Therapy Quest: An Interactive Journey Through Acceptance And Commitment Therapy

by Dr Janina Scarlet, Vince Alvendia (Illustrator)

Did you ever want to be a hero? Have you ever dreamed of going on an epic quest to destroy monsters, defeat evil forces and fly on the back of a dragon? This interactive new self-help book puts you, the reader, in a fantasy world where every decision you make and every path you take will influence the outcome of your journey. When the seer Anka spirits you away to the world of Here, you find yourself proclaimed the Chosen One - the hero everyone is relying on to defeat the evil sorceress Mallena before she destroys everything. But you don't feel like a hero, do you? If you choose to accept this quest, you will have an opportunity to learn the skills that you need and put together a crew of loyal friends and companions to help you with your journey. The skills are based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which has been shown through research to help people overcome depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic pain, addiction disorders and many other common problems.Your journey will be full of danger, loss and strange creatures, but it will also be full of excitement, adventure and fun, and will let you form life-long bonds of friendship, which no curses can break. This book is your call to adventure, an invitation to be the hero in your own story.

Genres: Psychology

226 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 1, 2018

Reviews

[Shelley Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s a warning label attached to this book which reads WARNING: This Fantasy Book May Change Your Reality. A bold statement and yet I found it to be true. Therapy Quest is indeed a revolutionary self-help book that weaves fantasy elements together with self-help therapy. It’s like going on a road-trip with Gandalf but talking through ‘life stuff’ on the way.

Scarlet creates fully rounded characters, and her descriptive prose is excellent. I liked the addition of a few black and white images which also took me back to those carefree childhood days. The idea of Therapy Quest is to join the characters as they endeavour to save the world from Mallena, the evil sorceress. Anka is the seer who begins your quest by taking you to HERE where you meet a mix of loyal friends and companions.

As you travel through the book, you collect points (courage, inner strength, and wisdom). You can also lose points if you choose to avoid certain situations. I kept a tally of my score as I worked through the book – another nerdy throwback to my younger years! You need a total of 50 points to face the final challenge.

The challenges are woven into the fantasy story. For example; you have to decide how to deal with the evil faceless hags who are the negative thoughts you play over and over in your mind like ‘I’m a failure’.

When you make the right choice in your quest and achieve your points the following chapter explores that particular self-help theme. I particularly liked the Mindfulness Spell. This is told in a familiar format you would normally find in any self-help book. Once the ‘spell’ or lesson is learned you are sent back to your quest and pick up the fantasy element once again.

Therapy Quest made me sit up and think about certain areas of my personal development. Embracing changes in my life, being more mindful, not acting on impulse, and understanding my core values are all valuable lessons I’ll take away with me. It’s a very clever book (I wish I’d written it!!)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Therapy Quest. It allowed me to return to my childhood while exploring my adult hang-ups.

The only negative I have is with the dialogue for Anka. Written with an accent, I found it pulled me out of the story at times.

If you are a reluctant self-help fan, then you’ll love this book. It allows you to escape into that safe space of fiction while simultaneously working on your needs. Allow yourself to be the superhero of your story and grab a copy.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a choose your own adventure book about the skills related to acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). I'm familiar with ACT and it has helped me in the past. I was looking for a refresher and this was recommended by the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. It was really well done, and I'm glad I read it. What worked for me was to keep a separate journal with quick notes about each decision point. Why did I make that choice, what did I learn based on the outcome, and how is this relevant to my own decision making (plus tracking my points)? There isn't much of the "why" of ACT, this is more of the "how" of ACT, so it helps to have some familiarity with ACT in general. But the book is filled with compassion and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone interested in tuning up their life skills toolkit.

[Ash Agrotera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this! Somewhat Dungeons and Dragons RPG Self help book. I found this by chance when looking for Acceptance and Commitment therapy books which had been recommended by my psychologist and picked it up. This really speaks to me and I love how mentions of chronic pain were included in the book along with mental health issues. As someone that's struggling with being diagnosed with multiple chronic illnesses in the last year and struggling with depression and anxiety because of it, I found this book a good way to find ways to put new tools in my life to help myself through.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book, as you work through the book you are given choices along the way, and whilst the story and correct choices make this a must read, what really sets this book apart is when you make the wrong choice, this is where Dr Scarlet's knowledge of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy comes in.

You are guided on how to deal with your own fears and self doubt, through this fantasy realm.

Looking forward to reading more from this author

[Ron Sharp Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a man of 50, I wondered how much I'd connect with this book, but the story kept me engaged, and the therapeutic lessons promise to be helpful long-term. Given my particular areas of needed growth, this book resonated well with me. I really like the approach taken by Janina–the use of an interactive story (in one of my favorite genres) to convey self-help concepts. I look forward to reading more from her and further exploring Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet story, in the form of a choose-your-own-adventure book, illustrating how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy not only makes it ok to feel our feelings, but that feeling our feelings is our best and noblest path.

[Bette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was definitely not the intended audience lol

[Cecilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Therapy Quest is a solo RPG-novel that uses fantasy characters and events to introduce the reader to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. As a so called interactive book, it is however a very linear story and your choices have very little effect on the outcome. Worst case scenario is "game over" and you'll have to backtrack a few pages to continue the story. The story is eventful although somewhat rushed and short so the literary experience is simple. Yet, after finishing reading the book I must admit that it made a greater impact on me than I expected. I empathized with the characters and learned a few strategies for when my own Hags and Strah are yelling at me about my self-worth. "You are weak." "You are disgusting." "You are just going to fail." That is hard to read, not only because I find it personally relatable but also because the characters suffer from it as well. This book really shines light on the fact that "I'm not alone in feeling this way. Most people struggle with self-doubt" and gives the reader strategies and tools to deal with those thoughts, which is a great message. So give this book a go if you want to try a fantasy self-help guide that is straightforward and easy to understand - and also a little entertaining!