Robert J. Wicks - The Simple Care of a Hopeful Heart - Mentoring Yourself in Difficult Times

Posttraumatic growth flows when we do not romanticize or play down our pain, but open up to new possibilities not available had the pain not occurred in the first place. In The Simple Care of a Hopeful Heart, Dr. Robert Wicks, a world-renowned expert and author on resiliency and self-care, shares the importance of knowing how to mentor ourselves, so we do not simply seek to bounce back from psychological pressures and darkness, but actually harness them to achieve deeper self-understanding. This book is a much needed guide for these challenging times.

Bradley T. Erford, PhD

Professor, Peabody College of Education and Human Development

Vanderbilt University

Former President, American Counseling Association

Through stories and anecdotes, as well as his wisdom as a long-tenured psychologist and author on the themes of self-care and maintaining a healthy perspective, Dr. Wicks takes the reader on a journey to explore how to use challenges and pitfalls wisely as vehicles to become stronger and more resilient. Especially now, with the world we once knew upended with COVID-19 and societal discord, this book is the proverbial shot in the arm we all need to bolster our immunity in order to actually thrive when facing adversity.

Linda Laskowski-Jones, RN

Fellow, American Academy of Nursing

Editor in Chief

Nursing2020 Journal

The Simple Care of a Hopeful Heart is a treasure trove of insights and wisdom to help us navigate through a climate wrought with anxiety, fear, and uncertainty. With his signature charm, vulnerability, wit, and unique perspective of lifes challenges, Dr. Wicks inspires readers to transform hardships into opportunities, roadblocks into possibilities, and resentment into compassion. His lessons shine a much-needed light of hope and promise not only in the present darkness of a pandemic but through the storms of life that happen in all eras.

Therese Borchard

Author, Beyond Blue

Associate Editor, Psych Central

The Tao of Ordinariness: Humility and Simplicity in a Narcissistic Age

(Oxford University Press: 2019)

Selected as a 2019 Best Book of the Year by Spirituality and Practice

... with wit and wisdom garnered from literature, philosophy, and psychology, this book is a great guide for everyone seeking to explore the possibilities within themselves.

Stephen Joseph, PhD

Author, Authentic: How to Be Yourself and Why It Matters

***

Night Call: Embracing Compassion and Hope in a Troubled World

(Oxford University Press: 2018)

Robert Wicks, a renowned psychologist and specialist in the area of resilience, has written a truly impressive book.

Robert Brooks, PhD

Faculty, Harvard Medical School;

Co-author of The Power of Resilience

***

Perspective: The Calm Within the Storm

(Oxford University Press: 2014)

This is the kind of book you cant put down because it is so necessary.

Alexandra Fuller

The New York Times best-selling author of Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness

***

Bounce: Living the Resilient Life

(Oxford University Press: 2010)

Insightful, practical, and often humorous, Bounce is the right tonic for the spirit we need in a stressful world.

Helen Prejean

Author, Dead Man Walking

***

Riding the Dragon

(Sorin Books: 2003/2012)

Like a good friends support in tough times, Riding the Dragon is compassionate and wise.

Jack Kornfield

Author, A Path with Heart

***

Crossing the Desert: Learning to Let Go, See Clearly and Live Simply

(Sorin Books: 2007)

Crossing the Desert offers the reader inspiration, insight, and invaluable tools for discovering the sacred presence in daily life.

Tara Brach

Author, Radical Acceptance

Overcoming Secondary Stress in Medical and Nursing Practice, second edition (with Gloria Donnelly) (Oxford, 2021)

Clinicians Guide to Self-Renewal, edited with Elizabeth Maynard (Wiley, 2014)

The Inner Life of the Counselor (Wiley, 2012)

Primer on Posttraumatic Growth, co-authored with Mary Beth Werdel (Wiley, 2012)

The Resilient Clinician (Oxford, 2008)

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Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press

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Oxford University Press 2022

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Wicks, Robert J., author.

Title: The simple care of a hopeful heart : mentoring yourself in difficult

times / Robert J. Wicks.

Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2022] | Includes

bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021016358 (print) | LCCN 2021016359 (ebook) | ISBN

9780197515402 (paperback) | ISBN 9780197515426 (epub) | ISBN

9780197599976

Subjects: LCSH: Mentoring. | Self-perception. | Resilience (Personality

trait)

Classification: LCC BF637.M45 W53 2021 (print) | LCC BF637.M45 (ebook) |

DDC 158.3dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021016358

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021016359

DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197515402.001.0001

For Brendan Geary

A true renaissance person whose wisdom comes from combining a depth of knowledge with true humility. His compassion arises from realizing the need for creativity and faithfulness to what and who in life are good. What more can you ask of a human being than this?

Do not believe that he who seeks to comfort you lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. His life has much difficulty and sadness and remains far behind yours. Were it otherwise he would never have been able to find those words.

Rainer Maria RilkeLetters to a Young Poet

If everything around seems dark,

look again,

you may be the light.

Rumi

You can either make yourself miserable,