July Resources and Recommendations
How are you all doing? I cannot believe that we are at the end of July. Where did this summer go?
I heard someone say that summer felt like it was in a jar that you couldn’t open so you couldn’t quite taste it but you could see it. I really feel this. I have tried hard to enjoy downtime here and there but honestly the heat has been rough! I do have a few beach/pool trips coming up that I look forward to every year — I love playing in the waves with my niece and nephews and I love nothing more than a refreshing beverage and a good book while laying out by a body of water.
I am gearing up for something so exciting that I am launching next week — a four month (!) community group program facilitated by me where we meet 2x a month for two hours each. It combines live lectures, guided reflections and exercises, and community peer support and discussions. I am so excited! Nothing like this exists for us and I am working hard to build it out intentionally and thoughtfully. If you want to be the first to know when it goes live (especially because it’s limited to 40 people!), share your email here.
What I’ve read and watched this month:
I had a good reading month in July. I was finally done with my Summer book tour and was relishing slowing down. I love this newsletter by Vesna Jaksic Lowe called Immigrant Strong and the Crazy, Mad, Joy newsletter and podcast (which I did an interview for — listen here)!
Here are some of the books I read and loved:
Never Been Better — this book was a slow burn but I loved the themes of having bipolar disorder and making friends or creating attachment while navigating severe and chronic mental health issues. It’s a bit too light at first, but it really interweaves stigma, community care, and intergenerational trauma in a thoughtful way and I enjoyed it.
Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice — I just love this whole cozy mystery series so while some are over this storyline, I just think it’s a fun, light, summer read!
Real Americans — Oh, this book is so gorgeous and so beautifully explores belonging, immigrant family dynamics, the fractures of family secrets, intergenerational trauma, and love. Pick it up!
The Centre — I loved this exploration of language on identity, relationships, and belonging. It’s dark, it’s funny, it’s thought provoking, and I read it in one sitting.
What I’ve been watching:
I watched Bye Bye Tiberias last weekend and have not been able to stop thinking about it. It’s painful and poignant and beautiful. It’s about four generations of Palestinian women and created by a daughter who explores her mom’s (Hiam Abbass who is an actor in Succession and Ramy) leaving Palestine, her grandmother and great-grandmother’s displacement and so much more. It was created before October 7 which is even more affecting watching it now.
I finished Survival of the Thickest and loved it, and I just started Unprisoned with Kerry Washington (which is based on a real story), and have absolutely loved how it touches on adverse childhood experiences, generational trauma and a multigenerational story, all while normalizing therapy, messy human behavior, and connection over detachment as a way to heal yourself and your relationships. It’s surprised me!
Other things I am thinking about or found fascinating:
I would be remiss if I didn’t share my essay in Psychotherapy Networker on Parentification in Immigrant Families. This beautifully done essay and reporting on trying brainspotting therapy for trauma. I also loved this piece giving tangible advice on taking care when and if your job (like mine) drains your social battery.
I love Ask Polly and this particular essay on why being a sensitive person is difficult felt so validation and liberating to read. Maybe like me you have lots of friends having babies and this IG post really struck me on how I can try to be more supportive to them.
And I’ll leave you with this. Take care of yourself.
