What do you think?
Rate this book
The Light Between the Leaves: 6 Truths Your Therapist Won't Tell You About Healing Depression and Trauma
Drawing on psychology, lived experience, and the environments that shaped his own recovery, a clinical psychologist introduces a way of understanding the mind as an ecosystem—one that must be supported, stabilized, and nourished before it can truly change.
For many people, therapy, medication, and self-help advice provide insight—but not relief. They understand why they feel the way they do, yet still feel numb, disconnected, or emotionally distant from their own lives.
The Light Between the Leaves, by Dr. Scott Eilers, sheds light on why certain minds require a different framework for healing.
Known to many as “The Depression Doctor,” Dr. Scott is a clinical psychologist who has spent decades working with people whose depression, trauma, and emotional disconnection do not respond fully to conventional approaches. During his own struggle with disabling depression and self-isolation, Eilers found his way out through nontraditional methods—like reconnecting with nature in the area where he was raised. As he grew up immersed in the wild tapestry of the lakes region, he observed patterns of the natural world that eventually transformed his understanding of how we view and preserve mental well-being.
Through six core truths, Dr. Scott weaves together story, science, and practical application into the map he never had to help
Understand why joy, comfort, and connection can feel inaccessible even when life appears “fine” Recognize why positive moments fade quickly while emotional lows feel permanent See why therapy can help yet still leave gaps for certain forms of depression and trauma Identify the internal systems that quietly block emotional recovery Learn how to rebuild the pathways that allow positive experiences to register and last Move from simply functioning to genuinely feeling again A judgement- and jargon-free guide for those whose needs cut deeper than most, The Light Between the Leaves invites readers to explore clear glacial lakes, sprawling northern forests, and surprising detours through darkness and wonder on the road to improved mental health and reconnecting with the world.
For many people, therapy, medication, and self-help advice provide insight—but not relief. They understand why they feel the way they do, yet still feel numb, disconnected, or emotionally distant from their own lives.
The Light Between the Leaves, by Dr. Scott Eilers, sheds light on why certain minds require a different framework for healing.
Known to many as “The Depression Doctor,” Dr. Scott is a clinical psychologist who has spent decades working with people whose depression, trauma, and emotional disconnection do not respond fully to conventional approaches. During his own struggle with disabling depression and self-isolation, Eilers found his way out through nontraditional methods—like reconnecting with nature in the area where he was raised. As he grew up immersed in the wild tapestry of the lakes region, he observed patterns of the natural world that eventually transformed his understanding of how we view and preserve mental well-being.
Through six core truths, Dr. Scott weaves together story, science, and practical application into the map he never had to help
Understand why joy, comfort, and connection can feel inaccessible even when life appears “fine” Recognize why positive moments fade quickly while emotional lows feel permanent See why therapy can help yet still leave gaps for certain forms of depression and trauma Identify the internal systems that quietly block emotional recovery Learn how to rebuild the pathways that allow positive experiences to register and last Move from simply functioning to genuinely feeling again A judgement- and jargon-free guide for those whose needs cut deeper than most, The Light Between the Leaves invites readers to explore clear glacial lakes, sprawling northern forests, and surprising detours through darkness and wonder on the road to improved mental health and reconnecting with the world.
Audible Audio
Published April 14, 2026
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 2, 2026
Having gone through periods of depression and severe anxiety, I found this book clearly reflects the ways I’ve worked through those struggles without relying on medication. The six truths presented by the author, Scott Eilers, are simple yet practical—grounded reminders we often already know but tend to lose sight of amid life’s constant noise and distraction. It serves as a refreshing, gentle, yet convicting nudge in the right direction, rather than offering a quick fix or a prescription-based approach, which can sometimes feel like the default in modern therapy. What stood out most to me was his humility—his openness in sharing his own struggles and shortcomings—and the thoughtful way he connects those experiences to nature, highlighting the beauty and balance of a synchronized ecosystem.
Thank you @NetGalley and @BrillianceAudio for providing me with this pre-release audio version of “The Light Between the Leaves” in exchange for an honest review #NetGalley #TheLightBetweentheLeaves
Thank you @NetGalley and @BrillianceAudio for providing me with this pre-release audio version of “The Light Between the Leaves” in exchange for an honest review #NetGalley #TheLightBetweentheLeaves
Read
March 29, 2026I'm confused.. was this a memoir or self-help or neither or both?
The first few chapters were sure to point out everything this book wasn't going to be which sort of was how I claimed it to be.. and came off a touch preachy to begin with.
The rest of it offered some guidance for readers, but was heavily mixed with the author's background as well. It read like a heavily personal project for the author. I liked the chapters that told an even separate story that you clearly knew was going to be a metaphor for how to better your life / clear your head.
I got the audio ARC from NetGalley and am curious how this would have been perceived in book form.
Per guideline recommendations, I must comment on the cover, which is gorg. Love the title as well, both are very fitting.
The first few chapters were sure to point out everything this book wasn't going to be which sort of was how I claimed it to be.. and came off a touch preachy to begin with.
The rest of it offered some guidance for readers, but was heavily mixed with the author's background as well. It read like a heavily personal project for the author. I liked the chapters that told an even separate story that you clearly knew was going to be a metaphor for how to better your life / clear your head.
I got the audio ARC from NetGalley and am curious how this would have been perceived in book form.
Per guideline recommendations, I must comment on the cover, which is gorg. Love the title as well, both are very fitting.
Read
March 31, 2026Advance copy from NetGalley. I did not finish this one. Unfortunately, I got about 20% through but the authors constant pointing out about how amazing his childhood was and putting down his own profession got to be too much. This read like privilege white male mad at the world for nothing and then telling you to just do exactly what he did to get over it and it was unbearable any further. I actually like positive thinking but this was not my thing.
April 13, 2026
I went into this very hopeful for some new and meaningful insight into depression, trauma and anxiety. As someone who has dealt with all three from an incredibly young age, and has been shaped by it, I love the feeling of being seen and understood, and being provided with a practical pathway forward.
Unfortunately, that's not what The Light Between the Leaves was for me. I wonder if listening on audio affected my experience, because the author came across as quite unlikeable for some reason, and I wasn't able to put my trust in his knowledge. Beyond that, I felt he made the mistake many authors of this type of book do, and inserted himself too much into everything, to the point I felt I was reading a memoir more than a "self help" book. I also got the impression that the author is, in fact, not healed...and perhaps writing this served as some sort of catharsis on his journey. Again, that lended less credibility to the book and overall, I got very little out of this that wasn't already in my toolbox.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced audio of this title in exchange for my honest review.
Unfortunately, that's not what The Light Between the Leaves was for me. I wonder if listening on audio affected my experience, because the author came across as quite unlikeable for some reason, and I wasn't able to put my trust in his knowledge. Beyond that, I felt he made the mistake many authors of this type of book do, and inserted himself too much into everything, to the point I felt I was reading a memoir more than a "self help" book. I also got the impression that the author is, in fact, not healed...and perhaps writing this served as some sort of catharsis on his journey. Again, that lended less credibility to the book and overall, I got very little out of this that wasn't already in my toolbox.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced audio of this title in exchange for my honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
My search for a self-help book that says more than a 15 minutes youtube video continues. Alas, not this time again.
I've already noticed a problem when the author listed examples of what issues people come with to his therapy sessions: first person has great community, doesn't have a job or money, second person has a great, well-paying job, but doesn't have friends, third person has a job and friends, but doesn't have a romantic partner, the last person has all 3 but doesn't have children... and the author's take away from this was "be happy with what you have".
Sorry, wanting ALL of the above (financial security, friends/community, romantic/sexual partner and children) are BASIC wants of majority of humanity (ok, I've never wanted children, but I'm an outlier). You can't smugly criticize people for wanting too much and not appreciating for what all of them have when you compare it to basic life desires of human species. It's like saying "you don't have food, but you have water and oxygen - how dare you complain about hunger, be grateful for what you've got!"
Especially when the author himself has all of it! He has a job (as a therapist), great house by the lake, a wife, children... easy for him to say others should be happy with less.
This theme of an extremely privileged man spouting captain obvious life wisdoms continues. In the chapter on boundaries, he talks about not letting harmful or careless people affect you negatively, but that's easy to say when you have a choice, and your immediate surrounding isn't toxic. Most people who get deeply affected by toxic relationships have limited means to escape them - it's their family, esp. parents or spouse, or their workplace, esp. their boss, who keeps abusing them. Those abusers also usually have a power advantage over the victim and ensure the victim has as little freedom and safety nets as possible, so the victim is even less likely to escape somewhere else. It totally doesn't tackle the issue of how to put up walls when the enemy is already inside the castle, or can take something or someone dear to you hostage (it's especially common in toxic families to turn other people against the scapegoat or even try to use their children as leverage).
So yeah, if you're a person with so-called "first world problems", this is a nice pep-talk book. But otherwise? I'm wondering how is this guy qualified to be a therapist when he has so little insight into life hardships. He claims "he let people do horrible things to him", but refuses to elaborate, so we don't know was it something serious, or a nuisance he blew out of proportion to paint himself as "see, I struggle too". What we do learn about his struggles hints at the latter, since his regrets are "I had a goth emo phase as a teenager and didn't spend enough time with my grandparents before they passed" or "I played too much video games before my second child was born". It's just... painfully normal things painted as pathology. Speaking of which:
The chapter on video games, sorry, addiction... It basically tells people to eradicate from their lives anything they're so passionate about it would keep them up at night, only to tell people 2 chapters later to fill their spare time with random hobbies (they're likely not passionate about). How to be a normie 101 (even though the author swears to God he doesn't tell anyone to be a normie).
You know what kept me up at night last time? Reading this book and writing this review. LOL.
I used to have a problem with gaming too much, now I swapped that for reading books and guess what, the mind always needs to have an outlet. I can't remember where I've read this story, I think maybe in Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential--and Endangered? Wish I used to keep better track of my past reads before I started reviewing "for real".
It was a story about a girl from a very dysfunctional and neglectful family that struggled with drugs etc., where she had to take care of her siblings and protect them, and despite lack of proper role models, she grew up to become a charitable and helpful person, but she had a binge eating disorder. I remember how she stated she saw what drugs and alcohol do to people, so if she needs to choose one unhealthy relief, it's gonna be the less dangerous and damaging one. This story stayed with me years later, because it tells the wisdom of managing your "flaws" in a "lesser evil" way, instead of a futile strife to become flawless.
If your mind feels like an overflowing lake, instead of wasting endless energy building bigger dams so you hold all your impulses in check, the better solution is to find the least harmful way to spill the water out. The guy who tinkers in his vintage car for hours or fishes at the lake all weekend isn't better adjusted than the guy who watches football or plays video games for the same amount of time. Just our society decided that some outlets are more socially acceptable while others are "childish" or worse, "addictions".
Even worse, the author says that watching football is fine, but being passionate to the point of wanting to know every detail about your team, betting on their wins or being upset when they lose is not - this reeks to me of shaming autistic people who are known for deep, intense, obsessive interests. Because a "normal" amount of interest in something is fine, but who decides what's "normal"? The neurotypical majority.
I think from all the self-help advice, the only one that actually ever helped me was the theory of radical self-acceptance. Stop trying to "change yourself" and "become a better person", treat yourself with compassion and support instead of trying to "fix" or "reshape". You become "better" by nurturing your innate growth instead of trying to force it. As much as you can't pour more water and fertilizer to make a flower grow faster and bigger than its nature dictates, and you can't always trim a tree to a desirable shape without crippling it, you need to let go of desire to "perfect yourself" because it'll only damage you.
The advice in this book was en route to discover this truth... but mostly stayed in the shallow waters of toxic positivity slogans and captain obvious advice.
TL:DR: the lessons:
1. Eat, sleep, exercise, don't stress.
2. Don't be jealous and practice gratitude.
3. Surround yourself with helpful and positive people, get rid of toxic people from your life.
4. Get rid of addictions (things or habits).
5. Look towards the future, don't dwell on your regrets.
6. Keep growing and improving.
You can look up for free articles and videos covering these subjects, and you will learn as much as this book provides. My one rule for judging non-fiction is: did this book teach me something new, useful, clever? 3 stars is "it didn't add anything", below 3 is "it was actively misinforming or promoting harmful ideas", above 3 is when it enriched my life with new knowledge and insight.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4. That half star is for the chapter about belonging, which was a glimpse of greatness in this otherwise average book.
Favourite quote:
"And if there wasn't a place in this world where a person like me belonged, I would be the one to create it."
Thank you Netgalley and BenBella Books for the ARC.
I've already noticed a problem when the author listed examples of what issues people come with to his therapy sessions: first person has great community, doesn't have a job or money, second person has a great, well-paying job, but doesn't have friends, third person has a job and friends, but doesn't have a romantic partner, the last person has all 3 but doesn't have children... and the author's take away from this was "be happy with what you have".
Sorry, wanting ALL of the above (financial security, friends/community, romantic/sexual partner and children) are BASIC wants of majority of humanity (ok, I've never wanted children, but I'm an outlier). You can't smugly criticize people for wanting too much and not appreciating for what all of them have when you compare it to basic life desires of human species. It's like saying "you don't have food, but you have water and oxygen - how dare you complain about hunger, be grateful for what you've got!"
Especially when the author himself has all of it! He has a job (as a therapist), great house by the lake, a wife, children... easy for him to say others should be happy with less.
This theme of an extremely privileged man spouting captain obvious life wisdoms continues. In the chapter on boundaries, he talks about not letting harmful or careless people affect you negatively, but that's easy to say when you have a choice, and your immediate surrounding isn't toxic. Most people who get deeply affected by toxic relationships have limited means to escape them - it's their family, esp. parents or spouse, or their workplace, esp. their boss, who keeps abusing them. Those abusers also usually have a power advantage over the victim and ensure the victim has as little freedom and safety nets as possible, so the victim is even less likely to escape somewhere else. It totally doesn't tackle the issue of how to put up walls when the enemy is already inside the castle, or can take something or someone dear to you hostage (it's especially common in toxic families to turn other people against the scapegoat or even try to use their children as leverage).
So yeah, if you're a person with so-called "first world problems", this is a nice pep-talk book. But otherwise? I'm wondering how is this guy qualified to be a therapist when he has so little insight into life hardships. He claims "he let people do horrible things to him", but refuses to elaborate, so we don't know was it something serious, or a nuisance he blew out of proportion to paint himself as "see, I struggle too". What we do learn about his struggles hints at the latter, since his regrets are "I had a goth emo phase as a teenager and didn't spend enough time with my grandparents before they passed" or "I played too much video games before my second child was born". It's just... painfully normal things painted as pathology. Speaking of which:
The chapter on video games, sorry, addiction... It basically tells people to eradicate from their lives anything they're so passionate about it would keep them up at night, only to tell people 2 chapters later to fill their spare time with random hobbies (they're likely not passionate about). How to be a normie 101 (even though the author swears to God he doesn't tell anyone to be a normie).
You know what kept me up at night last time? Reading this book and writing this review. LOL.
I used to have a problem with gaming too much, now I swapped that for reading books and guess what, the mind always needs to have an outlet. I can't remember where I've read this story, I think maybe in Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential--and Endangered? Wish I used to keep better track of my past reads before I started reviewing "for real".
It was a story about a girl from a very dysfunctional and neglectful family that struggled with drugs etc., where she had to take care of her siblings and protect them, and despite lack of proper role models, she grew up to become a charitable and helpful person, but she had a binge eating disorder. I remember how she stated she saw what drugs and alcohol do to people, so if she needs to choose one unhealthy relief, it's gonna be the less dangerous and damaging one. This story stayed with me years later, because it tells the wisdom of managing your "flaws" in a "lesser evil" way, instead of a futile strife to become flawless.
If your mind feels like an overflowing lake, instead of wasting endless energy building bigger dams so you hold all your impulses in check, the better solution is to find the least harmful way to spill the water out. The guy who tinkers in his vintage car for hours or fishes at the lake all weekend isn't better adjusted than the guy who watches football or plays video games for the same amount of time. Just our society decided that some outlets are more socially acceptable while others are "childish" or worse, "addictions".
Even worse, the author says that watching football is fine, but being passionate to the point of wanting to know every detail about your team, betting on their wins or being upset when they lose is not - this reeks to me of shaming autistic people who are known for deep, intense, obsessive interests. Because a "normal" amount of interest in something is fine, but who decides what's "normal"? The neurotypical majority.
I think from all the self-help advice, the only one that actually ever helped me was the theory of radical self-acceptance. Stop trying to "change yourself" and "become a better person", treat yourself with compassion and support instead of trying to "fix" or "reshape". You become "better" by nurturing your innate growth instead of trying to force it. As much as you can't pour more water and fertilizer to make a flower grow faster and bigger than its nature dictates, and you can't always trim a tree to a desirable shape without crippling it, you need to let go of desire to "perfect yourself" because it'll only damage you.
The advice in this book was en route to discover this truth... but mostly stayed in the shallow waters of toxic positivity slogans and captain obvious advice.
TL:DR: the lessons:
1. Eat, sleep, exercise, don't stress.
2. Don't be jealous and practice gratitude.
3. Surround yourself with helpful and positive people, get rid of toxic people from your life.
4. Get rid of addictions (things or habits).
5. Look towards the future, don't dwell on your regrets.
6. Keep growing and improving.
You can look up for free articles and videos covering these subjects, and you will learn as much as this book provides. My one rule for judging non-fiction is: did this book teach me something new, useful, clever? 3 stars is "it didn't add anything", below 3 is "it was actively misinforming or promoting harmful ideas", above 3 is when it enriched my life with new knowledge and insight.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4. That half star is for the chapter about belonging, which was a glimpse of greatness in this otherwise average book.
Favourite quote:
"And if there wasn't a place in this world where a person like me belonged, I would be the one to create it."
Thank you Netgalley and BenBella Books for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is an exceptionally helpful book with a couple of caveats.
The book is divided into six lessons, with each one starting with a story about nature where the author grew up (mostly in secluded woods in northern Minnesota, which I loved as a fellow Minnesotan), then a section from his own life relating to the lesson, then a section of practical application for how to relate it to your own life. These are all really insightful lessons and the nature analogies work very well.
The lessons are things like pulling the invasive weeds (things you do that distract you from healthy, needed activities), keeping the water moving (keep adding new skills and experiences so you don’t stagnate or wallow) and recognizing you are only seeing the surface of everyone else and we all have depths and scary things beneath. There are a lot of really great lessons, tips and strategies. I kind of want to read it to my five kids (teens and young adults) during some kind of crafting circle to pass on a lot of this.
That said, there were a couple of things that made it less helpful for me personally. For one thing, Eilers writes of his own serious mental health struggles as a privileged white male who came from a secure, loving home. He certainly ended up in a dark place for a very long time and he says without going into details that very bad things happened to him, but he’s writing from a perspective of someone who struggled despite a childhood relatively free of trauma. As someone who grew up with enduring, severe trauma, I don’t associate my struggles with just not knowing how to change my perspective. He is a psychologist but he says not to spend time thinking about the past. I only got past mine by working through it. He also just struck me repeatedly as (I’m very sorry) very immature and I didn’t relate to how much he confessed to being jealous of other psychologists who had more successful practices or influencers with more followers. My sources of unhappiness have been really devastating things, so it landed poorly. And then his bio says he works with people with severe trauma and mental health issues, and I hope they don’t feel minimized by some of the way he talks.
I think this is an excellent resource for people with mental health struggles who come from relatively normal American lives. I’m not sure it will work as well if you are recovering from severe trauma, but there will still be a lot you can take from it.
I read a digital version of this book for review.
The book is divided into six lessons, with each one starting with a story about nature where the author grew up (mostly in secluded woods in northern Minnesota, which I loved as a fellow Minnesotan), then a section from his own life relating to the lesson, then a section of practical application for how to relate it to your own life. These are all really insightful lessons and the nature analogies work very well.
The lessons are things like pulling the invasive weeds (things you do that distract you from healthy, needed activities), keeping the water moving (keep adding new skills and experiences so you don’t stagnate or wallow) and recognizing you are only seeing the surface of everyone else and we all have depths and scary things beneath. There are a lot of really great lessons, tips and strategies. I kind of want to read it to my five kids (teens and young adults) during some kind of crafting circle to pass on a lot of this.
That said, there were a couple of things that made it less helpful for me personally. For one thing, Eilers writes of his own serious mental health struggles as a privileged white male who came from a secure, loving home. He certainly ended up in a dark place for a very long time and he says without going into details that very bad things happened to him, but he’s writing from a perspective of someone who struggled despite a childhood relatively free of trauma. As someone who grew up with enduring, severe trauma, I don’t associate my struggles with just not knowing how to change my perspective. He is a psychologist but he says not to spend time thinking about the past. I only got past mine by working through it. He also just struck me repeatedly as (I’m very sorry) very immature and I didn’t relate to how much he confessed to being jealous of other psychologists who had more successful practices or influencers with more followers. My sources of unhappiness have been really devastating things, so it landed poorly. And then his bio says he works with people with severe trauma and mental health issues, and I hope they don’t feel minimized by some of the way he talks.
I think this is an excellent resource for people with mental health struggles who come from relatively normal American lives. I’m not sure it will work as well if you are recovering from severe trauma, but there will still be a lot you can take from it.
I read a digital version of this book for review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I absolutely loved this book. Scott's storytelling is what I love to hear when there is a tough subject like therapy and dealing with our past, present and future. I've read another reviews about this book, that were not good. I don't think that that person reviewing actually listened to it all the way through. Just my thoughts.
I not only got some great tips and techniques from this, but have a kinship that developed through listening to this book in one sitting, that made me feel like I know him and that we had some similar struggles. Yep, I'm from Iowa (originally) and yep, I had an uncle what was a pig farmer outside of a small town called Weber. That being said, I really do want to reach out to Scott and I want to follow his content.
Is this book for everyone? If you don't like storytelling with your techniques or tips or bullet point lists of things you need to ask yourself questions about, then probably not. Is it a 5 star for me? Absolutely. I'll be buying a copy of this when it's released.
I want to thank NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing (especially for the audiobook) Also, Greg D. Barnett could read the phonebook and make it interesting. Great narration! Please, listen to this book. It's timely and timeless. I think everyone can take away at least 3 or 4 tips from it. I know I took notes all day, so that's more than that. (at least 40+)
#TheLightBetweenTheLeaves #ScottEilers #HealingDepression #HealingTrauma #GetOutInNature #IowaRepresent #NetGalley #BrilliancePublishing #BrillianceAudio #GregDBarnett #NarrationRockstar
I not only got some great tips and techniques from this, but have a kinship that developed through listening to this book in one sitting, that made me feel like I know him and that we had some similar struggles. Yep, I'm from Iowa (originally) and yep, I had an uncle what was a pig farmer outside of a small town called Weber. That being said, I really do want to reach out to Scott and I want to follow his content.
Is this book for everyone? If you don't like storytelling with your techniques or tips or bullet point lists of things you need to ask yourself questions about, then probably not. Is it a 5 star for me? Absolutely. I'll be buying a copy of this when it's released.
I want to thank NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing (especially for the audiobook) Also, Greg D. Barnett could read the phonebook and make it interesting. Great narration! Please, listen to this book. It's timely and timeless. I think everyone can take away at least 3 or 4 tips from it. I know I took notes all day, so that's more than that. (at least 40+)
#TheLightBetweenTheLeaves #ScottEilers #HealingDepression #HealingTrauma #GetOutInNature #IowaRepresent #NetGalley #BrilliancePublishing #BrillianceAudio #GregDBarnett #NarrationRockstar
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Between the Leaves is by far my favourite book for advice. Never once throughout the whole book did I ever feel like I was doing something horrible wrong that could never be fixed. There were times throughout the book that made me sit there and realize wow I’m really not alone and my goodness where was this book ten years ago! When I was crying alone in my bed unable to sleep. I am so thankful for this book because even today I was having a rough day but picking it up to listen instantly put me at ease!. How many people can say that a book that is made to help actually instantly helps and inspires them, instead of making them feel worse before it gets better?! Because I’m telling you right now this book will having you feeling better about yourself the whole way through no matter what stage you are at in your life an no matter what is going on! This one book seems to cover a lot of ground, will it fix you over night?! No!! Absolutely not!! The Author does though give you all the tools you need to do the ground work and when you find things aren’t working…read it again I bet you there is something in there that will help you where you are at!.This is one book everyone should have in their back pocket!. The messages are powerful, truthful and to the point!.. I promise you won’t regret this read!!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is a gentle read which through sharing clients that visits the therapist provides stories that the reader might relate to in terms of situations, pain, heartbreak to be able to grow from the actions that can be taken. The book is divided into six lessons, with each one starting with a story about nature where the author grew up. Eilers writes of his own serious mental health struggles as a privileged white male who came from a secure, loving home. He certainly ended up in a dark place for a very long time and he says without going into details that very bad things happened to him, but he’s writing from a perspective of someone who struggled despite a childhood relatively free of trauma. As someone who grew up with enduring, severe trauma, I don’t associate my struggles with just not knowing how to change my perspective. However, unless the author chose not to divulge certain elements, I don’t think this is a post/trauma book. This is a book for people who have depression and they don’t know why, because they seem to have decent lives. I think that is who it will resonate with. Rating is 3.5 rounded down. Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity.
April 20, 2026
The Light Between the Leaves by Scott Eilers is a self‑help book that highlights the fundamental nature of being human, as well as how the natural world can help reduce anxiety, stress, and depression. Through personal stories and simple reflective exercises, Eilers offers an accessible introduction to what we can do to improve our lives and live more in harmony with positive thoughts and emotions.
As mentioned, Scott shares extensively from his own life; many experiences, but also the darker moments and the persistent mental strain he lives with to varying degrees. At times, I felt that these personal accounts became somewhat overwhelming, making the book less appealing and rather heavy in tone. However, I appreciated the reflection tasks and the core themes the book explores. It is a decent and straightforward self‑help book, though perhaps not suited for everyone.
Thanks to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for letting me listen to the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
As mentioned, Scott shares extensively from his own life; many experiences, but also the darker moments and the persistent mental strain he lives with to varying degrees. At times, I felt that these personal accounts became somewhat overwhelming, making the book less appealing and rather heavy in tone. However, I appreciated the reflection tasks and the core themes the book explores. It is a decent and straightforward self‑help book, though perhaps not suited for everyone.
Thanks to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for letting me listen to the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was an easy read and reset. I’m trying to consume more nonfiction. It’s was gentle and surface level. However, unless the author chose not to divulge certain elements, I don’t think this is a post/trauma book. This is a book for people who have depression and they don’t know why, because they seem to have decent lives. I think that is who it will resonate with. Otherwise, it isn’t a recover from trauma by any means. It is just a “let’s reset and look at the good in life” which, is a hard stance for someone with depression regardless. Anyway, it has some nice optimistic lessons, which was a nice pick-me-up and venture into nonfiction. Don’t think it was anything life changing, though I commend the author for putting his story on his sleeve.
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!
April 15, 2026
Wonderful book, very well written, easy to understand and most importantly very helpful and comforting. What I loved the most was how the author included examples from his own life in the beginning of each chapter. The book made me feel seeing and less alone. The advices the author gave made sense and they didn't seem impossible to actually try in my own life. In fact, I'm going to start making changes today, starting with having a better sleep schedule and working out again.
The narrator was absolutely fantastic. I really liked how he narrated the book and the audio quality was great.
I highly highly recommend this book.
The narrator was absolutely fantastic. I really liked how he narrated the book and the audio quality was great.
I highly highly recommend this book.
May 14, 2026
The book would be a 3.5 stars for me. The ideas suggested are simple and effective, nothing ground-breaking, but I have been following dr. Eilers' youtube account for a while now and some videos genuinely helped me, it actually felt like free therapy. So I would recommend the book for some general, simple ideas that can be implemented right away. I also appreciated his vulnerability in disclosing some very difficult moments from his life and for all of this, I would say this book was worth my time and deserves the 4.0 score. I definitely recommend his yt account as well.
April 15, 2026
I found Scott Eilers’s perspective on depression and mood disorders to be refreshing. I really appreciated how he addresses toxic positivity. I also loved that he shares his personal experiences rather than simply recounting stories of patients he has encountered. Overall, if you or someone you know struggles with mental health, add this to your TBR!
Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this ARC!
Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this ARC!
May 16, 2026
I heard about this book on one of my favorite podcasts (The Art of Manliness). I found many of the book's messages useful and the organization of the book to be very reader-friendly.
I'm not sure I buy the subtitle "6 Truths Your Therapist Won't Tell You About..." and I think that the lofty/self-reverentional vibe of that statement also carries over to some of the writing in the book.
I'm not sure I buy the subtitle "6 Truths Your Therapist Won't Tell You About..." and I think that the lofty/self-reverentional vibe of that statement also carries over to some of the writing in the book.
May 23, 2026
I loved this book. It is a lot more autobiographical than For When Everything Is Burning, so maybe read that first for the direct self-help advice and follow up with this once you are already a fan. I see some bad reviews of the audiobook below, I cannot speak to that, I just bought the paperback on Amazon... the paperback is excellent. It is so full of personality and wisdom.
April 28, 2026
The best self-help book I have ever read.
Everyone - regardless of whether they are going through a bout of severe depression or not - should read this book.
Everyone - regardless of whether they are going through a bout of severe depression or not - should read this book.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews