Blog Tour - Surviving Me
Surviving Me
by Jo Johnson
On my Blog today I have the pleasure of
Sharing with you........
Surviving Me
Book Information
Deceit has a certain allure when your life doesn’t match up to the ideal of what it means to be a modern man.
Tom's lost his job and now he's been labelled 'spermless'. He doesn't exactly feel like a modern man, although his double life helps. Yet when his secret identity threatens to unravel, he starts to lose the plot and comes perilously close to the edge.
All the while Adam has his own duplicity, albeit for very different reasons, reasons which will blow the family's future out of the water.
If they can't be honest with themselves, and everyone else, then things are going to get a whole lot more complicated.
This book tackles hard issues such as male depression, dysfunctional families and degenerative diseases in an honest, life-affirming and often humorous way. It focuses particularly on the challenges of being male in today’s world and explores how our silence on these big issues can help push men to the brink.
Purchase Links
🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷
Author Guest Post
What is ACT and could it help me?
Tom Cleary, the main character in my novel ‘Surviving Me’ is treated by a clinical
psychologist who uses a therapy called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
This is still relatively new and not many people have heard of it. An increasing number of
mental health practitioners are finding it has the potential to help many. The relevant
research proves that ACT techniques are great for preventing mental distress as well as
treating symptoms like anxiety, low mood, panic and OCD.
Many people think that only certain people are vulnerable to developing mental Health
problems but this isn’t true. If you have a mind, which we all do, you need to understand
how it works in order to stay mentally well.
ACT is an updated version of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) which lots of people
have heard about with regards to helping people manage negative thoughts.
ACT helps us understand what goes on in our inner world. This includes the aspects of
us that others don’t see; our thoughts, feelings, urges, memories and values.
Thoughts are just words in our head but they have a powerful impact on us especially if
we are unaware of what thoughts we are listening to and using to guide our behaviour.
In ‘Surviving Me’ Tom has a lot of negative thoughts, his most frequent ones include:-
You are not good enough.
You are pathetic.
You are an inadequate man.
No one loves you.
Your family would be better without you.
Your problems can’t be resolved.
Over time he stops listening to those who love him, he loses contact with the things he
cares about and likes doing. He increasingly spends more and more time attending to
his inner world and what his mind is saying.
Understandably he becomes more anxious and low. He wants to get rid of these bad
feelings and tries avoiding people, drinking alcohol and endless internet searching for
solutions. These things help for a while but soon the tsunami of difficult feelings become
too much.
ACT teaches people to relate differently to their inner world, so they are not bullied by
negative thoughts and feelings into negative coping strategies. Negative coping
strategies are the things we do to numb emotional pain, e.g. over eating or starving,
withdrawing, using substances, over working, rumination or blaming others to name a
few.
Connecting with your values, knowing what and who is important is a central concept
within the ACT framework. Recent research suggests knowing your values can have a
transformational impact on your life. People who are clear what is important to them
experience better mental and physical health, have better relationships and even perform better at work. If you are interested, there are plenty of values questionnaires on the Internet.
Other useful resources if you are interested to learn more about ACT are:
The happiness trap by Russ Harris
Shrinking the smirch by Jo Johnson
Activate your life by Joe Oliver
‘’Surviving Me” tackles hard issues such as depression, male suicide and degenerative
disease. It focuses particularly on the challenges of being male in today’s world and
explores how our silence on these big issues can help push men to the brink.
Follow this link to read 120 reviews or to purchase the book on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Surviving-Me-Jo-Johnson/dp/1789650615
Jo Johnson is a clinical psychologist specialising in neurological disorders and mind health.
🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉
Giveaway
Win two signed copies of Surviving Me & five Surviving Me fridge magnets
(Open INT)
1st Prize - 2 winners each winning a signed copy of Surviving Me
5 Runners Up - each winning a Surviving Me Fridge Magnet
*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷
Author Bio
I’m very excited that my debut novel ‘Surviving Me’ is due to be published on the 14 November. The novel is about male minds and what pushes a regular man to the edge. The novel combines all the themes I can write about with authenticity.
I qualified as a clinical psychologist in 1992 and initially worked with people with learning disabilities before moving into the field of neurology in 1996. I worked in the NHS until 2008 when i left to write and explore new projects.
I now work as an independent clinical psychologist in West Sussex.
Jo speaks and writes for several national neurology charities including Headway and the MS Trust. Client and family related publications include, “Talking to your kids about MS”, “My mum makes the best cakes” and “Shrinking the Smirch”.
In the last few years Jo has been offering psychological intervention using the acceptance and commitment therapeutic model (ACT) which is the most up to date version of CBT. She is now using THE ACT model in a range of organisations such as the police to help employees protect their minds in order to avoid symptoms of stress and work related burnout.
Social Media Links –
🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻
If you enjoyed my post then please share so we can get everyone reading and talking about......Surviving Me by Jo Johnson
🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷🌻🌷
Comments
Post a Comment