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The Five Gifts: Discovering Hope, Healing and Strength When Disaster Strikes
"Once a seasoned journalist but now a distinguished scholar and practicing psychotherapist, Dr. Laurie has immersed herself in the academic study of suffering, in addition to the depth her own life story provides . . . . When it comes to teaching how to get up after being knocked down, how to not just survive life's hardest blows but eventually thrive, nothing beats a teacher who has learned through personal experience. I'll be surprised if you don't find this book highly readable and the information in it unusually accessible and easy to understand, digest, and put to use. Dr. Laurie Nadel touches off many new sunbursts of thought as she guides us through what we need to know about coping with life's most troubling times." --From the Foreword by Dan Rather
WHO ISN'T SCARED WATCHING THE NEWS? And for good reason. With the upsurge of violence and catastrophic incidents on the rise, there's a greater likelihood that you, or someone close to you, will be directly impacted by a traumatic event. The Five Gifts is an emergency "Go-Kit" for your heart and mind, packed with information and insights that can minimize and prevent long-term psycho-spiritual damage from any type of disaster.
Written with first-hand wisdom and compassion, Dr. Laurie Nadel integrates what she has learned from over two decades of working with people living with the aftermath of trauma. As a former journalist turned therapist specializing in acute stress, she shares true stories from forgotten heroes who survived such major news events September 11th, 2001, the tsunami in Bali, the Rwandan genocide, a political assassination, and random shootings. Dr. Nadel's own life was impacted by the World Trade Center attacks of September 11 and she lost everything she owned during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Although you can never be fully prepared for a disaster, this book provides practical tips and tools to help you build the emotional stamina and clarity needed to cope with acute stress responses and emotional aftershocks. If you're open to receiving the Five Gifts of Humility, Patience, Empathy, Forgiveness, and Growth, Dr. Laurie Nadel will lead you safely through the minefields of trauma to a place of peace, hope, and strength.
WHO ISN'T SCARED WATCHING THE NEWS? And for good reason. With the upsurge of violence and catastrophic incidents on the rise, there's a greater likelihood that you, or someone close to you, will be directly impacted by a traumatic event. The Five Gifts is an emergency "Go-Kit" for your heart and mind, packed with information and insights that can minimize and prevent long-term psycho-spiritual damage from any type of disaster.
Written with first-hand wisdom and compassion, Dr. Laurie Nadel integrates what she has learned from over two decades of working with people living with the aftermath of trauma. As a former journalist turned therapist specializing in acute stress, she shares true stories from forgotten heroes who survived such major news events September 11th, 2001, the tsunami in Bali, the Rwandan genocide, a political assassination, and random shootings. Dr. Nadel's own life was impacted by the World Trade Center attacks of September 11 and she lost everything she owned during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Although you can never be fully prepared for a disaster, this book provides practical tips and tools to help you build the emotional stamina and clarity needed to cope with acute stress responses and emotional aftershocks. If you're open to receiving the Five Gifts of Humility, Patience, Empathy, Forgiveness, and Growth, Dr. Laurie Nadel will lead you safely through the minefields of trauma to a place of peace, hope, and strength.
264 pages, Paperback
Published April 3, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 9, 2018
Your copy of The Five Gifts by Dr. Nadel will be dog eared, marked up with a bent spine in no time. There is so much exceptional credible valuable information in these chapters.
These insightful chapters will make you sit back and think about your feelings and your actions. Tips and actionable advice not just in a recovery situation but to use in everyday life. She shares powerful stories that will make you cry and make you want to be a better friend and person to everyone you meet. That old saying, “be kind to everyone for you never know what they are going through” rings true in this book. With every chapter, I made copious notes as I do not want to forget her invaluable advice. As a nation, I feel everyone should read her book, I think we can all find find solace here.
She arms the reader with the proper tool kit to get through any crisis.
As a baby boomer and will be buying copies for friends who are now taking care of their parents. The day to day with no relief hands on care that makes you feel like you are losing your mind. Disaster can come in many forms. I know Dr. Nadel’s book will bring them as much relief as it has brought me.
These insightful chapters will make you sit back and think about your feelings and your actions. Tips and actionable advice not just in a recovery situation but to use in everyday life. She shares powerful stories that will make you cry and make you want to be a better friend and person to everyone you meet. That old saying, “be kind to everyone for you never know what they are going through” rings true in this book. With every chapter, I made copious notes as I do not want to forget her invaluable advice. As a nation, I feel everyone should read her book, I think we can all find find solace here.
She arms the reader with the proper tool kit to get through any crisis.
As a baby boomer and will be buying copies for friends who are now taking care of their parents. The day to day with no relief hands on care that makes you feel like you are losing your mind. Disaster can come in many forms. I know Dr. Nadel’s book will bring them as much relief as it has brought me.
September 25, 2020
Hurricanes, fires, floods, pandemics. It seems that this book was written for our times. The author is a former journalist. As she covered stories of catastrophe around the globe, she was moved by how the survivors rose up and moved on after the cameras left. How did they survive? How did they find meaning and purpose again? How could they find peace when their lives were turned upside down? It inspired her to change careers and become a psychotherapist specializing in trauma. She then experienced disaster when she almost lost her life and then lost her home to Hurricane Sandy. In this book, she shares the 5 Gifts that can get anyone through any major trauma in their life. It is a marathon not a sprint, and she gives a toolbox of techniques that she has used with first responders at 9/11 and the teachers and students after the Parkland school shooting. I found myself highlighting passages and dog-earing many pages. She is a compassionate and wise therapist. I would highly recommend this for anyone going through a difficult time in life.
May 28, 2021
I never thought about journalists having PTSD until I read this book. I want to thank this author for looking on the bright side and offering the 5 gifts that were revealed to her.
It was helpful.
It was helpful.
June 13, 2023
The only thing certain in life is uncertainty. A perfect life today can unexpectedly get blown away by disaster, the loss of a loved one, and grief tomorrow. In The Five Gifts - Discovering: Hope, Healing, and Strength when disaster strikes, Laurie Nadel, Ph.D. laid down practical steps on how to deal with and recover from these heartbreaking unforeseen circumstances.
In this book, this author after intensive study and interviews compiled very effective tips for victims of disasters ranging from the 9/11 (11th September 2001) World Trade Center Attack, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy, and tsunamis, just to mention a few. This author categorizes the healing process into five gifts; Humility to accept what has happened, Patience to tolerate the pain that comes from it, Empathy to be kind to yourself and other victims, and Forgiveness to stop blaming yourself and let go, including the fifth gift, Growth.
As a victim of Hurricane Sandy, a former journalist, and a current mental health specialist this author has become abreast with the overwhelming feelings of loss and despair that come with being affected by a disaster. She tells real-life experiences of victims who lost families, homes, and means of livelihood to disasters.
The author's thorough emphasis on PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) particularly strikes me because thousands of people go through this without even knowing coupled with self-blame for their losses. In Five Gifts, Laurie Nadel, PhD extensively explains the normalcy of PTSD and its symptoms. We are all humans as such, feelings of intense grief are normal after a disaster. While others expect you to get over a loss after a given period, this author explains that there's no timetable or time frame for healing. It could take weeks, months, or even several years.
This book did not just center on people dealing with loss but also those who have not had such experiences. It gives practical tips for preparedness, not that anyone prays for disaster but we recognize that nothing in life is certain. This author also suggests ways to deal with grieving friends and family, and practical tips to help rather than trigger further pain while dealing with these people. At the end of each chapter, this author lists daily activities to practice for a given period.
Conclusively Laurie Nadel, Ph.D. wraps up this tremendous piece with homeopathic remedies for acute stress: safe, natural, and effective. This piece not only taught me how to manage PTSD but has enlightened me on how disasters have dealt with many around the world and ways I can assist. I, therefore, recommend this book for everyone living, disaster victims or not.
In this book, this author after intensive study and interviews compiled very effective tips for victims of disasters ranging from the 9/11 (11th September 2001) World Trade Center Attack, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy, and tsunamis, just to mention a few. This author categorizes the healing process into five gifts; Humility to accept what has happened, Patience to tolerate the pain that comes from it, Empathy to be kind to yourself and other victims, and Forgiveness to stop blaming yourself and let go, including the fifth gift, Growth.
As a victim of Hurricane Sandy, a former journalist, and a current mental health specialist this author has become abreast with the overwhelming feelings of loss and despair that come with being affected by a disaster. She tells real-life experiences of victims who lost families, homes, and means of livelihood to disasters.
The author's thorough emphasis on PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) particularly strikes me because thousands of people go through this without even knowing coupled with self-blame for their losses. In Five Gifts, Laurie Nadel, PhD extensively explains the normalcy of PTSD and its symptoms. We are all humans as such, feelings of intense grief are normal after a disaster. While others expect you to get over a loss after a given period, this author explains that there's no timetable or time frame for healing. It could take weeks, months, or even several years.
This book did not just center on people dealing with loss but also those who have not had such experiences. It gives practical tips for preparedness, not that anyone prays for disaster but we recognize that nothing in life is certain. This author also suggests ways to deal with grieving friends and family, and practical tips to help rather than trigger further pain while dealing with these people. At the end of each chapter, this author lists daily activities to practice for a given period.
Conclusively Laurie Nadel, Ph.D. wraps up this tremendous piece with homeopathic remedies for acute stress: safe, natural, and effective. This piece not only taught me how to manage PTSD but has enlightened me on how disasters have dealt with many around the world and ways I can assist. I, therefore, recommend this book for everyone living, disaster victims or not.
August 3, 2023
Tips and tools for working through trauma, disasters, PTSD, and more...Laurie, once a renowned journalist that roamed the world, and now a psychoterapist, suffered her own trauma when her home was severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy. She has worked with survivors and family of 9-11 and other tragedies causing loss and heartache.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews