Your Journey beyond Breast Cancer: Tools for the Road is the culmination of Dr. Louise Lubin’s 40-year career as a clinical psychologist working with women and families affected by breast cancer. She very powerfully introduces these 202-pages as a guidebook full of information, tools and exercises designed to help a woman connect with her own inner healing wisdom. Indeed, each chapter provides strategies for coping with the impact of breast cancer, including tools for the body, mind and spirit, which are all conveniently catalogued at the end of the book. This book reads as a wise, expert sage speaking directly to a female breast cancer survivor. The exercises included are concise and quickly accessible by flipping through the pages, even if a woman wasn’t able to read the book cover to cover. There is also a six-page section on Resources at the end of the book that outlines the books and websites mentioned throughout each chapter, making it easier for women to delve deeper in specific areas of interest. While it could be a helpful tool for any breast cancer survivor, some of the chapter titles could be jarring for a newly diagnosed woman with breast cancer, especially Chapter 5, “Navigating the Exit Ramp,” particularly if she is experiencing an early-stage diagnosis.
 
The book itself follows the metaphor of breast cancer as a journey on the road of life, starting with Chapter 1, “The Uncertain Roundabout.” This chapter appropriately begins with an emphasis on the stress response and stress reduction exercises. A creative and novel addition to the toolkit of breathing and relaxation exercises generally associated with stress reduction is the inclusion of time management exercises to combat one’s self-talk around not having enough time to relax. The chapter ends, as they all do, with a “Committed Action Contract” to help a woman think through how she can integrate the exercises and concepts in the chapter into her life right now. 
 
Chapter 2 normalizes the sense of loss that can accompany a breast cancer diagnosis, and offers not only behavioral interventions to improve wellness but also exercises such as letting go of anger and hurt, practicing self-forgiveness and creating personal affirmations. Dr. Lubin terrifically describes how signs of sadness differ from signs of depression, and gives tips for finding professional and peer-based support. This chapter focuses on helping a woman take control of her physical and emotional wellness so she can hold and build more hope.
 
In Chapter 3, “You Are Not Traveling Alone,” Dr. Lubin explores how breast cancer can affect a woman’s relationship not only with her own physical body, but also with her partner, her children, her family and friends. The chapter includes an exploration of sexual functioning, and from there moves into important communication strategies for expressing personal needs, navigating conflict and examining who in one’s life helps you meet specific needs for intimacy, self-worth, guidance and more. Given Dr. Lubin’s experience as a couples’ therapist, the strategies and tools center on communication with a partner; I was left wanting more content devoted to helping a woman first hone in on her own personal relationship with her body and tools to reconnect with her sexuality amid or after the impact of cancer.
 
Chapter 4, “Focus on the Lane You Are In,” is a beautiful chapter that describes the importance of living in the present moment and illustrates many exercises with this focus. Mindfulness, self-compassion, and loving-kindness are all described and featured. She also includes many reflection questions, such as:

• “How do you treat yourself when you run into challenges in your life? Do you tend to ignore the fact that you’re suffering and focus exclusively on fixing the problem, or do you stop to give yourself care and comfort?” (page 130)
• “What type of language do you use with yourself when you notice a flaw or make a mistake (do you insult yourself, or do you take a kinder and more understanding tone?)” (page 129)

 Chapter 5, “Navigating the Exit Ramp,” begins with the author’s admission, “Some of you will not want to read this chapter… I, however, believe it would be a major omission not to shine a light on death and focus on how you might want to navigate the challenging road at the end of life.” (page 139) Conversations about end-of-life wishes, grieving loss, stages of grief and making meaning out of loss are explored. Dr. Lubin states, “I am not saying your cancer was a test, a lesson, a gift or a blessing. It is just what has happened in your life, and only you can find your own meaning. As loss is part of all our lives, we must try to find strength from our losses and allow the fear and suffering to lead us back to loving others and ourselves.” (page 150) This chapter aspires to normalize death and gives ways of thinking about and planning for end of life, as well as how to live more fully right now given the loss of innocence that cancer can bring into one’s life. This chapter may be challenging for women who are feeling especially anxious or sensitive about their prognosis, or those diagnosed with early-stage disease.
 
The final Chapter, “Finding Your Path Back Home,” is chock full of activities and exercises to examine and re-evaluate values and life goals as a woman explores what health and wellness look like for her after a breast cancer diagnosis. These includes activities to explore personal change, increase happiness and to evaluate what’s important now. The emphasis of this chapter is on examining how to move forward in a way that is more attuned to a woman’s current values, and how to concentrate more on living purposely and intentionally given the ways breast cancer has impacted her and her life.
 
Your Journey beyond Breast Cancer: Tools for the Road is a valuable offering of tools and exercises to facilitate personal growth and healing after a breast cancer diagnosis. At times the tone of this book may feel harsh to a woman who may be emotionally struggling. For example, the statements below may result in a woman feeling more defeated if she is already doubting her courage or struggling with how to advocate for herself:
 
“A fighting spirit has always been the route to better outcomes in cancer.” (page 182) and
“A take-charge attitude is the most beneficial to healing.” (page 17)
 
Given that caveat, the resources and tools provided are drawn from evidence-based practices and reputable experts on mindfulness, stress reduction, positive psychology and interpersonal neurobiology. This book describes these exercises in concise ways, making them accessible for a woman to draw from as she moves through her own experience of breast cancer. The continual encouragement for a woman to find her own voice, to tune into what is important to her, and to align her treatment and life decisions according to information and her own gut instinct are important, and likely to be welcomed messages for many women facing breast cancer.