Coping: Fix Problems, Find Meaning, Feel Better

Coping offers a straightforward, evidence-based road map for managing stress with clarity and confidence. Drawing on decades of clinical experience and a thorough review of the latest research, psychiatrists and mental health researchers Robert Maunder, MD and Jonathan Hunter, MD present a practical, curated guide to effective coping strategies – along with realistic expectations for their success. With warmth and wisdom, the authors introduce three essential steps: fix the problem if you can, feel better about what you can’t fix, and, when suffering persists, seek purpose and meaning. For each step, they provide specific, proven techniques to help you tackle problems, find comfort, and discover deeper significance in challenging times. Step-by-step instructions and decision-making tools make it easy to learn, apply, and choose the right approach for any situation. These science-backed strategies are designed for maximum flexibility and can be adapted to meet the reader where they are. Integrating twelve powerful, real-life interviews with individuals facing extraordinary stress, the book helps readers modify the tested methods to their unique challenges and personal preferences and provides a rare sense of hope. Accessible, compassionate, and grounded in science, Coping presents a scientifically sound, practical, forgiving, and authoritative guide to caring for yourself.

About the Author

Robert Maunder, MD is a psychiatrist and researcher. He is currently a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Toronto, and chair in health and behaviour at Sinai Health. The author of multiple books, he has written for general readers in the Globe and Mail , Toronto Star , The Walrus , The Conversation , and Psychology Today . Jonathan Hunter, MD is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. He is currently a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and holds the Pencer Chair in Applied General Psychiatry at Sinai Health. His clinical and research work includes the psychological care of cancer patients, the role of early life experience in adaptation to disease, and supporting hospital staff in times of strain.