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Rauch and Rothbaum felt motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic to develop a self-help tool for “helping [people] get back to [their] lives following stressful and traumatic experiences” (p. 1) including car crashes, death of a loved one, divorce, gender- or race-based trauma, job loss, microaggressions, natural disasters, serious illness, sexual harassment, and sexual or physical assault. However, this range of issues suggests a complexity that could easily challenge both the timeline and the results suggested by Rauch and Rothbaum’s workbook Making Meaning of Difficult Experiences: A Self-Guided Program.

Social workers walk a fine line between providing a support system and helping individuals create their own support systems, both internally (self-awareness, coping strategies) and externally (social connections, professional guidance). A self-guided workbook could contribute to developing external support systems by functioning as a guide that offers exercises, strategies, and information to help understand challenges and develop solutions. However, any reader considering this workbook must take into account both the readiness and the motivation of individuals who seek self-help rather than in-person care. This workbook does not provide significant assessment of readiness for independent work or evaluation of factors motivating self-guidance including lack of access to mental health support, insufficient income, and stigma related to their stressful or traumatic experiences. All readers will discover concise information and tools that are well explained and demonstrated; however, without a readiness assessment, an individual reader is left to their own awareness of knowing when to ask for help.

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