Are you stuck? Many of us are and not in the physical sense. Fear, anxiety, depression, anger, sadness, etc. are consistently taking their toll on our collective minds, hearts, and souls. Day in and day out, we are exposed to acts of war, murder, and mayhem; and, having continuous access to social media platforms and being saturated with violent imagery daily, we hardly have any opportunity to step away from what truly is a barrage of mass-mediated vitriol. Also, even if we have that opportunity, we recognize it does not mean the problems we and others face, disappear. They will still exist, even if we avert our eyes, power down our computers, and shut off our phones. So, what are we to do? How do we get unstuck? And, even more importantly, how do we educate and assist our youth to get unstuck, since they are more susceptible to embracing and internalizing negative influence? Kate O’Brien’s new conversational anthology Un:stuck: Helping Teens and Young Adults Flourish in the Age of Anxiety is meant to be a step in the right direction, a direction that leads to a clearer path toward religious and spiritual openness: “Through these pages we welcome in a world that advocates a life of greater thriving, health and belonging—one that can help us all, young and old, renew our relationship with one another, with the Earth and with life itself.”

Full review coming out in Today's American Catholic.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great collection with different people/points included and covers quite a broad range of subjects such as nourishing the body and mind, indigenous wisdom, and minding emotions. I liked the references being provided at the end of each chapter. Overall I found this is a helpful guide to parents who want to help and support their children that could possibly have practical applications in schools too.

NetGalley Prompt

Thank you NetGalley and John Murray Press for giving me early access to this book! All opinions are my own.

I was hoping this would be more of a parental guide, but instead this felt more like a shared peer reviewed paper. This was very technical, and a difficult read. As someone with an anxious teen, and who is anxious myself, I did not find it helpful for every day parents. That being said, I think educators and those in higher fields might find it illuminating and can contribute to their quests to help those in need.

This is a must for parents with children dealing with anxiety! I genuinely found this book so interesting and have recommended it to many friends. Definitely covers interesting topics and ideas. Thank you for writing this!

Wow, do I wish something like this existed when I was younger for my parents. I was and still am a very anxious person, it started in my early teen years and my parents had no idea how to help me and certainly had zero understanding. I am so happy that this book exists and to be able to help my daughter as she grows up as she already shows anxiety now at an early age. This book explains how kids these days have so much anxiety and why and how to help them!