Caregiver Library

To borrow a book, contact Samantha at samanthap@jfsc.org or call 403-692-6392.

Atlas of the Heart - Brené Brown, PhD, MSW

[Emotional Wellness & Mental Health]

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In Atlas of the Heart, Brené Brown writes, “If we want to find the way back to ourselves and one another, we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories and be stewards of the stories that we hear. This is the framework for meaningful connection.”

In Atlas of the Heart, Brown takes us on a journey through eighty-seven of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances—a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heartbreaking moments with one another in a way that builds connection.

Over the past two decades, Brown’s extensive research into the experiences that make us who we are has shaped the cultural conversation and helped define what it means to be courageous with our lives. Atlas of the Heart draws on this research, as well as on Brown’s singular skills as a storyteller, to show us how accurately naming an experience doesn’t give the experience more power—it gives us the power of understanding, meaning, and choice.

Brown shares, “I want this book to be an atlas for all of us, because I believe that, with an adventurous heart and the right maps, we can travel anywhere and never fear losing ourselves.”

Calming your Anxious Mind - Jeffrey Brantley, MD

[Emotional Wellness & Mental Health, Mindfulness & Calm]

Drawing on techniques and perspectives from two seemingly different traditions, this second edition of the self-help classic Calming Your Anxious Mind offers you a powerful and profound approach to overcoming anxiety, fear, and panic. From the evidence-based tradition of Western medicine, learn the role your thoughts and emotions play in anxiety. And, from the tradition of meditation and the inquiry into meaning and purpose, discover your own potential for presence and stillness, kindness and compassion-and the tremendous power these states give you to heal and transform your life.

Use this encouraging, step-by-step program to:

Learn about the mechanism of anxiety and the body's fear system
Develop a healing mindfulness practice-one breath at a time
Start on the path to presence, stillness, compassion, and loving kindness
Practice acceptance during mindfulness meditation
Feel safe while opening up to fearful and anxious feelings

The Comfort Book - Matt Haig

[Emotional Wellness & Mental Health]

A manual of reflections for an increasingly stressful world.

Nothing is stronger than a small hope that doesn’t give up.

The Comfort Book is a collection of little islands of hope, a gathering of consolations and stories that give us new ways of seeing ourselves and the world.

Matt Haig’s mix of philosophy, memoir and self-reflection builds on the wisdom of philosophers and survivors through the ages, from Marcus Aurelius to Nellie Bly, from Emily Dickinson to James Baldwin.

This is the book to pick up when you need the wisdom of a friend or the comfort of a hug, or just want to celebrate the messy miracle of being alive.

The Complete Guide for Family Caregivers - Caroline Tapp-McDougall

[Getting Started with Caregiving, Caregiver Foundations & Practical Guidance]

Providing eldercare while working and managing a busy home life is a recipe for burnout and is the worst situation in which to make thoughtful, informed decisions that have significant impact on the quality of life of an aging parent. The Complete Guide for Family Caregivers, written by one of Canada's foremost experts on eldercare, provides the advice people need to make smart decisions, both with and for their loved ones, including housing, finances, legal and estate planning, medical needs, and independence and mobility. This book provides not only practical advice but also discusses the various situations that may confront you and provides real, actionable information and sources to help you along the way in your eldercare journey.

Cruising through Caregiving - Jennifer L. FitzPatrick, MSW, CSP

[Getting Started with Caregiving, Caregiver Foundation & Practical Guidance]

Caregiving is no vacation, but you can cruise more smoothly through it! If you’re facing the daunting reality that you’re about to become a caregiver—whether you planned for it or not—Cruising through Caregiving is the down-to-earth and authoritative answer you need. Jennifer FitzPatrick has been through nearly every possible scenario on the caregiving spectrum, both professionally and personally, and she expertly shows you how to be a responsible, loving caregiver without being overcome by guilt, exhaustion, or worry.

It doesn’t matter whether you have advantages such as money or an extended family. You don’t have to passively just let things happen. No matter your particular situation, FitzPatrick has a practical and thoughtful solution to deal with it. She’ll help you discover and harness powers you don’t even know you have—from getting other family members to participate in caregiving to navigating a loved one’s finances, living setting, or declining physical and mental health conditions.

Advice and resources from FitzPatrick and twenty-four other professionals show how to give your loved one the best quality of life possible without sacrificing your own life, health, career, relationships, or financial stability.

Neither Married Nor Single - Dr. David Kirkpatrick

[Dementia Care & Communication, Memoirs & Reflections, End-of-Life Care & Grief]

When Dr. David Kirkpatrick’s wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2007, their lives—and their marriage—would change forever. In an honest, uplifting, and sometimes heartbreaking account of loving a partner with dementia, Dr. Kirkpatrick creates a clear guide for others in similar circumstances. He shares his perspective both as a loving and grief-stricken husband coping with a profound change in his marriage, and as a geriatric psychiatrist doing everything he can for his wife while continually learning throughout that experience.

Dr. Kirkpatrick tackles the tough questions about caretaking, grief, loss, love, and sex for those whose partners have dementia. When is the right time to find or even to begin considering a care home for your loved one? How can you navigate the complexities of your changing sexual relationship with an Alzheimer’s partner? When is it appropriate for you to consider new relationships? With wisdom and compassion, Dr. Kirkpatrick reflects on these questions and more.

Whether your partner has been recently diagnosed or has been living with dementia for many years, Neither Married Nor Single will help lead you to effective strategies for living and loving in an Alzheimer’s marriage, and for dealing with the changes ahead.

And it will help you remember that you are not alone.

Love in the Land of Dementia - Deborah Shouse

[Dementia Care & Communication, Memoirs & Reflections]

From the earliest indicators and faint forebodings to the eventual grim diagnosis, Deborah Shouse carries readers along on the difficult—and at times joyous—road she and her parents walked through the Land of Dementia—Alzheimer's disease.

She shares the challenges she faced during the process of caring for both parents as her mother slowly vanished, to be replaced by a difficult but surprisingly no less valued and beloved stranger. Strong, fluid organization and tender writing distinguish this purposeful and compelling read on a heartbreaking subject filled with unexpected insights.

In addition to its spiritual message, Love in the Land of Dementia includes practical suggestions and support for caregivers and other family members.

Deborah Shouse's writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Reader's Digest, Newsweek, Woman's Day, Hemispheres, Family Circle, Spirituality & Health, Chicago Tribune, and Ms. She writes a weekly column on love stories for the Kansas City Star, and has co-authored Working Woman's Communications Survival Guide, which is in its fifth printing, and Antiquing for Dummies. She has written several memoirs and business books and has been featured in more than a dozen Chicken Soup books.

Creating Moments of Joy - Jolene Brackey

[Dementia Care & Communication, Memoirs & Reflections]

The beloved best seller has been revised and expanded for the fifth edition. Jolene Brackey has a vision: that we will soon look beyond the challenges of Alzheimer's disease to focus more of our energies on creating moments of joy. When people have short-term memory loss, their lives are made up of moments. We are not able to create perfectly wonderful days for people with dementia or Alzheimer's, but we can create perfectly wonderful moments, moments that put a smile on their faces and a twinkle in their eyes. Five minutes later, they will not remember what we did or said, but the feeling that we left them with will linger. The new edition of Creating Moments of Joy is filled with more practical advice sprinkled with hope, encouragement, new stories, and generous helpings of humor. In this volume, Brackey reveals that our greatest teacher is having cared for and loved someone with Alzheimer's and that often what we have most to learn about is ourselves.

Dr. Ruth's Guide for the Alzheimer's Caregiver - Dr. Ruth Westheimer - with Pierre A. Lehu

[Getting Started with Caregiving, Caregiver Foundations & Practical Guidance, Dementia Care & Communication]

Imperfect - The Gifts of Imperfection - Brené Brown

[Emotional Wellness & Mental Health, Self-Care for Caregivers]

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER This tenth-anniversary edition of the game-changing #1 New York Times bestseller features a new foreword and new tools to make the work your own.

For over a decade, Brené Brown has found a special place in our hearts as a gifted mapmaker and a fellow traveler. She is both a social scientist and a kitchen-table friend whom you can always count on to tell the truth, make you laugh, and, on occasion, cry with you. And what’s now become a movement all started with The Gifts of Imperfection, which has sold more than two million copies in thirty-five different languages across the globe.

What transforms this book from words on a page to effective daily practices are the ten guideposts to wholehearted living. The guideposts not only help us understand the practices that will allow us to change our lives and families, they also walk us through the unattainable and sabotaging expectations that get in the way.

Brené writes, “This book is an invitation to join a wholehearted revolution. A small, quiet, grassroots movement that starts with each of us saying, ‘My story matters because I matter.’ Revolution might sound a little dramatic, but in this world, choosing authenticity and worthiness is an absolute act of resistance.”

How to Calm your Mind - Chris Bailey

[Emotional Wellness & Mental Health, Mindfulness & Calm]

A toolkit of accessible, science-backed strategies for a less anxious―and more productive―life.

When Chris Bailey―productivity expert―discovered that he had become stressed and burnt out because he was pushing himself too hard, he realized that he had no right to be giving advice on productivity without learning when and how to rein things in and take a break. Productivity advice works—and we need it now more than ever—but it’s just as important that we also develop our capacity for calm. By finding calm and overcoming anxiety, we don’t just feel more comfortable in our own skin, we invest in the missing piece that leads our efforts to become sustainable over time. We build a deeper, more expansive reservoir of energy to draw from throughout the day and have greater mental resources at our disposal to not only do good work, but to live a good life.

Among the topics How to Calm Your Mind covers are how analog and digital worlds affect calm and anxiety in different ways; how our desire for dopamine, a neurotransmitter in our brain that leads us to feel overstimulated, breeds anxiety, dissatisfaction, and needless stress, but can be countered by other neurochemicals; how hidden sources of stress can be tamed by a “stimulation fast”; and how “busyness” is as much a state of mind as it is an actual state of life. The pursuit of calm ultimately leads us to become more engaged, focused and deliberate—while making us more productive and satisfied with our lives overall. In an anxious world, achieving calm is the best life hack around.

The Let Them Theory - Mel Robbins

[Emotional Wellness & Mental Health]

#1 New York Times Bestseller, #1 Sunday Times Bestseller, #1 Amazon Bestseller,

#1 Audible Bestseller

If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or frustrated with where you are, the problem isn't you. The problem is the power you give to other people. Two simple words—Let Them—will set you free. Free from the opinions, drama, and judgments of others. Free from the exhausting cycle of trying to manage everything and everyone around you. The Let Them Theory puts the power to create a life you love back in your hands—and this book will show you exactly how to do it.

Written as an easy-to-understand guide, Robbins shares relatable stories from her own life, highlights key takeaways, relevant research and introduces you to world-renowned experts in psychology, neuroscience, relationships, happiness, and ancient wisdom who champion The Let Them Theory every step of the way.

Learn how to:

Stop wasting energy on things you can't control
Stop comparing yourself to other people
Break free from fear and self-doubt
Release the grip of people's expectations
Build the best friendships of your life
Create the love you deserve
Pursue what truly matters to you with confidence
Build resilience against everyday stressors and distractions
Define your own path to success, joy, and fulfillment

. . . and so much more.

Living with dying - Jahnna Beecham & Katie Ortlip, RN, LCSW

[Caregiver Foundations & Practical Guidance, End-of-Life Care & Grief]

This easy-to-use guide for caregiving instructs you how to:

Have the conversation
Navigate the emotional and spiritual journey
Control pain
Address symptoms
Work with hospice
Care for yourself

Get your loved one's affairs in order

"When losing a loved one, we are a loss: How do we talk about it? How do we make business and financial plans? How do we face the final hours? This book is the one book we need: respectful, experiential, richly researched, joyful." Barbara Brownell Grogan, former editor-in-chief, National Geographic

Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout - Kristin Neff, PhD / Christopher Germer, PhD

[Emotional Wellness & Mental Health, Self-Care for Caregivers, Mindfulness & Calm]

"I'm tired of feeling stressed out every day." "I can't stand having so little impact, despite caring so much and working so hard." "I just don't have anything left to give."

Over years of developing and teaching their renowned Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program, Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer have found MSC to be uniquely helpful for people struggling with the soul-draining depletion of burnout--from health care professionals, teachers, and caregivers, to tapped-out business owners and employees.

Each chapter in this engaging book offers an empathic story of someone stretched to their limits and an easily digestible bite of self-compassion that culminates in a simple anti-burnout tool based on MSC practices.

Learn quick and powerful ways to recharge your batteries, de-stress, and, above all, be kind to yourself--so you can be there for others.

Real Self-Care - Pooja Lakshmin, MD

[Self-Care for Caregivers, Mindfulness & Calm]

National Bestseller featured by Good Morning America, NPR's Code Switch, The New York Times, and The Guardian, NPR's "Books We Love for 2023", Forbes' "Greatest Self-Help Books of All Time"

From Board-certified psychiatrist, women’s mental health specialist and New York Times contributor Dr. Pooja Lakshmin comes a long-overdue reckoning with the contradictions of the wellness industry and a paradigm-shifting program for practicing real self-care that will empower, uplift, and maybe even start a revolution.Fixing your troubles isn’t simple as buying a new day planner or signing up for a meditation class. These faux self-care practices keep us looking outward—comparing ourselves with others or striving for a certain type of perfection. Even worse, they exonerate an oppressive social system that has betrayed women and minorities.

Real self-care, in contrast, is an internal, self-reflective process that involves making difficult decisions in line with our values, and when we practice it, we shift our relationships, our workplaces, and even our broken systems.

In Real Self-Care, Lakshmin helps readers understand what a real practice of caring for yourself could—and does—look like. Using case studies from her practice, clinical research, and the down-to-earth style that she's become known for, Lakshmin provides a step-by-step program for real and sustainable change and solace. Packed with actionable strategies to deal with common problems, Real Self-Care is a complete roadmap for women to set boundaries and move past guilt, treat themselves with compassion, get closer to themselves, and assert their power. The result—having ownership over one’s own life— is nothing less than a personal and social revolution.

Reasons to Stay Alive - Matt Haig

[Emotional Wellness & Mental Health]

A Sunday Times bestseller, Reasons to Stay Alive is both a wonderfully moving and upbeat account of how Matt Haig survived depression and anxiety, and an accessible, life-affirming guide to helping yourself—and others—through mental illness.

In the western world the suicide rate is highest amongst men under the age of 35. Matt Haig could have added to that statistic when, aged 24, he found himself staring at a cliff-edge about to jump off.

This is the story of why he didn’t, and how he recovered and learned to live with anxiety and depression. It’s also an optimistic, joyous and often funny exploration of how to live better, love better, read better and feel more. A wonderful mix of memoir and hard-won wisdom, Reasons to Stay Alive is, at heart, about making the most of your time on earth.

Self-Care for Caregivers - Susanne White

[Self-Care for Caregivers]

Take care of yourself as you care for others with this accessible, easy-to-follow self-care guide to relax and rejuvenate.

It’s been said that there are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will become caregivers, and those who will need caregivers. Chances are you or someone you know is taking care of a loved one at home. If you do, you also know that caregiving—however fulfilling—is also hard on the caregiver’s mental and physical health. Self-care is vital to caregivers maintaining stamina and a positive outlook for both themselves and the people they care for. But being so busy caring for others can make it hard to find time for yourself.

In Self-Care for Caregivers, you’ll find short, easy-to-read—and often easy-to-do—ways to replenish your mind, body, and spirit, including:

Practicing mindfulness by focusing in on your five senses
Remembering to HALT to check if you’re hungry, angry, lonely, or tired
Making a gratitude list of at least three things you're grateful for
And much more!

Full of practical advice and reminders to have a quick snack, call a friend, create a sanctuary, write in a journal, and more ways to take care yourself—plus resources for caregiving—this book will go a long way towards making your caregiving experience a happier and more healthful one for you and the people you care for.

Self-Compassion - Kristen Neff, PhD

[Emotional Wellness & Mental Health]

Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind offers expert advice on how to limit self-criticism and offset its negative effects, enabling you to achieve your highest potential and a more contented, fulfilled life.

More and more, psychologists are turning away from an emphasis on self-esteem and moving toward self-compassion in the treatment of their patients—and Dr. Neff’s extraordinary book offers exercises and action plans for dealing with every emotionally debilitating struggle, be it parenting, weight loss, or any of the numerous trials of everyday living.

Why has nobody told me this before? - Dr. Julie Smith

[Emotional Wellness & Mental Health]

International Bestseller

Drawing on years of experience as a clinical psychologist, online sensation Dr Julie Smith provides the skills you need to navigate common life challenges and take charge of your emotional and mental health in her debut book.

Filled with secrets from a therapist's toolkit, Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before teaches you how to fortify and maintain your mental health, even in the most trying of times. Dr Julie Smith’s expert advice and powerful coping techniques will help you stay resilient, whether you want to manage anxiety, deal with criticism, cope with depression, build self-confidence, find motivation, or learn to forgive yourself. Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before tackles everyday issues and offers practical solutions in bite-sized, easy-to-digest entries which make it easy to quickly find specific information and guidance.

Your mental well-being is just as important as your physical well-being. Packed with proven strategies, Dr. Julie’s empathetic guide offers a deeper understanding of how your mind works and gives you the insights and help you need to nurture your mental health every day. Wise and practical, Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before might just change your life.