This book explains how storytelling affects our minds and why it works, but it’s not limited to written or orally told stories. They certainly take a good part of the book are the first form we get to know, along with several references in all the chapters, which are very short and make this is a quick read for anyone who wants to have a better understanding of this topic. Along with these two well-known methods, Michelle Auerbach explores different and more eclectic ways to tell stories and heal through them: Food, photographs, meditation, speaking, asking questions and putting yourself in the position of others. This book makes you question your point of view, which may be conditioned by your circumstances, prejudices, ideas, hopes and dreams, making it a powerful tool for healers, regardless of the methods they use................. I’m more conscious of the power of words and messages transmitted in any media. If something is for certain is that you will start seeing messages and stories everywhere after you finished reading, you’ll look at things with different, more understanding eyes, which is surprising coming from such a short book. Resilience: The Life-Saving Skill of Story aims directly to healing and wellbeing, but it’s much more diverse. Readers can expect to meet different methods to put in practice with a clear, simple style that feels more like a conversation, even when Michelle Auerbach gives a clear set of instructions to follow when applying this or that. Definitely one of the books I liked the most this year, and worth a longer follow-up. ~ Bader Saab

5 Star rating: This book is a map for thriving during the challenging times we're living in -- without sticking our heads in the sand or isolating ourselves emotionally. The author gives helpful, practical tools for transforming anxiety, fear, depression and frustration into something useful to our own personal trajectory and our communities at large. She writes with compassion and hope, and the overall effect is that of spending much needed time with a best friend -- the kind who knows what you need to do to feel better. She includes all aspects of ourselves in her strategies - body, mind, feelings - so that the exercises become a holistic practice of self-care and care of others. ~ Safia, Goodreads

5 Star rating: I am in absolute awe that I am PHYSICALLY holding this book in my hands — I had purchased it originally since it spoke to the power of story and how it helps build resilience in the time of COVID, but I’ve been so inspired how it also weaves throughout it stories that speak directly to the racial injustice in this world. The stories in this book have helped me on my own journey to learn about these issues in more depth. It’s a quick read with thoughtfully structured chapters that I will reference again and again. Thank you to the author for compiling and sharing the collective wisdom of all the story truth-tellers that I met in this incredibly pertinent book. ~ Michael, Amazon

5 Star review: Realizing quickly this was going to be a book I could not put down, I grabbed a high-lighter. We each have stories in us...and this book gives us hope and encouragement to tell them, paint them, write them! Wish I had read it in my younger years, as it is indeed a pocket full of knowledge to treasure and use. A great book for students. Ms. Auerbach takes us from one world into another in her search of “story” with fascinating people who enlighten us as she does. She is a master, giving us comfort in our own skin and clearly wishing for each of us the gift of Story. ~ Betty Butler Cole, Amazon

5 Star rating: I love this author’s self-description: “Michelle Auerbach is a geek who sees everything through the lens of story.” As a fellow writer who has plumbed the psychological depths of fairy tale, myth, fable and legend, who has listened in rapt reverie to Michael Meade and Robert Bly unpack the symbolic threads of ancient stories in men’s gatherings, and as a psychotherapist who understands how stories create personal reality and its perceived problems, this book is a gem. Michelle is a novelist, academic, teacher of creative story-telling, business consultant, and contributor to the New York Times and London Guardian – she has all the necessary credentials and background for the subject and applies her wares everywhere. She’s amazing. And, not surprisingly, she brings us stories throughout her book, and most importantly, shows us how to make stories that heal ourselves and others. This book is an intensive extremely helpful creative-writing class well worth your time. If you want to tell a good story, especially if you want to tell your own story, read this book several times and then consider it your story-telling bible, for it is rich with experience, wisdom and expert guidance. ~ John C Robinson Ph.D., Amazon

5 Star rating: How are stories "life-saving?" It's not immediately obvious. The author - an experienced novelists and advisor to companies on the power of narrative - is writing here for a readership hit by the pandemic. So she consulted dozens of storytellers from communities hit by trauma. She tells their stories of the power of story to heal, instruct, connect, unite, transport and transform. In so doing, she takes what they have learned in the crucible of their suffering, and makes it available to the rest of us, in this chaotic, and at times terrifying time we find ourselves in. Story - it can save your life. ~ Tim Ward, Amazon

5 Star rating: I have long believed in the power of story telling. To me, binge-watching is a modern-day campfire or Scheherazade. If I like a novel or autobiography, I can't read it too many times. This book by Michelle Auerbach takes me way beyond my previous understanding of the power of story to show me how we can transform the world with the stories we tell and the stories we hear. The author interviews people around the globe who are groundbreakers, transforming culture with the stories they frame and share. Reading this book has changed my life, and I know it will go on changing it as I view the world through Michelle's compelling lens. ~ Melanie in Maryland, Amazon

5 Star rating: Ms. Auerbach's book is an 88-page revelation. I am a literal person. I prefer non-fiction. When I am asked to explain something, I try to stick to the facts. When I write, it's typically pretty dry. Yet I am as susceptible as the next person to the power of a well-told story. What's more, I long to be able to weave a good tale, one that will move or touch or influence or bring hope to those who hear it. Michelle Auerbach's, "The Life Saving Skill of Story" gave me a user's guide for how to think about and construct stories. And, through stories told by a host of folks she interviewed, Auerbach demonstrates just how stories can change minds and people and hearts and societies and who knows maybe even the world. It may sound grandiose but it's honestly how I felt when I finished this book. Things are a mess right now. The world needs this book and so might you. ~ J. Valdes-Dapena, Amazon

5 Star rating: As an expert in decision making and risk management, I've seen too few leaders recognize the critical role of story-telling to survive and thrive in times of crisis, especially slow-moving train wrecks such as COVID-19. This book provides the solution to those who are savvy enough to recognize the key role of story-telling to inspire, motivate, shape expectations, frame perceptions, convey critical information, guard against dangers, and cultivate a community of belonging, at work or outside of it. Conveying both pragmatic tips and a thoughtful theoretical framework, this book is a necessary tool for anyone who wants to communicate effectively and influence others in the context of pandemic and the post-pandemic world. ~ Gleb 11, Amazon