Finding Joy with an Invisible Chronic Illness: Proven Strategies for Discovering Happiness, Meaning, and Fulfillment

A 2022 Readers’ Favorite Silver Medal Winner
"Finding Joy is a vital guide on how to best manage and navigate life with a chronic illness." —James Nestor, New York Times bestselling author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
Finding Joy presents a comprehensive, practical guide for living your best life with chronic illness. This psychology self-help book integrates personal and professional insights to give you tools for handling various aspects of living with a chronic illness. There is also a chapter specifically for the loved ones and caregivers of the chronically ill. While this book is designed for anyone with a chronic illness, the spiritual content early in the book suggests the value of sticking to your faith and offers several Bible references.
Ultimately, Finding Joy is an A-to-Z guide that critiques the literature and empowers the reader with: Positive psychology techniques. These range from self-compassion, positive reappraisal, positive self-talk, and pacing to positive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors such as optimism, humor, and volunteer work. Stress-reduction methods. These include tools such as mindfulness, breathing exercises, simplification, and (therapeutic) journaling. Proven therapies. Examples include cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Effective communication strategies and their impact on relationships and even the ability to access quality healthcare. Numerous tips to both access and optimize your experience with high-quality healthcare. Important considerations for loved ones of the chronically ill, so they too can know how to best support their loved one and take care of themselves in the process.
“This book offers great value for anyone with chronic illness as it contains clear, practical, and actionable insights and steps that can be naturally implemented into daily life. An engaging, easy, and helpful read. Highly recommended.” —Alla Bogdanova, MSc, MIM, co-founder and past president of the International Empty Nose Syndrome Association
"The thing that sets it apart from others is that it’s written by a fellow sufferer who can also give valuable insight as a psychologist. This topic could easily be heavy-going, but it is mainly an upbeat, positive read. Saying that, the author has taken care to balance positivity with reality." —Elsa Bridger on Amazon.co.uk
"What I loved the most about this book is the author has his own chronic illnesses so all methods are tried and tested. I really like the way this book was written as it didn't feel like any other self-help book I have ever read; it felt more relaxed. You knew that the author understood you and his manner made me take more in." —Ladyreading365 on Goodreads.com
“I have had various invisible chronic illnesses for nearly forty years, but I was still able to find suggestions that will help me. So many of the things I have gone through are reflected in this book. I highly recommend this comprehensive book.” —Sue on Amazon.ca