Alain de Botton wrote A Therapeutic Journey: Lessons from the School of Life (Penguin Books, 2023), to show that our mental wellbeing is always precarious and generally needing ongoing care. His frank discussion of the many ways in which we are not well destigmatizes mental illness and points out the many ways in which we can keep our mind in a healthy state.

De Botton is a Swiss-born British author and public speaker who has published close to 20 books on such disparate subjects as love, Proust, art, atheism, status anxiety, architecture, and philosophy. In A Therapeutic Journey, he tenderly reminds us that we are delicate humans facing uncertain conditions of existence, even at times struggling with a desire to no longer be alive. If we can accept a simple proposition, that our minds can occasionally be unreliable and illogical, then we should perhaps need not be embarrassed when asking for help.

Childhood, and the child we still carry within us, occupies his attention. Especially, he focuses on childhood wounds and the many misfortunes we experience during our early years, sometimes at the hands of well-intentioned, caring parents—or the many tragedies children experience when they are ignored, neglected, or abused. It seems evident that, as he notes, “the way we treat ourselves is an internalization of the way others once treated us.”

But the damage can be undone. This is a profoundly hopeful book that provides a roadmap for overwhelmed minds. It shows us that relief is within reach. Of course, relief can be found in psychotherapy. And it can be found in relationships, art, community, self-compassion, gratitude, sleep, exercise, simple household tasks, a chamomile tea, and even a long sit in a hot-water bath.