Shelf Help: Loneliness

We are experiencing a loneliness epidemic, but we needn't remain lonely. Through actionable strategies, you will discover how to support and maintain existing relationships, foster new connections and learn how to shift your perspective about community and belonging.Throughout, you will find step by step solutions to help grow self-acceptance, self-belief and self-compassion. You will learn how to:
Understand the difference between solitude and loneliness
Appreciate alone time and celebrate solitude
Cope with isolation
Connect with others
Connect with yourself
This book is a unique compass, guiding you gently through uncertain times.

In this guide and workbook, renowned mental health expert and addictions counselor Dr Bill Howatt drills into the root causes of isolation and loneliness--including the double-edged sword of digital technology--and shows you how to conquer them to achieve a more fulfilling, enriching life.

Through a mix of real-life case studies, self-reflection exercises, and cognitive behavioral techniques, you'll learn how to recognise your own self-limiting thoughts and behaviours, unlock your mental traps, and close the social connection gaps in all areas of your life--from the personal to the professional. Employers will also find tips for boosting psychological safety in the workplace and among their virtual teams.

"True belonging doesn't require us to change who we are. It requires us to be who we are." Social scientist Brené Brown, PhD, LMSW, has sparked a global conversation about the experiences that bring meaning to our lives--experiences of courage, vulnerability, love, belonging, shame, and empathy. In Braving the Wilderness, Brown redefines what it means to truly belong in an age of increased polarization. Brown argues that we're experiencing a spiritual crisis of disconnection, and introduces four practices of true belonging that challenge everything we believe about ourselves and each other. Brown offers us the clarity and courage we need to find our way back to ourselves and to each other.

Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend. Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything. One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life. Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely anything is better than…fine?