Alves Wellinton - Superhero therapy: mindfulness skills to help teens and young adults deal with anxiety, depression, and trauma

Wonderfully written and beautifully illustrated, this engaging book presents acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) methods using comic book characters from geek culture. Its more than a styleits a powerful new method of training evidence-based ways of dealing with mental health problems. Defusion methods are even more obviously useful when they are charms; it is even clearer what needs to be done when the sword of willingness cuts anxiety monsters down to size. Welcome, new recruit, to the Superhero Training Academy. I hope you enjoy the super powers you will acquire!

Steven C. Hayes, PhD, codeveloper of ACT

Janina Scarlets approach to healing and empowerment is absolutely genius. With her signature blend of compassion, emotional intelligence, honesty, and fun, Scarlets long-awaited SuperheroTherapy gives us fascinating insight about the deepest significance of pop culture iconsand an essential guide to creating your own superhero within.

Chase Masterson, actress (StarTrek; TheFlash)

Janina Scarlet is a real-life superhero with an origin story to rival any Marvel character. After surviving a childhood radiation spill, she moved halfway around the earth, overcame post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain, and reinvented herself as one of the worlds most creative and innovative clinical psychologists. Her superhero therapy method is incredibly effective, easy-to-learn, grounded in solid scientific researchand most of all, fun. This book proves that getting stronger and happier can be a creative, intriguing, and thrilling journey. I am a huge fan of this book! It has worked for so many peopleand I am confident it can work for you.

JaneMcGonigal, PhD, author of SuperBetter and RealityisBroken

Equal parts approachable and educational, SuperheroTherapy is a great guide to managing your mental health that will make you feel like an IRL hero in the process.

SamMaggs, best-selling author of The Fangirls Guide to the Galaxy and Wonder Women

Her origin story is strong and her lesson is stronger. In SuperheroTherapy, Janina Scarlet shows that a fear or weakness does not make a hero any less heroic, and that we all can be heroes both for ourselves and for others. Pain can be power. This fascinating resource can help therapists find ways to open dialogue with clients who are not ready to talk about their own lives, but might discuss the same issues through fictional examples. It is also a self-help book offering guidance for those who have trouble finding a path through lifes troubles. SuperheroTherapy is a must-read with a valuable message, and there is no one better to share that message than Scarlet.

TravisLangley, PhD, author of BatmanandPsychology, and editor of StarWarsPsychology

Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books

Copyright 2017 by Janina Scarlet

Instant Help Books

An imprint of New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

5674 Shattuck Avenue

Oakland, CA 94609

www.newharbinger.com

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Robinson

Copyright Janina Scarlet, 2016; Illustrations Wellinton Alves, 2016

The moral right of the authors has been asserted.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Important Note

This book is not intended as a substitute for medical advice or treatment. Any person with a condition requiring medical attention should consult a qualified medical practitioner or suitable therapist.

Designed by Design23, London

Printed in Canada

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Scarlet, Janina, author. | Alves, Wellinton, illustrator.

Title: Superhero therapy : mindfulness skills to help teens and young adults deal with anxiety, depression, and trauma / Janina Scarlet, PhD ; illustrated by Wellinton Alves.

Description: Oakland, CA : New Harbinger Publications, Inc., [2017] | Audience: Age 14-18.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017020706 (print) | LCCN 2017029574 (ebook) | ISBN 9781684030347 (PDF e-book) | ISBN 9781684030354 (ePub) | ISBN 9781684030330 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781684030354 (e-pub)

Subjects: LCSH: Acceptance and commitment therapy--Popular works--Juvenile literature. | Teenagers--Mental health--Juvenile literature. | Anxiety--Popular works--Juvenile literature. | Depression in adolescence--Popular works--Juvenile literature. | Psychic trauma in adolescence--Popular works--Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC RC489.A32 (ebook) | LCC RC489.A32 S23 2017 (print) | DDC 616.85/20651--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017020706

SUPERHERO is used in the title and contents of this book in its generic sense only, and no affiliation with or endorsement by any trademark owners is claimed or suggested.

To Andrew McAleer, who changed my life with a single email; to Jay and Matt for

believing in me; to my family, by blood or by choice, for their support;

and to Dustin McGinnis for being my superhero.

Have you ever wanted to become a superhero? Have you ever wished that you could have amazing superpowers, such as superstrength, the ability to fly, or the ability to heal people? Or perhaps you wished that you could travel through time and space, enjoying the many adventures that you would encounter along the way?

Most people I meet wish that they could have special superpowers or magical abilities and most say that if they possessed them, they would use them to help others. One thing I have observed from the years I have spent working with patients with anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic pain disorder, and many other physical and mental health struggles is that most people are capable of a lot more than they know. I have learned that in a time of need, people come to experience superpowers they never knew they had, finding courage, strength, and motivation they never believed to be possible.

The truth is that I too for many years wished that I could have magical abilities, specifically the ability to heal or save people. A traumatic experience I underwent in my early childhood left me feeling weak, broken, and not in control of my own destiny. When I was just a few months shy of my third birthday, there was a large nuclear explosion in a city called Chernobyl, not too far away from where my family and I were living in Ukraine. Unfortunately, many of us did not know about the extent of this disaster for nearly a week after the explosion occurred, so we continued eating local fruit and drinking tap water, all of which were poisoned.