Sometimes, we can all try so hard to avoid causing ourselves pain that we dont live our lives to the fulland people with intellectual disabilities are no different. Based on principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Living Your Best Life provides guided self-help materials for a person with intellectual disabilities to work through alongside a supporter such as a paid carer, family member, or mental health professional. The tools and guidance help the individual identify what is important to them and move towards a life where worries and doubts do not stop them doing activities they enjoy or trying new things. Each chapter includes separate sections for supporters and for the person with intellectual disabilities (which can be read to them if necessary). The book also includes a wide range of exercises, graded by difficulty so as to be matched to an individuals specific abilities and challenges.
Accessible introductionSupporter introductionStructure of the book1. Practice makes better2. Struggling is normal3. What are emotions?4. What matters to you?5. Connecting with others6. Kindness to others7. Being your own best friend8. The tricky thing about thoughts9. Being mindful10. Opening up11. Feeling low and what to do about it12. Worries and feeling scared13. Anger and what to do about it14. Sorting out your problems15. Feeling different from other people16. Trauma17. Top tips for a great life18. Keeping it all goingIndex of exercisesReferences
JONATHAN WILLIAMS is a Principal Clinical Psychologist with NHS Wales. He has two decades of experience specialising in Intellectual Disabilities and has a particular expertise in ACT and related approaches, with a range of journal articles in that field. He sits on the UK and Ireland committee for the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science (ACBS), and he is also a national committee member of the BPS Faculty for People with Intellectual Disabilities. ROBERT JONES is Honorary Professor of Clinical Psychology at Bangor University, UK, and a retired Consultant Clinical Psychologist. He was formerly Programme Director on the Bangor Clinical Psychology Training Programme and has held various senior positions in academia and the NHS over several decades. He is the author of over one hundred peer reviewed publications and several books.
