In conversation: Stressilient: How to Beat Stress and Build Resilience, with Dr. Sam Akbar
In her book Stressilient, clinical psychologist Dr. Sam Akbar sets a brand-new blueprint for emotional resilience, making the case that resilience against stress is an intentional daily habit of self-care and self-awareness — and revealing the simple, practical steps we can take to get there. And we've invited Sam to take us through them.
Feeling overwhelmed?
In 2018, a survey from the Mental Health Foundation found that 74% of UK adults felt ‘overwhelmed or unable to cope from stress,’ at some point that year. And that was pre-pandemic.
Stress isn't always bad. Depending on how we're labelling and framing it, in small doses it creates powerful mental 'arousal' — keeping us focussed and motivated to act. But of course too much of it can be a very negative phenomenon indeed, and the challenge is keeping regulated, self-aware and within the right zone for our own optimum performance and wellbeing.
When we take small daily actions to manage, mitigate and minimise stress, we’re calmer, more compassionate, more productive and more resilient to change in our lives.
Spend 60 minutes with Sam
Dr. Sam Akbar has distilled her decade of work as a clinical psychologist and refugee therapist into an actionable ‘dip in, dip out,’ hand-guide for proactively building our tolerance to stress. Her new book ‘Stressilient;’ offers a series of science-backed strategies to achieving this state. And it's filled with anecdotes and exercises for thinking, feeling and living better.
We're really pleased to have persuaded Sam to join us for a punchy and conversational session in October, bringing the core ideas in her book and broader work to life over an energising and motivating 60 minutes. We'll be digging into the neuroscience behind stress, pull the perspectives of those along into the conversation — and work through some important and immediately relevant exercises together.
We’d love to have you along!
How the session will be structured
Dr. Sam Akbar will walk us through the key principles, and key science, behind Stressilience, and share the most relevant and practical exercises within it. We'll then open up the conversation among those along, pulling perspectives and putting our own thoughts, ideas and challenges into the middle.
Praise for Stressilient
’…short, sharp guide to managing your mind.’ — The Sunday Times Style
‘If I could inject it, I would.’ — Refinery29
‘Brilliant’ — The Telegraph