An Invitation to Self-Care

Tracey Cleantis is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Southern California and the author of the critically acclaimed book The Next Happy: Let Go of the Life You Planned and Find a New Way Forward. Whether she’s writing, speaking at conferences and retreats, engaging with clients, or contributing to Huffington Post, she’s a happiness warrior. She has been featured in, among others, Psychology Today, Redbook, Aeon, Maclean’s, Sojourner, Mode magazine, Yahoo News, Salon.com, Psychologies magazine, The Daily Mail, The Daily News, YourTango.com, NPR Wisconsin, and on Fox News Boston.

Too often, we settle for the notion that self-care means giving ourselves treats and rewards for good behavior. But it’s so much more than that. Welcome to the self-care revolution! "This is a magnificent book. When I first brought self-care into the mainstream back in 1992, I encountered comments like 'Well, I do my nails!' or 'I work out.' The idea that self-care is how you want to approach your whole life was hard for some to grasp-and that often included me. . . . Tracey's book will help! She's done a fantastic job pointing the way. Buy this book!" --Jennifer Louden, bestselling author of The Woman's Comfort Book A day of indulgence at a spa—or at home on the couch—might help us unwind and feel temporarily renewed, but is that all there is to self-care? In this book Tracey Cleantis changes the dialogue and shows why real self-care is more than just routine self-indulgence—it’s a lifelong practice that’s essential to finding fulfillment and joy. An Invitation to Self-Care uncovers seven principles for care that are rooted in self-empowerment and self-knowledge. Through personal stories and observations, exercises and quizzes, and interviews with experts and everyday people, Tracey invites you to consider self-care across your relationships, finances, spiritual and professional life—and more. By accepting who we are, what we need, and how those needs evolve over time, we create space for self-care’s transformational magic in our lives. In fact, an authentic self-care practice is the secret to the life you’ve always wanted.