Book Review - "Give Yourself a Break"

It's time to start treating yourself the way you treat others As children we're taught to treat others the way we would like to be treated. But as adults, we often need to turn that old maxim around. We're good at showing compassion to other people--but many of us have trouble showing that same compassion to ourselves. We say things to ourselves we would never say to a friend. And all this negative self-talk can have a devastating effect on our lives and relationships.

Licensed marriage and family therapist Kim Fredrickson wants you to stop beating yourself up. Grounding her advice in Scripture, she offers practical steps, specific exercises, and compassionate words to say in order to build a loving relationship with yourself. Through inspiring stories of transformation, she'll help you learn to show yourself the kind of grace and understanding you offer to others--and to change your relationships, your outlook on life, and your view of yourself in the process.

"Kim Fredrickson guides us back to healthy self-care as the foundation for impacting others. It's an excellent guide for the journey."--Dr. Mike Bechtle, speaker, consultant, and author of People Can't Drive You Crazy If You Don't Give Them the Keys

"Filled with practical tools and stories of everyday people who successfully learned to treat themselves with care and compassion."--Georgia Shaffer, PA, licensed psychologist and author of Avoiding the 12 Relationship Mistakes Women Make

"Give Yourself a Break addresses self-hatred and shame in a fresh way and challenges us with a grace-filled approach to seeing our inadequacies and sins."--Leslie Vernick, licensed counselor, coach, speaker, and author of The Emotionally Destructive Relationship


Kim Fredrickson has been a licensed marriage and family therapist and certified Christian life coach for more than thirty years. An adjunct professor, speaker, and author, she loves helping people become equipped spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually with practical skills to live more effective and fulfilling lives. She has been married to her husband, Dave, for thirty-seven years and they have two grown children. Learn more and read her blog at www.kimfredrickson.com.




My Review:
"Give Yourself a Break" is a great read and one that I realized I needed to read more than I would have thought.  It is so easy to be so critical on ourselves and this is so harmful when really we should be treating ourselves how we treat others.  This is full of thought-provoking points and lists to help the reader reflect on the points shared.  I really enjoyed the section on self-soothing techniques especially during times of stress as in a moment we can go from our heart racing and becoming escalated to taking a moment and taking a deep breath and getting back to baseline. 


*Thanks to the Revell Reads Program for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.*