The Strengths-Based Workbook for Stress Relief: A Character Strengths Approach to Finding Calm in the Chaos of Daily Life

by Ryan M. Niemiec PsyD, Neal H. Mayerson PhD (Foreword by)

Overview

Find calm in the midst of everyday chaos. This strengths-based workbook offers a unique step-by-step approach grounded in positive psychology to help you reduce chronic stress in a busy, frazzled world.

Chronic stress is a serious problem for many people, and can lead to a host of health and mental health problems, such as heart disease, anxiety, and depression. If you’re one of millions who are feeling overworked, overstressed, and overloaded (and chances are, you are!) this much-needed workbook offers a refreshing new approach to help you find peace of mind and start living the life you truly want to live.

In this evidence-based guide, a psychologist offers an innovative strengths-based stress reduction plan grounded in positive psychology. You’ll find tips and strategies for identifying your key character strengths—such as perseverance, social intelligence, bravery, self-control, and more—and discover how these strengths can help you cultivate greater happiness, better relationships with others, and improve your overall health.

Character strengths are a unique catalyst for both happiness and stress management. The skills and practices offered in this workbook can be learned by anyone, because the capacity for these strengths exist in everyone—including you!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684032808
Publisher:	New Harbinger Publications
Publication date:	06/01/2019
Pages:	232
Sales rank:	376,231
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Ryan M. Niemiec, PsyD, is a leading figure in the global education, research, and practice of character strengths that are found in all human beings. He is education director of the renown VIA Institute on Character, a nonprofit organization in Cincinnati, OH, that leads the advancement of the science of character strengths. He is an award-winning psychologist; certified coach; annual instructor at the University of Pennsylvania; and author and coauthor of ten books, nearly one hundred academic papers, and several-hundred user-friendly articles.

Niemiec’s books include the best-selling The Power of Character Strengths; and other leading books, including The Strengths-Based Workbook for Stress Relief, Character Strengths Interventions, and Mindfulness and Character Strengths. As a frequent keynote speaker and workshop leader, he has offered several hundred presentations on positive psychology topics across the globe. He is a fellow of the International Positive Psychology Association, and serves on their Council of Advisors. He lives in Cincinnati, OH, with his wife and three young, zestful children. His highest strengths are hope, love, honesty, fairness, spirituality, and appreciation of beauty.


Neal H. Mayerson, PhD, is chairman of the VIA Institute. He received his PhD in clinical psychology, and has worked in hospital, community mental health, and private practice settings for fifteen years. As a psychotherapist, he specializes in chronic pain, eating disorders, and couples therapy.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Introduction: Your Strengths Can Reduce Stress 1

1 Your Current Stress and Well-Being Levels 17

2 Assess Your Strengths 41

Part 1 Cultivate A Strengths Mind-Set

3 Respond to Stress with Your Strengths 73

4 Learn to Spot Strengths 97

5 Make Strengths Habits to Turn Stress Around 111

Part 2 Ways Strengths Can Boost Your Daily Resourcefulness

6 Apply Strengths to Work and Health 135

7 Overcome Stress in Relationships 149

8 Engage the Present Moment to Build Confidence and Resilience 171

9 Find Meaning and Spread Goodness 187

Conclusion: Strengths Transform Stressful Challenges into Opportunities for Growth 197

Acknowledgments 203

Resources on Strengths 205

References 209

Interviews

Niemiec resides in Loveland, OH.

Editorial Reviews

In this groundbreaking workbook, Ryan Niemiec takes the reader on a journey of discovery, providing help in identifying their stress and character strengths. This process is linked to a range of excellent tools to tackle stress. At the end of each chapter the Learn, Practice, SHARE section assists in embedding what has been learned. This easy-to-read, positive psychology–informed book takes a self-coaching approach and promotes personal growth and development. This book could possibly change your life.”
—Stephen Palmer PhD, professor of practice at the Wales Institute for Work-Based Learning at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, founder and director of the Centre for Stress Management, and coauthor of How to Deal with Stress

Stephen Palmer PhD

I’ve worked for decades at the intersection of mind-body health, healing, and stress management. Ryan Niemiec’s book championing the use of character strengths to manage stress is a milestone in mind-body wellness, the first of its kind. It offers a template for shifting how you think about and handle your daily stress. This book is a well-being booster, a resilience enhancer, and a stress manager all in one! At the least, you’ll be freshly empowered to handle your future stressors; and at best, you’ll transform your life while uplifting those around you.”
—Joan Borysenko, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Minding the Body, Mending the Mind

Joan Borysenko

This book is a breakthrough addition to the field of health and wellness. Taking the newest insights from psychology, Niemiec shows how to turn stress from our enemy into our friend. This book is a game changer.”
—Sean Slovenski, president of Health and Wellness, Walmart

Sean Slovenski

The Strengths-Based Workbook for Stress Relief provides practical, research-based strategies we can all use to manage the stresses of daily life by using our particular character strengths to cope most effectively, no matter the situation. Readers will not only come away with a solid understand of the science underlying these strategies, but also have the opportunity to directly practice implementing these techniques in their own lives through a series of easy-to-follow guided exercises throughout the book. This engaging workbook is therefore a must-read for anyone who feels overwhelmed by the chaos of daily life and struggles to find happiness.”
—Catherine A. Sanderson, PhD, Manwell family professor of life sciences in the department of psychology at Amherst College, and author of The Positive Shift

Catherine A. Sanderson

"In The Strengths-Based Workbook for Stress Relief, Niemiec shows how your strengths can be a resource both for joy and resilience. This workbook will help readers craft a more meaningful and rewarding life, whether they are seeking to amplify what’s good in their lives or find a way through difficult times."
—Kelly McGonigal, PhD, author of The Upside of Stress and The Willpower Instinct

Kelly McGonigal

As a coach working with clients who face a daily struggle with anxiety and stress, I cannot think of a better way to empower them to find their own path to better mental health than to offer them The Strengths-Based Workbook for Stress Relief. We all face stress and struggles. When stressed, it is hard to imagine that we already have what we need to make things better. Often, we look outside for the source of our stress and for the cure. And yet research shows that we all have innate capacities that help us navigate life’s ups and downs and to handle pressure. The Strengths-Based Workbook for Stress Relief is your guide to discovering and reinforcing those capacities to create a life in which you manage your stress instead of your stress managing you!”
—Ruth Pearce, ACC, JD, PMP, coach, project motivator, and author of Be a Project Motivator

Ruth Pearce