life 
  

A comforting and informative guide that demystifies our end-of-life journey, from the compassionate expert known as @hospicenursejulie

What if we didn't consider death the worst possible outcome? What if we discussed it honestly, embraced hospice care, and prepared for the end of our lives with hope and acceptance?
In this compassionate and knowledgeable guide, TikTok star Julie McFadden--known online as "Hospice Nurse Julie"--shares the valuable lessons she's learned in her fifteen years as an RN in the ICU and in hospice. Expertly interweaving emotional insight and practical advice, Nothing to Fear demystifies end-of-life care for both patients and caregivers, covering topics including:

• the biological details of dying
• which medical interventions help and which only make things worse
• the otherworldly beauty of deathbed phenomena
• financial and logistical preparations for death
• facts and myths about hospice care
• the most important conversations to have before you die
• the grieving process, before and after death

Sure to be a go-to resource for years to come, McFadden's first book proves a better death goes hand in hand with a better life.

From the author of Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents comes the guided journal, with self-reflective writing practices to help you heal from the past, set intentions for healthier relationships, and reconnect with your true self.

If you grew up with an emotionally immature, unavailable, or selfish parent, you may recall your childhood as a time when your emotional needs were not met or dismissed--and you may have lingering feelings of anger, loneliness, betrayal, and abandonment as a result. As an adult, you have likely fought hard to establish your own sense of self, and heal the invisible wounds caused by your parent. Now, let this compassionate journal guide you even further on your journey toward self-development and personal growth.

Based on Lindsay Gibson's self-help hit, the Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents Guided Journal offers soothing, self-reflective writing practices to help you process your emotions, heal the invisible wounds of growing up with an emotionally immature parent (EIP), and set intentions for building healthier and more reciprocal relationships now and in the future. With this empowering journal, you'll explore how your relationships and overall well-being have been negatively impacted by EIPs, grow beyond these negative effects to live a more expansive life, and cultivate a deeper connection with your true self.

The simple act of putting pen to paper affirms the importance of your thoughts and feelings. When you write about your inner experiences--your thoughts, feelings, and wishes--you connect emotionally with yourself. Journaling can be an encounter with your soul--your own spark of absolute individuality. The reflective practices in this journal will help you forge a more authentic connection to your spark--who you really are.

Written by renowned mental health and wellness experts, New Harbinger's Journals for Change combine evidence-based psychology with proven-effective guided journaling techniques to help you make lasting personal change--one page at a time.

2019 Reprint of 1972 English Language Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition software. Containing 187 Illustrations, some of which are in color. Between 1919 and 1921, circulars were sent to psychiatric institutions in German speaking countries by Hans Prinzhorn and Karl Willmanns, then Head of the Psychiatric University Hospital. The artistic works of patients they asked for were destined for the creation of a museum of psychopathological art.

In 1922, Prinzhorn published his richly illustrated Artistry of the Mentally Ill [in German] based on the collection. Received enthusiastically by the art scene of his time, it immediately became "the Bible of the Surrealists". The book was edited many times and translated into various languages. To this day, it remains a classic. It launched the field of psychiatric art. It was the first attempt to analyze the drawings of the mentally ill not merely psychologically, but also aesthetically. Prinzhorn presents the works of ten "schizophrenic masters", now housed in the Prinzhorn Collection at the University Hospital Heidelberg, with in-depth aesthetic analysis of each and also full-color reproductions of their work. This is the first and only English translation.

An empowering guide to casual sex and hooking up from sex educator and Girl Sex 101 author Allison Moon.

A comprehensive and fun-to-read guidebook for people of all sexual identities and experience levels, Getting It covers all the bases of hook-up culture from first moves and sex etiquette to navigating nonmonogamy and sexual health. In an era of endless crossed signals and heightened awareness of consent and respect, award-winning author and sex educator Allison Moon shows you how to achieve safe and enjoyable encounters by practicing clear communication and consideration of all parties involved--yourself included. Getting It helps you understand what casual sex means for you and offers an instructive and empowering deep dive into how to get it, do it well, and feel great about it every step of the way. And since we're all imperfect, Moon offers guidance for how to gracefully recover when you screw up--or get screwed over.

Refreshingly intersectional and respectful, Getting It is an honest guide to understanding the basics of hook-up culture and how to partake.

A quick and easy way to understand neurodiversity as written by neurodivergent people and our families

Neurodiversity For Dummies is your essential guide in understanding neurodivergent conditions like autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and more. This quick and easy guide is perfect for anyone needing to know more about neurodiversity. And that's all of us--because recent estimates say that 15-20% of the world's population have some form of neurodivergence. Your life is filled with neurodivergent people that you know and love, whether you realize it yet or not.

It's time to learn to support and include the neurodivergent among us, and to understand how neurodiversity impacts society and the workplace. This is for the neurodivergent person wanting to thrive in life, for parents and caregivers seeking success for their child, and for teachers who are working to make a difference in their students' lives. Filled with practical advice, Neurodiversity for Dummies also provides a helping hand to service providers, assistance for workplace managers and colleagues, and understanding for family members and friends.

Imagine a world where we all understood ourselves better and appreciated more deeply the differences in others. No matter how your own brain thinks, Neurodiversity for Dummies is for you. Check out this jargon-free introduction for an essential overview.

• Explore the Spectrum of Neurodiversity: Understand in plain language the world of autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other neurodivergent conditions.
• Unlock Hidden Talents: Move yourself beyond common myths and misconceptions to discover how neurodiversity actually works. Learn how neurodiversity has always been with us, why society needs neurodivergent traits, and how neurodiversity can be a wellspring of innovation, creativity, and out-of-the-box thinking.
• Discover Yourself: Whether you are a neurodivergent person or not, learn how to understand your own normalcy, advocate for your needs, and build meaningful connections with those who think and experience the world differently than you.
• Change the World Around You: Be empowered through simple steps you can take to create inclusive environments for neurodivergent individuals in your school or workplace. Uncover proven strategies that cultivate a culture of acceptance and respect, where the unique perspectives of all individuals are valued and celebrated.

We believe in providing parents with better supports, empowering individuals with information, and shaping a world where we are all seen and understood. With an author team composed of neurodivergent individuals and parents writing together, Neurodiversity for Dummies is an example of the power of neurodiversity when put into action. It's why we wrote this for you.

Don't miss your chance to embark on this transformative journey. Order your copy of Neurodiversity for Dummies now to better understand yourself and others, and to join the movement that is revolutionizing how we understand and support the diversity of the human mind.

People suffered thousands of years ago. Wise people thought about ways for people to not stress so much. Here we have the ancient wisdom of Buddhism. Fast forward to modern times, and people still suffer. Wise people are still thinking about ways for people to not stress so much. Now we have modern psychology and cognitive-behavioral therapy. This book explores the overlap of these two traditions in a practical guide for anyone suffering from anxiety, depression, or stress. The author is a clinical psychologist with 35 years of experience with hundreds of patients.

"Men and women who have despaired that their sex lives would never change will find hope and answers in this friendly, encouraging, and essential guide." --Laura Davis, coauthor of The Courage to Heal and author of Allies in Healing

This widely esteemed, highly respected resource helps survivors of sexual abuse heal from the past, improve relationships, and discover the joys of sexual intimacy.

Compassionate and enduring, renowned author, psychotherapist, and certified sex therapist Wendy Maltz presents a comprehensive program for healing that sensitively takes readers step-by-step through the recovery process, integrating expert advice with groundbreaking exercises, proven techniques, and first-person accounts of women and men at every stage of sexual healing. This compassionate resource can help you to:

• Identify the sexual effects of sexual abuse
• Eliminate negative sexual behavior and resolve specific problems
• Gain control over upsetting automatic reactions to touch and sex
• Develop a healthy sexual self-concept

Originally published two decades ago, The Sexual Healing Journey is a highly respected resource for understanding and healing the intimate sexual problems caused by sex abuse.The updated third edition features a new preface, revised materials, and an updated, expanded resource section.

A practical guide to connecting with your ancestors for personal, family, and cultural healing

- Provides exercises and rituals to help you initiate contact with your ancestors, find ancestral guides, and assist the dead who are not yet at peace

- Explains how to safely engage in lineage repair work by connecting with your more ancient ancestors before relating with the recently deceased

- Explores how your ancestors can help you transform intergenerational legacies of pain and abuse and reclaim the positive spirit of the family

Everyone has loving and wise ancestors they can learn to invoke for support and healing. Coming into relationship with your ancestors empowers you to transform negative family patterns into blessings and encourages good health, self-esteem, clarity of purpose, and better relationships with your living relatives.

Offering a practical guide to understanding and navigating relationships with the spirits of those who have passed, Daniel Foor, Ph.D., details how to relate safely and effectively with your ancestors for personal, family, and cultural healing. He provides exercises and rituals, grounded in ancient wisdom traditions, to help you initiate contact with your ancestors, find supportive ancestral guides, cultivate forgiveness and gratitude, harmonize your bloodlines, and assist the dead who are not yet at peace. He explains how to safely engage in lineage repair work by connecting with your more ancient ancestors before relating with the recently deceased. He shows how, by working with spiritually vibrant ancestors, individuals and families can understand and transform intergenerational patterns of pain and abuse and reclaim the full blessings and gifts of their bloodlines. Ancestral repair work can also catalyze healing breakthroughs among living family members and help children and future generations to live free from ancestral burdens. The author provides detailed instructions for ways to honor the ancestors of a place, address dream visits from the dead, and work with ancestor shrines and altars. The author offers guidance on preparing for death, funeral rites, handling the body after death, and joining the ancestors. He also explains how ancestor work can help us to transform problems such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and religious persecution.

By learning the fundamentals of ancestor reverence and ritual, you will discover how to draw on the wisdom of supportive ancestral guides, heal family troubles, maintain connections with beloved family after their death, and better understand the complex and interconnected relationship between the living and the dead.

LONGLISTED FOR THE POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE

'Adore, adore, adore' THE GUARDIAN
'Simply phenomenal' BITCH MEDIA
'Brave, inspirational, ground-breaking' BARBARA CARELLAS
'Deeply personal, honest and instructive' CARYN FRANKLIN
'A gift to anyone looking to open their minds and fall in love' CN LESTER

In this frank, funny and poignant book, transgender activist Juno Roche discusses sex, desire and dating with leading figures from the trans and non-binary community.

Calling out prejudices and inspiring readers to explore their own concepts of intimacy and sexuality, the first-hand accounts celebrate the wonder and potential of trans bodies and push at the boundaries of how society views gender, sexuality and relationships.

Empowering and necessary, this collection shows all trans people deserve to feel brave, beautiful and sexy.

Maia Toll's Wild Wisdom series--The Illustrated Herbiary, The Illustrated Bestiary, and The Illustrated Crystallary--introduced readers to the mystical energy of the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms. In this capstone to the Wild Wisdom series, Maia Toll's Wild Wisdom Companion guides readers in developing a personalized earth-based spiritual practice using rituals, writing prompts, recipes, symbols, and reflections tied to each season.

Organized into 12 chapters--Winter Solstice, Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumnal Equinox, plus early and late stages of each of the four seasons -- the book features seasonal practices; exercises for the body and for writing and reflection; plant, animal, and mineral medicine; and symbolic explorations of the gifts and challenges that arise with seasonal change. Original illustrations by Kate O'Hara illuminate the symbolic richness of the text, and 28 pop-out oracle cards plus four bound-in pocket pages enhance the invitation for readers to use this interactive guide as an ongoing tool for cultivating the sacred in their own lives.