4.75⭐️

[a copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher from netgalley. thank you!]

i really enjoyed the messaging of this book. as someone living in an invisibly disabled body, it was nice to be reminded that i am more than my disorders. there was lots of handy mindfulness skills and strategies thrown in, and, even though i had heard of all of them, it was a good reminder

I enjoyed this. It was a very refreshing and honest read. The reflection points made me think but it was the authors story that I felt was key to this book. It gave me a determination and a power to make life work for me. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

In the disability community, there's a common phrase - "Nothing about us without us!" So, it's always refreshing when I discover a new voice living into this phrase and leading the way for others with disabilities and chronic health concerns.

Dr. Jennifer Caspari is a clinical psychologist living with cerebral palsy. With "You Are More than Your Body," Dr. Caspari serves up 30+ evidence-based strategies for living well with chronic illness.

This idea of "living well" isn't common enough in the disability community, a community where far too often daily life is focused on surviving and not necessarily thriving. Dr. Caspari offers this gentle, supportive guide to developing coping skills and improving one's quality of life.

For some, especially those who've lived long-term with disabilities and chronic illnesses, "You Are More Than Your Body" may very well feel introductory in nature or as sort of a "101" exploration of successfully living life with disabilities, chronic pain, or chronic illness. While sometimes it can be awkward for clinicians to do personal revelation, it works well here as Dr. Caspari weaves together her clinical expertise, personal experience, and basic, practical tools backed by evidence and extensive research. There's a welcome transparency here in examining living life with a daily routine of pain, fatigue, and the inherent vulnerability of living in a world frequently not made for those with health concerns.

Using such approaches as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and a variety of mindfulness techniques, Dr. Caspari guides us toward shifting mental focus, better tuning into our emotional and physical being, cultivating radical acceptance, changing our relationship with our thoughts, realistic goal-setting, and learning how to use our deepest values as a resource among other goals and objectives.

In each chapter, Dr. Caspari weaves together both personal experience and clinical techniques. She also includes a self-reflection exercise with an associated coping skill. She realistically acknowledges that while we can't take away our issues and challenges, we don't have to settle for a lower quality of life.

I will confess that at times I read a bit more quickly through "You Are More Than Your Body" as I'm also an adult who's worked in mental health while having a disability (spina bifida/amputee). Thus, I was familiar quite often with the material presented, however, this familiarity didn't decrease my appreciation for Dr. Caspari's work here and my recognition that this will be an incredibly valuable resource for many.

Outstanding new offering in the self-help category. Especially for people struggling with their bodies, whether that's due to illness, injury, weight. I loved all the suggestions for reflection and tools she offers, and her gentle tone and personal sharing was completely on point. Will be recommending to friends!

Caspari writes from experience - this book is about both the body and the mind.
I was interested in Caspari's own experience as well as the way she summarised and made use of some CBT and mindfulness techniques.

I got this as an arc on Netgalley and it will come out in June. I'm having complicated feelings about this book, I'm having hard time putting these in words. Do I think a book like this, written by someone who is disabled will help some people? Yeah. Especially freshly disabled people. Will it benefit everyone, definitely not. It doesn't claim too. But I'm not sure all advice is good advice. And when you think excersize helps ME patients, you lose me. So do I recommend? It depends truly on your diagnosis. I'm truly on the fence on this one.

Chronic illness friends, you can definitely find something from this book! I really enjoyed it, and I found the writing engaging and the exercises and tips to be helpful.

This book wasn't really what I was expecting. From
The title I was expecting something more about things not related to the body but this was very much focused on the body.
It may be useful for someone who is new to chronic pain as most of the techniques I had come across before.