ABOUT THE BOOK

Mainstream self-care culture has convinced women that manicures, rom-coms, and Botox are what they need to feel better. While these practices can provide some fleeting satisfaction, they lack the critical and long-lasting nourishment that women actually need to thrive. These are the potato chips of self-care, empty calories that cannot provide true fulfillment. In a world of quick-fixes it can feel impossible to find genuine self-care—until now. 

Beyond Self-Care Potato Chips: Choosing Nourishing Self-Care in a Quick-Fix Culture by Amber Wardell, PhD, is a call to action for women to embrace true and sustaining self-care habits. As a psychologist, public figure, and millennial mother, Amber knows firsthand the challenges women face to take care of themselves amidst the chaos of life, all while unlearning the harmful self-care tactics women are taught from girlhood. While it might seem impossible to balance everything, this book provides realistic and fulfilling self-care practices for any reader.

Through intimate and often humorous personal anecdotes—and employing the same combination of raw honesty and relatability that has made her a trusted online voice and social media sensation—Amber demonstrates how readers can let go of unfulfilling solutions and begin embracing healing self-care. 

Encouraging readers to cultivate their own truth trench, Amber provides actionable advice at the end of every chapter so women can begin to set aside their bag of self-care potato chips and reach instead for something more nourishing, healthy, and sustainable.

“This is my love letter to exhausted millennial women (and our sisters from all generations) who were brought up hearing that self-care is selfish and self-love is egoic,” says Wardell. “It is the story of how I learned to love myself again, and the practical steps I took to get there. I hope it will be a roadmap for other women to do the same.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amber Wardell, PhD, is a cognitive psychologist, writer, Psychology Today contributor, and trusted social media influencer with over 690K followers on TikTok and Instagram where her authentic advice on motherhood, marriage, and mental health has made her a trusted voice of honesty and reliability among women who are looking to embrace nourishing self-care and self-empowerment.

TALKING POINTS

• The concept of quick-fix, fast-food “self care” versus nourishing, sustaining self-care
• The problematic messaging that’s been given to women, especially Millennial women
• Examples of realistic and fulfilling self-care practices
• How Amber learned to love herself again, and the practical steps she took to get there that can serve as a roadmap for others
• Actionable advice that replaces unfulfilling, superficial solutions
• Amber’s impressive social media following: what her audience takes away from her content and what they’ve taught her in return