Title: How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self
Author: Dr. Nicole LePera, also known as the Holistic Psychologist on the internet and social media. Dr. LePera is a therapist by trade and has over 7.6 million followers on Instagram.
What is it? A book. In addition to content, it also features many writing prompts and journal activities to guide readers through some of the self-work the book highlights.
Who should read it? Anyone wanting to better understand themselves and how their current life experience and psychology relates to their past experiences and traumas.
Two minute skinny: Dr. LePera is a therapist, who was far from living her best life, while somehow still trying to help others live theirs. How to Do the Work is both a personal story of how she overcame her own past traumas to better understand herself and her relationships, as well a toolbox to help you do the same. She takes readers through her own journey of self-discovery and self-love, and offers insights into several of today’s most popular psychology and therapy techniques along the way.
There is so much to learn from this book. Dr. LePera helps readers understand what it looks like to become more self-aware, facilitates readers reconnecting with their inner child, shares fundamentals of popular psychology theories like polyvagal theory, and even provides an exercise to facilitate re-parenting of the self. This book really does have something for everyone looking to better understand why they are the way they are. Readers will see parts of themselves in LePera’s stories and are bound to find at least one, if not many, resources, tools, and new points of view to carry them through their own desire to do the work.
Rating? Worth the Investment? We give this book an 8/10. Many of the insights offered in the book might best be explored with a trusted therapist, who can help facilitate self-understanding in tandem with this resource.
Listen, I don’t have time for a whole book… What’s second best? Dr. LePera also has a podcast which she produces called “The SelfHealers Soundboard.” It features many episodes about issues you may be facing in smaller, more digestible bites. She also has several short YouTube videos that give an overview of her ideas. Or simply check out her very popular Instagram page here.
And in case you wanted to go deeper: If you read the entire book, and you still want more, Dr. LePera has an interactive workbook entitled How to Meet Yourself: The Workbook of Self-Discovery.This is a great tool to go deeper into the work she promotes in her book. She also has a new book that will be out at the end of November called, How to be the Love you Seek: Break Cycles, Find Peace, and Heal your Relationships.
Blogpost by Hallie Moberg Brauer
