The Five Gifts

Book excerpt: "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 As the frequency and intensity of catastrophic events continue to surge, organizations provide guidelines for how to pack a "Go-Kit" in case of emergency. The Five Gifts is like an emergency 'Go-Kit' for the mind, packed with information and insight that can minimize and prevent long-term psycho-spiritual damage from a traumatic event. It's a field guide for the heart and soul to guide you through to cycles of damage and recovery that can be useful before, during, and after a tragic loss, trauma, or disaster. In a nationwide Google survey Dr. Nadel commissioned for this book, 33% of those surveyed identified their greatest fear as a terrorist attack, followed by displacement from their homes. As this upsurge in violent episodes continues, the numbers show a greater likelihood that you, or someone close to you, will be directly affected by a traumatic event. But what if you had access to a mind-body-spirit 'Go-Kit' before disaster strikes? In The Five Gifts, Dr. Nadel wisely maps out a path integrating what she has learned from over two decades of working with people damaged by a trauma event. Her own life was impacted by the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001 and Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012. The Five Gifts contains interviews with people whose lives were directly impacted by such major news events as the Rwanda genocide, the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, the tsunami in Bali, and the Boston Marathon terrorist bombing. Although you can never be fully prepared for a shocking, traumatic event, this book will provide information, ideas, insight and tools to build the emotional stamina and clarity needed to cope with acute stress responses and emotional aftershocks If you are open to receiving the gifts of Humility, Patience, Empathy, Forgiveness, and Growth, The Five Gifts will lead you safely through disaster and traumatic minefields.