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The other day I asked clients, friends and family about a book that had a real impact on them. A book that inspired their life views, their values, their mindset or was so memorable that the book’s story or message continues to live in their minds. Most people had read at least three to six books that had touched them personally or professionally. Some brought about immense self-awareness and personal change whilst others brought clarity to family matters and life circumstances. Others brought calm during difficult times or shed light on the wider meaning of life. If I had to...

April is National Poetry Month and naturally a great time to explore the immense therapeutic powers of poetry. Reading and writing poetry both engage our senses along with our emotions, making the art form experiential and hugely effective in connecting with our minds. Both writing and reading poetry, through their expression of feelings and words have highly therapeutic effects on the mind. The structure of a poem favours brevity yet the best poems also capture succinct detail, making them incredibly powerful in getting a message across to the reader. Writing poetry requires the poet to be extremely disciplined with his...

Throughout my 35 years’ of life, I have always relied on a book for some friendly comfort and non-judgemental advice. I can remember from my toddler years, I’d never leave a book store without throwing a tantrum — my parents had to buy me a brand new book to take home and discover. I would read at every opportunity — at my nan’s home, in the car, on restaurant tables or out in the garden in our family home in Nairobi. My passion for reading and my love of books sprouted a real interest in the personal development space (including psychodynamic psychotherapy, counselling and...

Being a bibliotherapist (essentially a fancy name for a book therapist or an expert who recommends books based on current issues that a person is facing), I had many clients and friends joke about a book prescription for President Trump given his consistently narcissistic behaviour (particularly after this week’s unbelievable series of events including the congratulatory call to Putin on his reelection and the churning of white house staff including Robert Mueller). My book prescription for President Trump would comprise the following: 1. Malignant Self Love (Non-fiction) by Sam Vaknin I chose this book based on President Trump’s inherent ‘’NPD’ or ‘Narcissistic Personality...