FIND YOUR POWER – Book Review

FIND YOUR POWER – A Toolkit for Resilience & Positive Change

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

FIND YOUR POWER
A Toolkit for Resilience & Positive Change

by Dr Chris Johnstone
Foreword by Rob Hopkins, co-founder of The Transition Movement
Permanent Publications 18th May 2010
ISBN: 13 978-1856230506
205mm x 160mm Paperback 312pp
B&W illustrations UK: £12.95

“Find Your Power” is a great book which is fun and encouraging as well as being full of good tips and activities. It brings the complex notion of personal power to life, offers insight into ourselves as a species and invites a sense of soul and purpose to our journey.

Drawing on insights from addictions recovery, positive psychology, storytelling and holistic science, “Find Your Power” describes how you can strengthen your ability to bring about positive change, and are proven strategies for improving mood, building strengths and increasing effectiveness.

The tools described can be used for any kind of change, from tackling depression and improving your life through to addressing world issues like peak oil and climate change. This new, improved second edition has a foreword by Rob Hopkins, co-founder of the Transition movement.

The first part of the book introduces motivational enhancement tools that help you become clearer about your direction and more inspired to move that way while the second offers tools for getting through blocks by looking at creative problem solving strategies, ways of dealing with fear and methods for transforming crisis or failure into turning points.

The third part of the book then explores how to keep yourself going in the marathon of longer term change by strengthening support around you, tapping into purposes bigger than yourself and making what you do more enjoyable.

With a background in medicine, psychology and groupwork the author, Dr. Chris Johnstone, is a specialist in the psychology of positive change. After working for many years as an addictions specialist in the UK health service, he now focuses on teaching, training and writing.

Chris has been active in the Transition movement, contributing to a chapter on the psychology of change in “The Transition Handbook” by Rob Hopkins. He has pioneered the application of the positive psychology approach in healthcare, within organizations and in adult education. He edits the online newsletter “The Great Turning Times.”

I sincerily hope to be able to implement a great number of the lessons from this book im my life, personal and professional.

© 2010