A review by raysberry
Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff

4.75

Really really helpful, makes me think I might actually deserve to feel better and it doesn’t have to always be like that. Good exercises and I don’t have to lie to myself to make myself feel better. Only gripe with it is the way she describes her autistic son and autism in general. Sometimes it’s okay or even pretty good but then sometimes it feels really triggering. I don’t like how she focuses so much on how it impacts HER life and how hard it is for HER that he doesn’t have any friends and so on. Nothing about how much HE struggles. And though this thing they did seemingly helped him (though even that is doubtful imo), it’s a dangerous narrative to perpetuate that doing some rituals will heal someone of their autism and it’s also plain insulting.

The high rating despite that speaks to how great the rest of the content is, even if the author herself doesn’t seem to be a very likeable person. Her cheating and general imoral behaviour made me grimace not just once. I wish she would’ve gone a bit easier on personal anecdotes, it didn’t do her any favours, and focused more on the examples of other people.

But still, the ideas in this book have the potential to change many lives to the better so I’m putting my personal feelings to the side for a fair rating.
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