Synopses & Reviews
When you have difficulties managing your emotions, it can feel like you’re losing control of your whole life. Anger, hurt, grief, worry, and other intense feelings can be overwhelming, and how you react to these emotions can impact your ability to maintain relationships, succeed at work, or even think straight! If you find it difficult to understand, express, and process intense emotions—and most of us do—this book is for you.
Calming the Emotional Storm is your guide to coping with difficult emotions calmly and responsibly by using powerful skills from dialectical behavior therapy. This method combines cognitive behavioral techniques with mindfulness practices to change the way you respond to stressful situations. By practicing these skills, you can stop needless emotional suffering and develop the inner resilience that will help you weather any emotional storm.
This book will teach you how to:
• Establish a balanced life for an everyday sense of well-being
• Let go of unwanted worries and fears
• Become better at accepting yourself and others
• Work through a crisis without letting emotions take over
Review
"In my twenty-two years in the field, I have not encountered a more comprehensive guide to managing ones emotions. Sheri Van Dijk has taken complex psychotherapeutic processes and broken them down in an easy-to-read, accessible format. If you have ever been paralyzed with intense emotions, this is a must-read. I will be recommending this book to my patients."
Jody Joseph Levac, MSW, RSW, PhD, director of mental health at Southlake Regional Health Centre
Review
"Calming the Emotional Storm is simple, comprehensive, effective, and doable. This encouraging book inspires hope without minimizing that it can take a lot of hard work to make the changes necessary to start living an emotional healthy and balanced life. I will definitely recommend this book to my clients. The exercises in the book support understanding by helping readers stabilize emotional reactions while exploring ways to make positive changes."
Melanie Williams, registered social worker at Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers and certified trauma specialist
Review
"In a world where emotions are at the root of much pain and suffering, Sheri Van Dijk has written a skillful guide to help us acknowledge, experience, and, most importantly, bear the emotional landscape of our lives. The combination of concise language, clear explanations, accessible exercises and insightful case studies make this an exceptional tool for individuals, families, and clinicians alike."
—Glenys Smith Elliott, MEd, mental health case manager at York Support Services Network in Ontario, Canada
Review
"Calming the Emotional Storm is a reader-friendly manual that will teach readers how to manage difficult emotions. Each chapter prepares readers for helpful exercises on noticing and validating emotions. The dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills taught here are effective tools for improving self-esteem and work and personal relationships that will undoubtedly help readers gain a healthy balance in their lives, even in moments of crisis or stress. Calming the Emotional Storm will be a valuable asset to my clients and help them improve their overall well-being."
—Barbara L. Anschuetz, EdD, CTS, certified trauma specialist and traumatologist
Review
"Sheri Van Dijk’s new book is a well laid-out, user-friendly manual that can assist people in learning new skills to live a calmer, more effective life. I would recommend it to anyone who feels intense emotions."
—Cheri Faris, BMgt, MSW, RSW, clinical social worker at the Canadian Mental Health Association
Review
"Many can relate to experiencing the ‘emotional storm’ within. In this book, Van Dijk teaches fundamental DBT skills for helping manage these distressing emotions in a way that is accessible to all readers. The exercises and tips offered make this resource practical and easy to use. It provides readers with the skills they need to feel more in control of their emotions and make their lives more manageable."
—Diane Petrofski, MSW, RSW, Family Health Team
Review
"This book provides a crystal clear, concise, and lively introduction to DBT techniques for the general reader. It should be helpful for anyone who is interested in growing emotionally and learning how to have a healthier life."
—Paula Fuchs, PsyD, assistant clinical professor of psychology in the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
Synopsis
Sheri Van Dijk presents Calming the Emotional Storm, an easy-to-read introduction to the dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills that can help readers keep calm in the face of distressing emotions and regain emotional balance in their lives.
Synopsis
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a therapeutic modality that was originally developed for the treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Since the advent of this therapy, millions of people without the disorder have found DBT skills endlessly useful for helping manage out-of-control emotions and curbing impulsive behaviors that they just can’t stop. Calming the Emotional Storm is the first book to offer an accessible, general introduction to these DBT skills for anyone who feels overwhelmed by their emotions or feels that their emotions have led them to experience out-of-control behaviors and personal crises. Readers learn to understand and manage their emotions and begin to choose their actions rather than acting on impulses. They also practice calming their emotions in times of stress by embracing acceptance and fostering positive emotions about themselves. These life-changing skills can save many readers from unnecessary suffering due to the “emotional storm” inside.
About the Author
Sheri Van Dijk, MSW, is a psychotherapist in private practice and at Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, ON, Canada. She is author of The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Bipolar Disorder, Don't Let Your Emotions Run Your Life for Teens, Calming the Emotional Storm, and DBT Made Simple, and coauthor of The Bipolar Workbook for Teens. In September 2010, she received the R.O. Jones Award from the Canadian Psychiatric Association for her research on using dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills to treat bipolar disorder. Sheri presents internationally on using DBT to treat mental health problems.