Being Human By Natalie Read Review

Reviewed by Jo Hardy

The sub title to this book is “The Path to Self-Acceptance, Resilience and Happiness“, a big title that covers a lot of things.  It is aimed at young adults but there are lots of things in the book that many people could find useful.  Natalie has worked as a student counsellor in the UK for over twelve years so has a wealth of experience.  The statistics relating to the number and age of young people experiencing mental health disorders at the start of this book were quite alarming to me.  It is thought due to the increased used of technology now more than ever people find it difficult to switch off, and from my own experiences I can see this is true.

One of the reasons Natalie wrote the book was because she was concerned about how difficult it can be to get help with mental health quickly and hopes that this book can be used as another support option while waiting for one to one support or used along side it.

It is stressed that the book is not a substitute for professional help and there are pages of resources at the back of the book that would be helpful contacts for many disorders.

Unlike a lot of self help books I have tried to read in the past this book is very easy to read and does not have too much jargon in it.  It is packed full of case examples all fictitious but based on real life.  There is also free access to twelve self guided meditations that support the materials in the book and a practical guide on how to meditate.  I’ve never meditated before and had no idea how to start so these simple steps that may seem very basic to some were important for me. The first meditation I tried was “the garden “. It was easy to find on You Tube. The voice was very clear and soothing to listen to and I fell easily into the visualisation that was suggested.  It lasted about ten minutes and at the end of it I felt completely relaxed .
The book is divided into three parts:

• Part one Is about the emotions
• Part two explores common reasons people go to counsellors
• Part three is how to build your own resilience

There are little exercises throughout the book where you are asked to write down the answers to some questions about yourself and your feelings.  I didn’t always know what to write down at first and revisited them the next day but it was all very interesting to explore your mind in this way.

This is a book that can be read from start to finish or you can dip in and out of chapters as you are drawn to them and there may be times during your life than you need to revisit certain areas of the book.  However you choose to read it I think this is a book to keep forever because you never know when you might need it.

If you do know someone who is suffering with mental health problems it is often difficult to know what to do to help them , maybe getting them a copy of this book would be one thing you could do.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £9.99

This product can be purchased from Amazon here.