You've Got This; Seven Steps to a Life You Love by Michaela Dunbar was not for me, personally. I am still thankful that I got to read this!

YOU'VE GOT THIS by Michaela Dunbar was published in hardcover in 2022 and the paperback recently (June 2023) came out. Dunbar, a clinical psychologist based in southeast London, offers "Seven Steps to a Life You Love." She titles her chapters with topics that do concern teen girls and young women in particular: anxiety, overthinking, people-pleasing, and fear of failure, for example. Dunbar readily admits, "I'm not a fan of jargon. I don't have a therapy voice. You know, all softly spoken and head-tilty." Her style may be an effort to relate to younger readers, but I found it to be distracting. She begins with Padesky's Five-Part Model, saying “no need to reinvent the wheel, right?” – see that I mean? There is a nice reflective exercise about emotions, thoughts, physical responses, actions, and experiences after which she seeks to reassure readers that the connections between those parts can be made more positive: "I know that sounds super-cheesy, but I honestly didn't make that up -- that's legit psychology speak!" If you can handle her writing style, you may find some useful information here. I would recommend SO many other texts (e.g., Good Anxiety by Wendy Suzuki; Or The Emotional Lives of Teenagers by Lisa Damour OR You Are Awesome by Neil Pasricha OR Getting Comfortable with Uncertainty for Teens by Negreiros) first, however.

While the terms “healing from trauma,” “imposter syndrome,” “boundaries,” and “neuroplasticity” are everywhere you look these days, they’re too often handled with clinical gloves- making them sterile and unapproachable. If you’re interested in learning more about them from an approachable source, Michaela Dunbar is the perfect answer.

This book flew by for me. The only reason I didn’t read straight through is because I kept pausing to complete the helpful journaling ideas presented throughout. While she has the credentials (she’s a successful clinical psychologist) to back up her words, she’s also more than willing to share life experiences to keep it real. Dr. Dunbar’s tone is warm, friendly, and empowering.

I hope this book opens up a broader audience to her work. I’ll definitely be taking her advice, and looking forward to more!

Thank you NetGalley, Harper Wave and Harper Business, and Dr. Dunbar for granting access to a digital ARC in exchange for review.