A Review
Consultant clinical psychologist, Lucy Maddox, has written this accessible guide to improving how we feel about our lives, taking her experience as a therapist to the general population. Along the way she makes a good number of references to Mindfulness.
I first heard this book on BBC Sounds as an abridged version read by Lucy Maddox herself and found it a really interesting and easy listen. So, I decided to recommend it to my book group and bought a hard copy. When we discussed it as our October read, opinions varied...
But first, a little about “A Year to Change Your Mind”
Lucy Maddox structures her book by taking us through the year, month by month, anchoring her advice to a particular theme. For example, the chapter on January is entitled “Which Way Next: Decisions, making Changes and Sticking to Them” whilst October is called “Falling Leaves: Coping with Loss”. As the subtitle of the whole text makes clear (Ideas From the Therapy Room to Help you Live Better) she is drawing on her years of practising as a clinical psychologist to inform her writing. Not only does she refer to many psychological experiments and theories whilst exploring different types of therapy (such as CBT or ACT), she also illustrates her points with material from her own life. Stories about patients/clients are integrated, too, but these are presented as composites so no individual is identifiable and confidentiality is protected. Another feature of the book is her numbered list of key ideas at the end of each chapter.
So what did the book group think?
I said that opinions varied and I hope that what I report here is an accurate reflection of our discussion. Most people, if not all, said that her advice was all soundly based in common sense and that they had largely worked these things out for themselves. I should add that we are all over the age of 30 and some of us have substantial life experience (at least when it comes to totting up the years!). Having said that, several people pointed out that they had actually acted on some of her advice and one person said that reading the book helped to bring useful life hacks to the forefront of her mind so that she could remember to do them. There was some scepticism about whether those who needed the book would actually read it and whether the advice was universally applicable (job crafting if you worked in an unskilled profession, for example). Several of our number could think of people who needed the advice of at least one of the chapters and someone else said that she needed this book in her late teens or early twenties rather than now.
One criticism shared by a few, but not all, was that this wasn’t a relaxing book to read, especially after a long day working in the NHS! Perhaps this was more to do with the fact that this is non-fiction; there was a lot of content to absorb even though it was presented in a very accessible style. Someone even noticed that what she remembered most were the stories.
And was a book the best way to present this advice? One useful suggestion was that there needed to be an interactive element to the text. Perhaps the inclusion of blank pages or exercises (even a workbook?) to complete would have been helpful. Another idea was to feature each chapter (it would need to be abridged) in a magazine over a year – something like Psychologies springs to mind. Someone else thought each chapter could prompt a “conversation” in a pastoral session with older students. One person working in the NHS was thinking of putting up the lists of key ideas where patients and colleagues could read them and someone else said she would definitely recommend the book to some of her patients.
My verdict
For myself I am really glad I bought a copy. I took on board what everyone else said but will return, month by month, to remind myself of her advice. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and think it’s packed full of useful suggestions that it’s all too easy to overlook or forget. As for Mindfulness, Lucy Maddox comments in the book that “done well I think it is one of the most helpful therapeutic skills I use, and I notice it when I consistently try to practise it myself.”
If you want to read another review try: A Year to Change Your Mind by Dr Lucy Maddox review – a way through | Health, mind and body books | The Guardian
If you want to listen: A Year to Change Your Mind by Dr Lucy Maddox - Episode One: January - BBC Sounds
