The Self Care Prescription: Powerful Solutions to Manage Stress, Reduce Anxiety & Increase Wellbeing

by Robyn L. Gobin

Real self care practices to enrich every part of your life

Picture your best life: Where would you work? What would your social calendar look like? What personal interests would you be exploring? This book is your prescription to turn those visions into a reality—with proven self care strategies for every area of your life.

The Self Care Prescription empowers you to find balance and purpose in your relationships, work, and life. From creating a plan to spend more time with family and friends, to zeroing-in on a career that you can feel good about, the book will help you create a personalized self care plan. You’ll also learn actionable techniques to fight anxiety, demotivation, or whatever else is holding you back from building the life you want to live.

The Self Care Prescription includes:

Self care 101—Learn what “self care” really means, and how you can start practicing it every day. A full-spectrum plan—Bring self care to the physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, vocational, and social areas of your life. Best-life strategies—Unwind with mindfulness breathing practices or start eating right with healthy meal planning—you’ll find tons of actionable self care techniques to help you reach your goals.

Be the friend you want to be to yourself and others. Be engaged with what you do. Whatever self care means to you, you’ll find your own personal practice in this book.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Psychology, Health, Personal Development, Mental Health, Audiobook

154 pages, Paperback

Published July 9, 2019

Reviews

[Colleen Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book a lot. It gives you some great self care tips. This book has many resources that you can use. Self care is super important to me. This book is a book. that I will constantly use as a guide for a better me.

[Jacqie Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really great book for figuring out what type of self care you need or want to improve on. I highly recommend this to anyone who may be dealing with anxiety, stress etc. The book was set up so nicely, with each chapter explaining a different type of self care (emotional, physical, etc.) I definitely learned some great tips, even though I just read the book and didn't do any of the exercises outlined in the book.

[Vannetta Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a good self-care book that resonated with things most of us have heard in other places. It's a good reminder of the things we should do to live a less chaotic, less stressful life.

There are a lot of good, solid tips here. I especially liked how the author broke it into 6 categories--physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, vocational, and social.

I would recommend the paper book. I listened to the audio, and there were a lot of references to the accompanying workbook...which I didn't have since I purchased this from Chirp. The author did a good job on the narration though, and I'm still glad I took the time to listen to it. I'd also recommend taking your time with this and covering one category per week.

[Erin Cataldi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just flipping through this book will make the reader a little more positive. The colors, formatting, and graphics are cheerful to match the message of the book. It's a nice size book, not too wordy or long to make it overwhelming, but short concise chapters filled with ideas, strategies, methods, solutions, and advice to help readers actively think more about self-care. Lots of the tips included are bite sized so he reader can feel empowered to make small steps, which will in turn lead to more action and more self care. In the context of this book self-care includes: social, physical, emotional, vocational, intellectual, and spiritual self-care strategies. A wonderful little guide that everyone should read, super helpful, not condescending, and really easy to read in small doses.

[Jenaia Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked how this book was organized with each self-care need. I definitely focus more so on social and I thought I was pretty strong with my emotional self-care. However, I learned I practice my emotional self-care more at a surface level. Each chapter and self-care focus gives you exercises or little practices to dig deeper that help you reflect rather than just saying to go reflect in a journal so I appreciated that.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is best experience in the printed version rather than listening to it in the audio version. It does have some great suggestions for "self care".

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this could be a useful book for people who are struggling with foundational aspects of taking care of themselves (not yet on a regular exercise schedule, lacking basic boundaries at work, etc.), but I was hoping for something a little more advanced and didn't take much from this book. Maybe it just means I'm already doing a really good job! But a lot of the material was stuff I've already read in other books. The chapter on social self care seemed a lot more fleshed out than the others and a bit more unique, so I'd recommend reading that chapter if it's an area of your life you struggle with. Not exactly anything I didn't know, but a useful framework for prioritizing social time and making time for it.

[Tom Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

At times the information is coming so fast it feels like drinking from a fire hydrant. But this book was not meant to be read. It was meant to be studied. “Wait a minute”, you’re saying. “I left school a long time ago and I don’t know anything about this studying.” OK, OK. That’s just a way of saying take your time, don’t rush through this book like you would a novel. Take advantage of what the author is bringing to the table and use it to take care of yourself.

Gobin, has crafted a book which deals with every aspect of our lives. She has created a chapter around each one: Social, Physical, Intellectual, Vocational, Spiritual, and Emotional. Although the book can be read going from chapter to chapter starting on page one, that probably is not the best way to do it.

At the beginning of each chapter Gobin has outlined a list of self-care elements which will be addressed in this chapter. So, the best way to use this book to its fullest is to go through the book chapter by chapter reading these outlines. Don’t read further into the chapter unless you just can’t help yourself. After you have read all six list of self-care elements think about yourself and your needs. Now you can go back to the chapter where you greatest need exist. Begin reading here.

But again, don’t just read this book like a novel. Take time to think about what you are reading. It’s alright to put the book down ruminate for a day or two and then come back. You will be better off for have done so and you will gain a lot more insight into yourself, your needs, and how what Gobin has said will help you craft a “self-care prescription” to “manage stress, reduce anxiety, and increase well-being.” After all isn’t that why you began looking at this book in the first place.

Upon request the publisher sent me a copy of the book to review.

[Amber Sema · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overarching point of this book is that we must take care of ourselves in order to be strong and active in all areas of our lives. Basically, we cannot ignore our well-being. The author makes the case for why we must set aside time for self-care, and then dives into six different types of self-care: social, physical, intellectual, vocational, spiritual, and emotional. Each chapter is dedicated to one type of self-care, with the final chapter again reiterating why self-care is important and providing additional resources.

This book is best read with a pen and paper in hand. She asks you several questions to help you discover what it is you want from your ideal life, and encourages you to write the answers down, as well as do other though exercises. After that, she lists several practice tips for being healthier and happier in all realms of your life. This book felt like Wellness 101, and the tips were a bit basic, spanning from rewarding yourself to connecting to your inner child to sleeping more. However, for someone who is in a bad place and would like to have several ideas and options for new habits presented to them, this book could be extremely helpful. Overall, it has a positive, encouraging, and helpful tone. For others who read up on this topic more and are fans of self-help books, this one may feel a bit too basic, and thus, boring.

I listened to this book for free with my Audible subscription, but I would have much rather had a physical copy of the book, which I see from other reviews is very colorful, so that I could physically see the questions. I chose not to do the exercises, which made this book less helpful for me. It felt like a major piece of the book, and without doing the exercises, the book was overall less effective in its aim of helping you discover how to integrate self-care into your life.

[Virginia Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Self-Care Prescription: Powerful Solutions to Manage Stress, Reduce Anxiety & Increase Well-being" by Robyn Gobin, PhD, encourages you to use positive visualization to make empowering changes in your personal life and in the time you devote to your job. By taking charge of how you spend each day and learning to write your own self-care "prescription", you will find your own path to health and happiness. The author defines the types of self-care as: Social, Physical, Intellectual, Vocational, Spiritual, and Emotional. Each one is important, and they work together for overall optimal self-care. By offering yourself positive reinforcement, making simple dietary and lifestyle changes, visualizing your best life, and following through with your self-care goals, you can make improvements in all aspects of your life--including relationships with family and friends. This book is thoughtfully-written, the layout is simple and cheerful, and the information is easy to access and to understand. The many aspects and the importance of "self-care" are fully explained in a helpful, achievable manner.

Book Copy Gratis Callisto Publishers

[JoAnn Plante · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best self-care book I’ve ever read! I bought this book during the pandemic, because I was feeling sad and worthless. I felt isolated and had no self-worth. This book changed all that for me. The book is broken down into sections dealing with certain aspect of your self-care.
In each section, the reader has to answer questions to determine what needs to change or improve. I learned some things about myself in each section and made plans to change some of the ways I do things.
After I implemented the changes, I started to feel better about myself. My outlook changes and I started to enjoy things a lot more. I also made time for myself to do the things that I wanted to do. I am a caregiver for my mom and this takes up most of my time. I found the time to practice yoga and sit quietly, think, and breathe. This changed how I felt and how I look at my life.
I am retired, so the section on the workplace was not particularly relevant to me, but I read it anyway and got a few tips on how to deal with people.
What a fantastic book! I am feeling better about myself now and I am ready to go out and do fun things for me!

[Halversona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. It was a very informative book about how to take care of yourself. It had step-by-step directions on how to improve every area in your life: social, emotional, physical, intellectual, vocational, and spiritual. Great resources and advice that I haven't heard before. I highly recommend this book!

[Olivia Chapé · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was beautifully read, however I didn't find this was helpful. There was a lot of side stepping around issues and I just wanted her to get to the point.

I didn't finish this, but so far I didn't enjoy it. It made me feel more depressed, not happy. It's better to read an uplifting motivational book instead.

[Darryn Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

<3. I loved it! Great reminder and guide of how to integrate and practice self care in several important domains. Great in audiobook version. I used it when taking self care walks outside during work breaks. I truly enjoyed the reflection prompts and suggestions on centering these practices in my daily routine. I strongly recommend folks to read!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Self care is a term you hear pretty much anywhere, but this book provides a holistic approach to it. I love the way they break down the various aspects, along with exercises to help tackle each one. A fantastic book!

[Billy · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not everyone may need this book I think it to be very helpful for people working in the Addictions community. Could be used by Addictions workers working in Lifeskills areas as a reference or as a life skills workshop. It’s a keeper for me.

[Cristie Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest and in-depth advice for reaching your full potential. This advice is presented in easy to follow language that can be broken up and applied in pieces at a time.

[Sylvie M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A how to: live, play, interact, connect for every human. A manual!

[Mitch Dubeau · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book free of charge from my work. I was weary of it and had no intention of actually reading it, but it's short and I want to make a book quota before the end of the year. I am glad I read it.

This is one of the most helpful self help books I have read this year, clearly stating what self care actually is, the domains of self care, and SMART goals for how to manage each area within the reason of a busy adult life. This book also encourages a lot of journaling which revealed to me many weak areas in my life. I now have ideas and things I can do to reasonably improve my life which I will start implementing over the course of the next month. This is one of two self help books I am keeping a copy of as a reference. 7/10 3.5 stars, I am left wondering why my work gave me a book that had a chapter on how to say no.

[T · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wellness book on self care that provides solutions and practical advice for everyday life. Encompassing all areas such as emotional, mental, physical and spiritual well-being. Including mindfulness techniques and self-reflection prompts helping you really think about your self-care.

I found this book to be organised and easy to understand. Broken down into segments and colour coordinated. The writing style is engaging and emotionally validating while emphasising the importance of self care and prioritizing one's needs.

Making it relatable while building a connection with the content. What I also loved about this book is how the author describes how you can create your own holistic plan.

Overall Id highly recommend, "The Self Care Prescription" book for anyone looking to improve their well-being. Another must read that empowers readers to take control of their own self-care journey

[Rohini · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took me such a long time to finish. This book bored me to death. This is why I dislike self-help books . Most just make you feel good and fill you with fake positivity without actually telling you anything concrete or something that you don't already know. The most annoying thing is glossing over or avoiding important issues and problems and how to manage them. Only read this if you have a fairly steady income, have a decent lifestyle and live with a functional,supportive family and are simply looking for something that will help you tackle minor challenges that suddenly present themselves. Others dealing with more serious issues in their lives can give this book a pass.

[Lindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Same as others are saying about this book - it's nothing revolutionary. But if you're new to the world of self-help then go ahead and start here. I listened to this book and often zoned out due to the fact that there are so many lists (not to mention the references at the end - the narrator reads every URL. Skip skip skip.) This book is better read rather than listened to, as you can go back through the lists of recommendations and references provided by the author. The chapter I vibed the most with was the vocational self care: what to do when you're in a job you're not passionate about, and a 101 on how to work your passions into your schedule.

[Jaclyn Kitchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was probably closer to a 3.5 star for me. The information was good and well organized but didn't quite grab me like I was hopeful it would. I just didn't find material sticking with me in my head like I sometimes do and hope to experience with a book like this. The organization is helpful in order to just pick up the book and review a particular area of self-care you find you need or want to work on. I really did appreciate delving info different areas/types of self-care that are different from what most people associate with it. I'm still glad I read it, and I hope it's something I will revisit in the future.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simple and straightforward read about the basics of self-care, split into sections of focus (physical, emotional, intellectual, etc.) for ease of use. Accessible and useful, and there isn't a shred of pseudoscience or self-promotion anywhere in here. The author seems to be a caring professional who has put this out simply to help people.

At a moment in my life when I'm doing a lot more resting than I know how to handle and re-building the foundations of my life, this is exactly what I needed.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did like this book and the way it was put to the reader. The writing is infectious and its clear 6 sections are helpful to navigate.

There were a lot of questions to ask yourself but I was looking more for ideas, knowing I need more self care but not always sure of how to do it.

By the latter sections the vibe and questions were getting samey and I lost interest. I think it would be a good title to recommend to someone who is in the early stages of self discovery or interested to know more about self acre and the different facets.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as self-help books go, I’ve read enough to know that they are convey the same message but are uniquely written to the author’s perspective. I like this book because Gobin breaks down self-care into six categories: social, physical, intellectual, vocational, spiritual and emotional. Most of the self-care books I’ve read address the emotional, physical and spiritual aspects, disregarding other pivotal aspects of one’s life. I HIGHly recommend this book to anyone starting out on their self-care journey.

[Roy Turner · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Similarly, your anxiety, worry, and fears try to predict the future, but they do so with even less accuracy than weather forecasters."

I do not intend for this to come off as disrespectful. This book should be retooled and aimed at children and teenagers. A lot of us would have better lives if we knew much of what is in this book at a young age (Ignore what they said about food).

I love that at the end of this book, there is a shoutout to other self care books and resources for the reader.

[Kendra (SteministKendra) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as I needed ideas on self care. I'm a mature student who's newly single and I struggle with mental health problems. Some of the ideas in here were brilliant specifically the social self care and the physical self care chapters. Most of the ideas in the other chapters are overused which was why I only gave 3 stars. If you are new to the aspects of self care then I highly recommend.

[Erica Barkei · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are just starting your self-care journey, this book will probably be an excellent place for you to start, and to help you identify which areas of self-care you should focus on. For those that have already done some self-care work, this will probably be too basic/general for you. I was really looking for more in-depth discussion and more concrete exercises.

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book with great self-care suggestions. I liked how she mentioned self-care isn't just what feels good in the moment. Some self-care choices (like exercise) may not feel great in the moment but will leave you feeling better in the long run. I read through this book but it's really meant to be journaled with follow along activities. I will be going through it again in the way it was intended.