Subtitle: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self
Publication Date: March 9, 2021
Publisher: Harper
Pages: 320
Genre: Self-Help / Psychology / Holistic Healing
ISBN: 9780063012097
📝 Overview
In How to Do the Work, Dr. Nicole LePera—widely known as “The Holistic Psychologist”—presents a transformative guide to self-healing. Combining clinical psychology with holistic practices, she empowers readers to break free from inherited conditioning, heal past wounds, and live consciously.
Drawing from her own healing journey and research, LePera emphasizes that true wellness is multidimensional: involving the mind, body, and spirit. This book is both a compassionate guide and a practical toolkit for anyone seeking inner growth and long-term change.
📚 Table of Contents (Main Chapters)
- You Are Your Own Best Healer
- The Conscious Self: Becoming Aware
- A New Theory of Trauma
- Trauma Body
- Mind-Body Healing Practices
- The Power of Belief
- Meet Your Inner Child
- Ego Stories
- Trauma Bonds
- Boundaries
- Reparenting
- Emotional Maturity
- Interdependence
🌟 Key Themes and Insights
- Self-Healing: You have the tools within you to break patterns and find emotional freedom.
- Holistic Wellness: Healing is not just mental, but also physical and spiritual.
- Inner Child Work: Connecting with unmet emotional needs from childhood can unlock growth.
- Reparenting: You can become the safe, nurturing figure your younger self never had.
- Conscious Living: Awareness and intentionality are the keys to transformation.
✅ Practical Takeaways
Cultivate Awareness
Begin noticing repetitive patterns in your emotions, behavior, and relationships.Set Boundaries
Boundaries are not barriers—they’re essential for healthy self-protection and clarity.Practice Daily Healing Rituals
Meditation, journaling, breathwork, and mindfulness help you reconnect to your body and emotions.Challenge Core Beliefs
Much of your suffering stems from inherited or outdated beliefs about your worth and identity.Use Reparenting Techniques
Speak kindly to yourself, meet your emotional needs, and offer the nurturing you once lacked.
💬 Notable Quotes
“Trauma creates the fundamental belief that we must betray who we are in order to survive.”
“Healing is not about becoming the best version of yourself; it’s about letting the worst version of yourself be loved.”
“Your body holds the story your mind tries to forget.”
📖 Similar Books
If you appreciated How to Do the Work, you might also enjoy:
- The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
- It Didn’t Start With You by Mark Wolynn
- Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach
- The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown
- The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer
- Attached by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller
🧠 Final Thoughts
How to Do the Work is a compassionate and empowering invitation to take radical responsibility for your healing. Dr. Nicole LePera offers not only insight but actionable tools to support deep personal transformation.
Whether you’re navigating trauma, anxiety, burnout, or emotional disconnection, this book provides a grounded, holistic framework for becoming the conscious creator of your own life.