Review:
In Here for Now, psychotherapist and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction instructor Elana Rosenbaum, chronicles her own life development through an intricate weave of her personal, spiritual, and professional experiences from childhood through adulthood including her diagnosis, treatment, reoccurrence, and survivorship of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma . This book is intimate and experiential. Drawing from her journal, poetry, and painting, Rosenbaum describes her hopes and fears, her process of grief, illness, vulnerability, and healing. Throughout the book, she incorporates tools and resources to engage the reader in their own process of coping and reflection through meditation, journaling, art, and other exercises.

Whether dealing with a recent diagnosis, metastasis, recurrence, in the midst of treatment, challenged by survivorship issues, or dealing with end-of-life concerns, Here for Now is an excellent book for clients who have been physically and emotionally impacted by cancer, and for counselors working with these individuals, couples, families, and groups. Here for Now can be used as a client workbook or resource for counselor intervention planning. Rosenbaum shares over 30 exercises and guided meditation scripts appropriate for use in-session or between sessions to facilitate client physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual awareness, as well as the development of mindfulness-based coping skills. Here for Now also aids the counselor to cultivate empathy and gain understanding of some of the common psychosocial and developmental needs of this population.