Book Review The Better Boundaries Workbook by Sharon Martin

I was gifted an advanced copy of The Better Boundaries Workbook by Sharon Martin from NetGalley and New Harbinger Publications, Inc. for a review.

Pub Date 02 Dec 2021

New Harbinger Publications, Inc., New Harbinger

Blurb

Do you have trouble saying “no,” or constantly sacrifice your own needs to please others? If so, this evidence-based workbook will help you set healthy boundaries in all aspects of your life-without feeling guilty or afraid.

If you find yourself feeling responsible for others’ happiness, worrying about letting people down, or struggling to speak up for yourself, you probably have difficulty setting healthy boundaries. Establishing clear personal boundaries is essential to creating and nurturing mutually respectful relationships based on equality. Setting limits can also protect you from getting involved in exploitative relationships, and help you avoid toxic personalities who don’t have your best interests at heart.

This evidence-based workbook will show you how to set healthy boundaries across all aspects of life-without sacrificing your kindness or compassion for others. You’ll learn to define your boundaries and discover why they’re so important for your emotional well-being. You’ll also find a wealth of tips for maintaining boundaries in a “constantly-connected” world, strategies for what to do when people get upset or threatened by your assertiveness, and ways to make sure your needs are met.

If you’re tired of feeling guilty or afraid of putting your mental and physical health first, are ready to take back control of your life, and create healthy and balanced relationships, this book will show you how to step up and set limits, assert yourself confidently, and realize your full potential.

Setting boundaries is both challenging and rewarding. This workbook can help you overcome the challenges and reap the rewards of better boundaries!

My Thoughts

Excerpts:

“Since boundaries help define us as individuals, they also make clear that we’re responsible for our own thoughts, feelings, actions, words, and bodies—but we’re not responsible for things we can’t control, namely how other people feel and what they do. And as you saw with Freddy and Maria, unclear boundaries can lead to blaming and expecting someone else to solve your problems. When there are healthy, appropriate boundaries, everyone takes responsibility for their own feelings and actions.”

Have you ever felt like someone else was driving your car or pushing your life in their direction? We’ve all been there. I certainly had my share of relationships that were less than ideal due to the lack of boundaries. Much of mine came from a lack of self-confidence and a lack of self in general. Who was I and what did I want.

This workbook will help you establish just that. A framework has to be laid before boundaries can be set and you have to be firm in your lines because people will push them, from family, friends, and even your employer.

We have to do work on ourselves first in order to set boundaries. The workbook will help you ask those hard questions and get to know yourself better. This will allow you to slowly form what the boundaries are in all areas of your life.

The book contains written exercises and online resources. She also suggests you keep a journal and as you dig deeper into where your lines are you may want to see a therapist to help you sort the answers out.

Setting boundaries is about establishing the framework of healthy relationships and Sharon provides all the tools backed with a CBT-based program to accomplish this.

The book is laid out well and is easy to follow. I would recommend it to anyone even if you think you have boundaries established in your life. You may find there are some areas of improvement to be made.