"If change is the natural order of things, why do so many people struggle with the milestones of life - from first jobs and first loves, to children leaving home and retirement?
We live in a culture of limitless choice - and life is now more complex than ever. In This Too Shall Pass, acclaimed psychotherapist Julia Samuel draws on hours of conversations with her patients to show how we can learn to adapt and thrive during our most difficult and transformative experiences. Illuminated by the latest social and psychological research, this book unflinchingly deals with the hard times in family, love, work, health and identity.
From a woman deciding whether to leave her husband for a younger lover, to a father handling a serious medical diagnosis. And from a new mother struggling with the decision to return to work, to a young man dealing with the aftermath of coming out, and a woman starting over after losing her job.
These powerful, unforgettable, and deeply intimate stories about everyday people will inform our understanding of our own unique response to change and enlighten the way we approach challenges at every stage of life."
Pages: 336
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review as part of a blog tour for Penguin Life Books. Thank you so much to Penguin Life and Julia Samuel for this opportunity. This Too Shall Pass will be published on the 5th March 2020.
Make sure to check out all of the other awesome bloggers on this tour!
In This Too Shall Pass, Julia Samuel explores the process of change and how dramatically it can affect our lives.
Focusing on family relationships, love, work, health and identity, Julia shares some amazing stories from her clients. I was blown away by theses courageous stories, from a 73 year old finding new love to starting work for the first time to a refugee having to start her life over. They were all so impactful and some were even unexpectedly relatable. As well as these stories, at the end of each section Julia also gives some really insightful reflections. This book sends a message of hope to it's readers and has definitely been immensely helpful to me.
It has helped me address some things that I have been anxious about the last few months. After finishing University, I struggled with trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I applied for some jobs and ended up doing something that I didn't like at all. After the contract ended I became scared of applying for more jobs. Not hearing back from employers was so disheartening but I was also worried about being stuck working on something that gave me no joy for the rest of my life.
I felt like it was fate picking up this book. Since reading it I have got the confidence back to start applying to some more jobs and I have even enrolled on an online course for Proofreading & Copy-Editing. I love reading books, which you may have been able to tell from my blog, and I feel like it could be a good industry for me to go into. I feel so much lighter after reading This Too Shall Pass and it also offers some coping mechanisms that I am going to introduce into my lifestyle such as HALT and The 8 Pillars of Strength.
"Hope is about how we think. It has three parts: the capacity to set realistic goals, the ability to work out how to achieve them, including the adaptability for a backup plan, and finally self-belief."
It was such an easy and enjoyable read. I really liked Julia's approach to writing this, there weren't any complicated terms and it was all in words that I could understand. Also it is easy to tell just how compassionate and understanding Julia is with her clients!
This truly is going to be a treasured book on my bookshelf and I'm sure that it is going to be one that I reread again and again! I'm definitely going to be recommending this book to everyone I know. I've been talking it up so much lately that my family are already eyeing up my copy! I devoured every single word and it has made me want to read everything Julia has written and I will definitely look out for everything she writes in the future.
This Too Shall Pass was an absolutely extraordinary read and I can't thank Julia Samuel and Penguin Life Books enough for this opportunity to read it! Make sure to keep an eye out for This Too Shall Pass on the 5th March 2020!
About the Author
"Julia Samuel MBE is a leading British Psychotherapist. she has worked in private practice and with the NHS for the last thirty years and is Founder Patron of Child Bereavement UK. She lives in London with her husband and has four children and six grandchildren. She is the author of Grief Works."