This Book Is a Safe Space

By Amy Tran

Colorful Doodledwellness Illustrations to Support Mental Health and Wellness

 "This insightful book provides valuable paths to pursue in the search for mental wellbeing.”—Gloria Drake, Library Journal

#1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Psychology, Women Artists, and Social Science

Amy Tran, creator of Doodledwellness on Instagram and author of This Book is a Safe Space, uses cute doodles to help you take control of your thoughts and emotions with psychology-based coping skills.

Cute doodles, positive affirmations, and coping skills. Amy Tran believes cultivating a safe space in your mind and achieving balance between your thoughts and emotions begins with supporting your mental health. In This Book is a Safe Space, Amy offers cute doodles, self-love affirmations, and encouraging reminders to help you develop positive self-talk.

Colorful illustrations to enhance mental health. Amy’s key to equipping you with mental health tools and tips is colorful graphics that are both visually appealing and engaging. Find positive affirmations, self-love prompts, reminders, and coping strategies.

Understand brain science for a healthier mindset. Sometimes brain science and psychology can be hard to understand and difficult to navigate when building a safe space in your mind. Unlike other books about mental health, This Book is a Safe Space simplifies complex content by providing it in easily understood formats.

Inside, you’ll find:

• Self-love affirmations, encouragement, and practical advice
• Coping skills for navigating relationships and situations
• Tips and reminders for strengthening your inner voice

If you liked Anxiety Relief for Teens, Mindfulness Workbook for Teens, or My Therapist Told Me to Journal, you’ll love This Book is a Safe Space.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9781642507904

Book preview

Eight years ago, I was a completely different person.

I had just started my second year of university. Some say university is a time where you find your freedom, where you find your tribe, and where you find yourself. All I found was an intense fear of not being good enough.

What was going on in my head back then? I thought obtaining perfection would make me worthy. I thought my achievements would make me worthy.

So I always said yes when people asked for favours. I volunteered to take on extra responsibilities, even when I was burning out. I was too afraid to say no because I feared upsetting and disappointing others. I needed to gain the approval of others so I could feel good about myself.

I turned down social events to study, I worked with multiple professors to publish research, and then I took the scary leap to apply to graduate school.

I finally achieved the goal I had wanted for so long—getting into graduate school to pursue my dream of becoming a psychologist. I am finally good enough, I thought. Happiness is finally here.

But every night, when the sun went down and I laid my head on the pillow, I looked within myself. I still felt empty. I ignored that feeling for a long time.

Every morning in graduate school, I would get ready to go to class or see a therapy client. Although I was in the program of my dreams, as I went through my day, I would do a few of the following:

Everything around me was still screaming, You are still not good enough. Instead of pressing pause and figuring out where this feeling of unworthiness was coming from, I put the pedal to the metal and tried even harder to be perfect.

Nothing changed. In fact, everything got worse. My self-critic became even louder, I took on even more than I was already drowning in, and I would jolt out of bed to start working through my to-do list in a state of anxiety.

I convinced myself that my anxiety could not have been that bad because I could still study for exams, do my research, and volunteer. What I did not know back then was that the intensity at which I performed was in response to my anxiety.

When I looked at my achievements, I should have felt proud, worthy, and complete. But nothing about my sense of unworthiness was changing. I would feel happy for a day or two, and then things would go back to how I felt before.

I finally reached my breaking point. I started getting hot flashes and having panic attacks in the middle of lectures. My anxiety seeped into worries about my relationships, finances, health, and future. I could not deny it anymore. I was experiencing significant symptoms of anxiety that interfered with my day-to-day functioning.

My feelings of worthlessness manifested as significant anxiety and perfectionism as I strived to gain external validation. I realized no amount of external validation could heal the wound I felt inside me. I needed to come face-to-face with my feelings of unworthiness to cope with my anxiety and recover from it. I allowed myself to accept that I needed help.

This is when the story of my healing begins.

You are the result of your past experiences. The human brain is a learning machine, so your experiences shape how you think, feel, and act. In other words, your past experiences shape the way your brain and body are wired.

The beautiful thing about the brain is that it is always learning, which means that what has been learned can also be unlearned. With time, I have discovered tools to rewire the way I think, feel, and act. I truly believe that you can learn these tools too, which will help you begin to challenge your limiting beliefs and replace them with more empowering and compassionate beliefs about yourself. I hope this book can help you learn the tools to unlearn what does not serve you anymore to find inner peace. We are always evolving and changing.

That is the beautiful thing about the brain and the beautiful thing about you. Your mind can be a safe space, and I want this book to be a safe space, too.

This book combines knowledge and therapy skills that I have learned in school and my healing journey.

I put this book together to guide you on your wellness and healing journey, not to replace what therapy can offer you. I hope that by learning the science and coping skills to monitor and work with your thoughts and feelings, you will be better able to reflect on yourself, gain insight, and practice science-based strategies to improve your emotional and psychological well-being—and I will be your loudest cheerleader throughout it all!

Each section of this book creates a foundation for the next section, so it is best to work through each chapter in the order it is presented. If this does not work for you, though, do not worry. Each section is jam-packed with lots of information and strategies to help you improve your mindset and well-being.

Healing also takes time because you need to learn to self-reflect, process what you think and feel, and integrate this newfound insight into your life. You must also unlearn your old ways of being to make space for your mind, body, and soul to heal. So give yourself time by reading a little and then pausing to reflect and practice some of the skills. A pause can look like stepping away from the book for the day or even just laying the book down for a minute to reflect before picking it back up again. I am a huge fan of journaling, so I highly recommend keeping a notebook as you read this book. Use your notebook to write down any thoughts that may come up and do some of the exercises. Some of the chapters also include journal prompts to help you deepen your self-reflection. As you read through this book, remember that everyone’s journey will look different, and what works for someone may not work for you. No matter what direction your path goes, know that I believe in your healing. <3

Also, remember it will be difficult to try everything at once (although I appreciate your motivation and enthusiasm if this is you). Allow yourself to make a few small changes