Discover smart and entertaining strategies for dealing with difficult emotions like anxiety, sadness, anger, and uncertainty. More than just “adulting”—this book will give you the real emotional skills you need to thrive!
Whether you’re graduating from college, starting a career, trying to gain financial independence, or creating meaningful relationships—entering into the world of grownups can be more than a little overwhelming. And while there are plenty of fun books out there for young adults offering advice on how to fix a leaky faucet or find the right apartment, none really delve into the deeply emotional aspects of growing up.
In Mastering Adulthood, psychologist Lara Fielding offers evidence-based skills to help you cope with the feelings of anxiety, depression, anger, and stress that may be getting in the way of living an independent, fulfilling adult life. Drawing on case examples from young adults she’s worked with in her private practice, Fielding provides empowering strategies and skills for managing difficult emotions using mindfulness, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).
When you experience big life changes that cause you stress, you need emotional flexibility to reach your goals and be your best self. Using the skills in this book, you’ll learn to take charge of your emotional habits, stop feeling stuck, and discover what really matters to you.
“Mastering Adulthood does a masterful job of bringing timeless wisdom and practical solutions to young adults. Current social and economic conditions can seem challenging to young people who seek to live lives of meaning, purpose, and joy. Fielding provides evidence-based methods, humor, and practical enlightenment for those facing these hurdles. In fact, this user-friendly guidebook for living with mindful purpose could help just about anybody, at any stage of life.”
—Dennis Tirch, PhD, author of The Compassionate-Mind Guide to Overcoming Anxiety, and founder of The Center for Compassion Focused Therapy
“Finally, a ‘how-to’ book for transition age adults. So often manuals with behavioral skills are either too young or too old for eighteen- to twenty-five-year-olds. Fielding uses examples, stories, and practices that will resonate with people who are entering adulthood. Mastering Adulthood combines mindfulness and current emotion regulation strategies in a practical, easy-to-use format. This book can be used by young adults alone, with others, or in a counseling setting. I have begun to use the dashboard practices and the pauses with my own clients.”
—Shari Manning, PhD, CEO and founder of Treatment Implementation Collaborative and SC Center for Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and author of Loving Someone with Borderline Personality Disorder
“Adulthood is becoming more complicated. All of us need help, and Lara E. Fielding has written a wonderful guide. Mastering Adulthood will teach readers how patterned habits keep us stuck, how to then develop new and more effective behaviors, and the practice of mindfulness as key to establishing a more grounded and emotionally attuned life.”
—Blaise Aguirre, MD, medical director of 3East DBT-Continuum at McLean Hospital, assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and coauthor of Mindfulness for Borderline Personality Disorder and Coping with BPD
Lara E. Fielding, PsyD, is a psychologist who specializes in using mindfulness-based therapies to manage stress and strong emotions. She studied the psychophysiology of stress and emotions at the University of California, Los Angeles; and Harvard; before getting her doctorate...
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