With this workbook, Katherine has distilled many of the important lessons she has learned from and about living with a serious mental illness over the previous two decades. Combining her own life experiences with valuable techniques she has learned from others, she offers the reader a near exhaustive array of strategies for making the most of their daily life challenges, whether or not they have to do directly with mental illness or the stigma associated with it. Both persons living with mental illness and their loved ones and supporters can benefit from the practical and effective approach that Katherine brings to the work of everyday life. Limiting each topic to one page enables readers to go at their own pace and to pick and choose the topics or challenges most relevant for them at any given time without feeling overburdened or overwhelmed. All in all, this is a tour de force not only for persons living with a mental illness and their loved ones, but for anyone who feels in the need for some practical, down to earth guidance on how to make the most of life."

Katherine Ponte's workbook offers patients who struggle with significant mental health conditions a road map to freedom. It guides them to discover the path toward greater quality of life and ways to rise above the limitations and sense of stigma otherwise imposed by the burden of serious mental illness. Her writing is refreshingly clear, direct and straightforward. Readers cannot help but feel a sense of empowerment and personal competency attainable from mastering the skills and strategies she describes. Clinicians will find this to be a useful adjunct in their work with patients striving toward mental health recovery. Caregivers will feel a sense of relief and clarity about how they can render better support to their loved ones while simultaneously maintaining their own self-care. Katherine brings unsurpassed credibility from the worlds of both personal lived experience and scholarly study of the recovery process. This work serves as an inspiration to anyone who has struggled with the challenges posed by serious mental illness."

Katherine's informed and informative workbook on mental health recovery is filled with practical wisdom and thought-provoking activities that can be used not only for personal reflection and action toward greater mental wellness, but also to educate and offer new approaches for supporters (including peer supporters). Throughout the workbook Katherine speaks plainly, as a caring and compassionate guide through the rough terrain of mental health challenges. A comprehensive list of topics encompasses the common ground most people with mental health challenges experience. Katherine has drawn upon her own lived (and living) experience exploring that terrain to offer a concise explanation about each topic. That topic is then followed by a simple, yet powerful activity designed to help the reader make a connection or create a personal path to greater wellness. Although the topics in the workbook follow a logical order, each topic is a short, self-contained lesson that can be taken in any order, according to one's interest. This can be especially helpful if a particular mental health challenge arises that is covered in the workbook. In that sense, the workbook is like a “help” system for learning about recovery and having activities to put recovery principles into practice. The workbook can also be used by a variety of providers, including peer support providers, to learn more about recovery and to share practical strategies with people receiving services. Ultimately, the workbook offers both the person who may be experiencing mental health challenges and those in a supportive role tremendous hope and encouragement that recovery is possible."

There are no easy solutions for issues as complex and individualized as serious mental illness. By sharing her personal recovery journey and the lessons she's learned along the way, Katherine's workbook provides a roadmap for those impacted by mental illness to forge their own paths toward recovery. Leaning on her lived experience, Katherine has developed a rich set of practical resources that not only show others it is possible to recover from serious mental illness, but provides readers with the tools to play an active role in their own recovery process. There is something for every individual living with serious mental illness in Katherine's recovery workbook. The power of peer support shines through on every page, instilling a critical sense of hope for recovery in a way that only someone who has walked this road could do."

Katherine has crafted an indispensable guide for navigating the complexities of mental illness. This wonderful workbook is an invaluable resource for individuals facing mental health challenges, their families and supporters, and the professionals working with them through their recovery journey. As a lifelong caregiver and long-time leader of the National Alliance on Mental Illness' New York City chapter, its largest, I wholeheartedly recommend Katherine's workbook. Katherine shares her hard-earned insights and wisdom while inspiring hope and providing concrete guidance to readers so that their own recovery journey can be made easier and quicker than her own. Amidst the turbulence and questions that so many families with mental illness face, this guide provides real answers to confront day-to-day challenges and work toward longer term recovery goals."

As a psychiatric occupational therapist working with people with serious mental illness for over 35 years, I can attest that this workbook is an outstanding tool in helping patients on the path to mental health recovery. The workbook is a treasure trove of best practices. In a direct and supportive manner, the author provides evidence-based steps for the reader using a caring and warm approach. The easily accessible information helps individuals navigate the mental health system while bridging the gap to participation in the wider community. I think my patients would find this workbook to be extremely helpful, and I look forward to using it with my patients in the future."