Two Great Children's & Young Adult Mental Health Books!

 

Bullying & Mental Health Books Recommendation! 📚🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Only Way Out and Many Ways Up are two wonderful, highly-informative books written by talented author Katie Kuperman that are about bullying and mental health for youth, young adults, parents, educators and advocates.

They are focused on the prevalent issues of bullying and mental health. They have been crafted with classroom learning in mind for students aged 11+. Including a fiction novel and an educational workbook, these two books go together as a package and serve as a mini unit on bullying and mental health that teachers can use in the classroom.

Her first book, The Only Way Out is a fiction novel that takes readers through a gripping, heart-wrenching and inspiring story about bullying and mental health with characters in their first year of high school. She was inspired by the late Amanda Todd. The book is dedicated to Amanda, and also donates part of its proceeds to the Amanda Todd Legacy Society, which is a non-profit organization owned by Amanda’s mother that helps troubled youth in various ways.

Positive Key Points:

- Easy, smooth read

- A page-turner!

- Emotional and impactful

- Realistic

- Very motivating and inspiring

Katie's second book, Many Ways Up is a non-fiction educational, bullying and mental health workbook which accompanies her novel and includes discussion questions, teaching components, visual exercises and actionable tasks. It is approved by educators, endorsed by BullyingCanada, and donates part of its proceeds to BullyingCanada, a large and well-known non-profit organization that supports kids and young adults dealing with bullying.

Positive Key Points:

- Self-reflective

- Practical and useful

- Interesting and informative

- Fresh insights and perspectives

Both books have been developed for readers aged 11-18.

Author Biography:

"Over the last 2 years, I have been featured on several major media outlets and have done guest spots on relevant podcasts."

"Right now, my novel, The Only Way Out, and bits and pieces of my workbook, Many Ways Up, are being used in five Grade 9 school classes. The teachers are using the books as a study unit on bullying and mental health. I have been actively in touch with the teacher and even some of the students as they submit various projects. Coming directly from the teacher and the students themselves, there are very high levels of engagement, they are having open discussions on meaningful topics in class, and are creatively developing school projects based on the book. Teachers feel as though they are truly connecting with their students and having an impact. This has been a dream come true for me - seeing my writing come to life in the classroom, having such an impact, and being used in a way that ignites conversation, raises awareness and fuels positive change."

"I believe it is this kind of learning that will resonate with our youth and make positive differences in the areas of bullying and mental health, which is why I want to leverage this and take my books to the next level." 

"Both books are designed to encourage and drive readers to talk openly and speak up about what's going on in their lives."

~Author's Main Website: www.katiekuperman.com

Highly recommended! Get your copy today.

Mental Health Update. Why is Self-Esteem so Difficult?

I have to be honest in that I've been struggling the past few days. I'm not where I want to be in life (recovered), and my self-esteem has taken a hit. I have a mental health disability and am unable to financially provide for myself on my own. I turned 38 last week and I'm still living at home with my parents. I've been struggling immensely with trying to find a work-from-home job with a steady income in writing/blogging or influencing. I don't have the proper certification requirements in some job postings. I'm wondering if it's worth continuing to job search in these areas, as well as to keep blogging here. I'm not sure how interested people are in reading this blog.

Any feedback?

I've also been struggling with body image again, partly due to being triggered with the increase in calories starting with the holidays and then my birthday.

Nonetheless I will always keep trying to improve and get back on track in recovery. I need to develop new strategies as far as getting my confidence slowly back up again. And to prioritize as well. Taking care of myself should always come first.

Enjoy the rest of your week, and keep warm! 😉☃️❄️

I Never Thought...

 

I never thought that I would be where I am today. 

A lot of it is good, but some of it is not-so-good. But realistically, isn't that true for most of us? I don't think there's anyone that is 100% happy with where they are in life. There are always personal struggles we face, and we all make mistakes from time to time. We all have regrets about what we should or shouldn't have done.

I will focus right now on how far I've come, and what I have achieved that I never would have expected. I went from being a shy, withdrawn, lonely, angry, full of self-hatred teenager towards this:

~Being a published author, blogger, artist, illustrator, and Influencer 

~Having my work displayed over the internet and locally, and having people I knew from high school congratulate me. In high school I felt invisible and so lonely. I never thought that my books, art and photo would be displayed publicly for anyone to see, and to build an online following.

~Receiving book awards and reaching Amazon's #1 new bestsellers list. Being featured in the local newspaper. 

~Making the Dean's List in college and winning scholarships (going part-time). I almost didn't graduate high school, had to go to summer school my junior year, and I had to re-take my last advanced art class in college (I barely showed up, to say the least) in order to get my art diploma. 

~Meeting new people, attending and creating local meetup groups, and making lifelong friendships. 

I used to think I would never overcome depression (and other mental health issues) and get better, but I did. For the most part, anyway. I'm still improving and learning more every day. 

If I can get better, so can you. It's never too late. ♡

Weekly Update, January 4th. Affirmations ♡

                                       

I discovered a very helpful tool recently that has made my anxiety and feelings of powerlessness so much better. 

Positive affirmations has been one of the most healing strategies I have found, especially for self-confidence and compassion towards myself and others. Yet something has been missing all this time.  For as long as I can remember, I have felt powerless in life. Basically trapped inside my own mind due to social anxiety, OCD, and various other mental health and sensory issues. So many circumstances were beyond my control, especially as a teenager. 

I began to think to myself a couple of weeks ago: if positive affirmations can help with self-confidence and anxiety, why not other affirmations to help with empowerment? Specifically, feelings of dependence on others and a  lack of "identity" (I think this is a BPD symptom). So I did some research online, and I found that there are a ton of empowering affirmations to help with this. It's about discovering your core identity, which I've explained previously. It's essential that you separate who you are as a person on the inside vs. your roles and accomplishments in your life. For me this was an epiphany. And something so simple! Oftentimes we miss what's right in front of ourselves because we're looking in the wrong direction. 

I also especially benefit from affirmations because I'm a very visual person and I can easily create images to go along with them. It makes it feel more real to me and it also helps me to remember them.

What do you think about using positive affirmations? Do you have any favorites you use regularly?

Enjoy your weekend!