This book is now available in paperback. While many of us may seek traditional therapy to help us deal with life's difficulties, Zen, according to David Brazier's "Zen Therapy", offers an alternative - dragon-riding lessons. Psychologist and best selling author Robert Wicks is a specialist in the field of secondary stress and counsels people who help others - psychologists, doctors, nurses, and ministers. In "Riding the Dragon", Wicks offers dragon riding lessons, drawing upon both Eastern and Western traditions. In this warm, compassionate, and highly personal guidebooks, Wicks offers encouragement and 10 lessons to help people engage their problems and grow through them. The 10 lessons include: prune carefully and often; recognize your renewal zones; catch the slide; seek hidden possibilities; engage the darkness; pair clarity and kindness; find love in small deeds; seek perspective daily; build a barrier of simplicity; and come home more often. Wicks has shown a generation the links between psychology and spirituality, working from the perspective that difficult times can offer striking moments of grace.

In the end, it is not the amount of darkness in the world, our country, family or even within ourselves that matters-It is how we stand in that darkness that is crucial. In light of this, the overall question addressed in this book is simple and challenging: How can we best mentor ourselves with the knowledge that already surrounds us so we learn and grow from the changes, stress, and even trauma, that we must face in today's uncertain times? Underlying the book's overall message is the signature strength of humility because as the author emphasizes: When we take knowledge and add humility, we get wisdom, and when we then add this very wisdom to compassion, we get love... and love is at the heart of a rich, compassionate, and resilient life. The book presents a series of 50 brief lessons on such topics as: * Developing a renewed and deeper interest in creative approaches to self-care * Overcoming resistance to change * Ways to gain, maintain, and regain a healthy perspective * Appreciating the advantages of the "psychological detours" forced on us in life * How spending only 2 minutes each day in silence, solitude, and wrapped in gratitude can be transformative * Understanding how we can best apply the principles of posttraumatic growth (PTG) to our own life situation * Dealing effectively with necessary change and unexpected loss * Recognizing the importance of pacing and timing in our interactions with others

A solid spiritual life is within everyone's reach . . .

it's not that complicated.

Getting a life of any kind is hard enough in a world that has us going around in circles -- from the stresses of our workplace to the demands of home and back again tomorrow.

Getting a spiritual life can seem like a luxury to be put off to another, quieter time.

Robert Wicks, however, believes that the search for a spiritual life begins not in some exotic, unreachable place, but right where we are -- in the midst of all the craziness.

It starts within our busy, stressed-out human hearts, not in some other "more spiritual" place.

The more we are able, therefore, to be our true selves, the more successful we will be in developing a spirituality that will be real and satisfying.

Here's solid, common sense advice on how to get a spiritual life -- no matter how busy your day.

The mental and physical health of caregivers impacts more than just that individual worker. It affects the health of their patients, it impacts their families, it shapes communities, it influences politics, and it plays into international relations. Medical and nursing professionals working in today's health care settings must be prepared to offer support in dangerous times despite staffing shortages, financial pressures, and complex legal requirements. The nature of this work puts these professionals in harm's way not only physically, but at greater risk for secondary stress, trauma, burnout and other emotional impacts exacerbating the need for self-care. There is no better time to revisit the problem of secondary stress among caregivers than on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic. Times of challenge and change test health care professionals' self-care insights, strategy, and reserves. New learnings and ways of maneuvering through difficult professional practice situations and life in general can become permanent elements in our self-care cache. This book will enrich the reader's insights and strategies with respect to secondary stress leading to enhanced resilience of mind, body and spirit. This second edition draws on content in the first edition and information from classic literature and research findings about the phenomenon of secondary stress experienced by nurses, physicians and physician assistants. This book highlights the importance of interprofessional communication and support in ameliorating the stressors of clinical work, an effort enhanced by interdisciplinary co-authorship. Educators and front line clinicians have come to the realization that the recognition and self-management of secondary stress and burnout will contribute to a high functioning, caring health care delivery system in the future that prevents attrition and major health problems for those in clinical careers. Overcoming Secondary Stress in Medical and Nursing Practice is an indispensable resource for medical and nursing professionals, students, and the counselors and therapists who work with them.

Enriching the balance and meaning of life by better understanding stress and creating your own self-care protocol, Bounce shows you how to live life to the fullest. People are naturally drawn to information on how to improve self-care, create a richer circle of friends, develop and maintain a healthy perspective, and, especially now, the importance of seeing "alone-time" not simply as forced isolation but a venue for new personality development. This aids self-awareness and understanding and improves emotional intellect so we don't react but instead pause to reflect and process life as it unfolds. The original edition of Bounce addressed these areas but then came Covid-19, intense political strife, and increased divisiveness within countries, families, communities, and even faith traditions. The need to greet, successfully adjust to, and even benefit from, such unexpected and broad-reaching change, personally threatening challenges, and stress is of even greater importance now. In addition, styles of living which were taken for granted, such as adults going to work and children educated in an actual classroom, were also radically impacted. As a result, adults were also expected to quickly adapt in order to deal with the questions raised by the young about their own security and hoped-for normalcy. With updated information and a new chapter on post-traumatic growth (PTG), the second edition of Bounce is designed to enhance the search for balance and new meaning to live life to the fullest.

Stress is a fact of modern life. And as more and more people face greater financial insecurity, longer work hours, and the increasingly complex personal and social demands of our fast-paced, multi-tasking, high-tech lifestyle, finding healthy ways to handle stress is more important than ever.
In Bounce: Living the Resilient Life, Robert Wicks shows you not just how to manage stress, but how to transform stressful situations into opportunities to live a more meaningful, self-aware, and compassionate life. Wicks makes available to everyone techniques he has used for over 30 years in helping physicians, nurses, psychotherapists, educators, social workers, ministers, and relief workers not only survive but flourish in highly stressful occupations. You'll learn a wide range of methods--normally reserved for those in helping and healing professions--to help you bounce back from stress and live life to the fullest.
Bounce shows you how to:

. Recognize the insidious nature of denial and avoidance as responses to stress
. Employ psychologically powerful approaches to self-awareness
. Improve self-talk through the use of cognitive behavioral principles
. Apply daily-debriefing techniques
. Utilize a structured reflection guide to uncover areas that require special attention
. Incorporate silence, solitude, and mindfulness into daily life
. Stop the drain of valuable emotional energy caused by toxic life situations and unexamined attitudes and beliefs
. And much more
Most important, Bounce helps you develop your own self-care protocol and personal renewal program, based on an honest assessment of your needs, life situation, and habitual ways of dealing--or failing to deal--with stress.
Insightful, practical, and filled with wise guidance, Bounce shows us all how to live with greater resilience in a world that grows more stressful by the day."

For fans of best-selling author Bob Wicks and for anyone who's ever wanted to know why he's so special to so many readers, here is a "Best of Wicks" collection of his trademark themes in one handy book. Over the years, Bob Wicks has returned again and again to four spiritual and psychological anchors that lead to peace and fulfillment. These main anchors or life themes are experiencing God, being available, having a sense of clarity, and delighting in the ordinary. In all, Wicks has created a "spirituality of gentleness." Writing about the four main themes, Wicks talks about such individual topics as prayer, silence, solitude, presence, sensitivity, identity, perspective, awareness, relationship, living in the now, and love and service. This compilation shows how his thought on each subject has developed and ripened over time-perfect for leading readers along their own journey of discovery. Each subject is covered in a brief page or two, perfect for quiet mornings or evenings or for creating a moment of peace during a hectic day. Also included are original poems from Wicks, many never before published, to begin and end chapters. There's also a guide to the source of each meditation so longtime fans will know which reflections come from which book. This "best of Wicks'" is ideal for longtime fans and new readers, for anyone suffering loss or experiencing change of any kind, all those with hectic lifestyles, and everyone who needs a bit of gentleness in his or her life. The book is also a valuable resource for clergy and religious, anyone in the helping professions, retreat directors, directors of religious education, adult ed courses, and small faith sharing groups.

In this practical and hopeful book, the author leads readers on the path of sensitivity, encouraging them not to withdraw from the darkness in the world, while warning of the pitfalls of cynicism and burnout. Rooted in the richness of spiritual tradition, this book is indeed a guiding light for those who seek to live a sensitive life.