A Path through the Jungle (A Psychological Health and Wellbeing Programme to Develop Robustness and Resilience)

A Path through the Jungle offers a thoughtful approach to building psychological health, robustness, and resilience. The exercises and strategies are easy to understand and apply, making it practical for daily life or work environments. The content feels high-quality and well-structured, balancing theory with actionable steps. Value for money is very good, considering the depth of guidance and support it provides. The book is also a manageable size — not overwhelming, but detailed enough to be genuinely useful. Overall: a clear, practical, and well-crafted guide for anyone looking to strengthen mental resilience and wellbeing.

I had extremely high expectations of this book. They were more than met. All were based on my having read the Chimp Paradox five years ago and learning a great deal about myself. The Silent Guides and My Hidden Chimp built on that by increasing my understanding of the Chimp Model and how I could apply it. I think that this takes the best of the other books and combines them to great effect. I am only part way into it and I am already hooked. I would describe this book as having all of the detail of the Chimp Paradox set out in the easily accessible style of the later books. For example, the core of the model is covered in chapter 1. Simple, evocative terms such as the human, chimp and computer make it easy to understand which parts of our brain act in particular ways and the reasons why. Understanding that can be extremely powerful in lots of ways, albeit time, effort and patience needs to be applied! For people like myself who like to explore the science there are details on specific areas of the brain and how they interrelate. References to academic sources are included making it easy to follow up if you wish. Equally, doing so is optional allowing readers to choose their own path. Diagrams and examples help bring the concepts to life and are likely to support a range of preferences and learning styles. My view on how this fits with the other books is as follows: The Chimp Paradox was the basis for everything else. It takes some quite complex science and turns it into something relatively easy to understand. It covers quite a lot of breadth and goes into enough depth to make it really useful. I believe that it is the best-selling self-help book of all time and having spoken to others at Chimp Management conferences and events I can understand why. The model allows people to understand themselves much better and to make positive changes. The reason that I am such a fan is that it has worked for me. That has taken time and effort and I would not claim to be the finished article by a long way! I am not sure that it would suit everyone, but for those it fits with it appears to be extremely effective. Sometimes change seems to occur quickly, sometimes it’s slower but buy in and effort seem to pay off. The Silent Guides is a great distillation of the Chimp Paradox. It focuses on ways of thinking that can provide a great start point or be enough on their own. It would always have been my likely recommendation as a start point before the latest book was released. My Hidden Chimp is aimed at a young audience and uses images and stories to make the ideas readily accessible to even quite young children. I know of parents and professionals who use the book to work with children to build their knowledge and skills to good effect. The apparent simplicity may be a drawback for some, it is a powerful model portrayed in a deliberately simple manner. The new book takes the very best of the previous books and combines them. It has all the power of the Chimp Paradox with the simple structure of The Silent Guides and the graphics of My Hidden Chimp. The result is a brilliantly clear explanation of the model that takes you on a journey of discovery and learning. Being so accessible it is likely to appeal to people who may have been put off the Chimp Paradox or struggled to get all the way through. There are numerous approaches that readers could take. For example the science is explained in designated areas which I really enjoy, others might pick and choose which to read. The chapters and sections seem to be designed to build on one another meaning that there are common threads tying the whole book together. With luck, users will notice themselves gaining as they work through the book (as I have so far) and will benefit from the insights they could gain. Finally, I was really pleased to learn that the Audible version was available. I am finding that listening to Steve Peters narrate it helps me pick up some of the nuances and subtleties. e.g.in his tone of voice. In summary, I was expecting a lot and this book looks set to deliver. I am really grateful because I want my journey to continue along with the gains I have made so far (and hope to continue).

This is a potentially life changing book. I say potentially life changing, as like many books in this genre, you can’t just read them and expect your world to change. To get the most from them, you need to put the time and effort in to practice the tools and techniques shared. Having said that, I can honestly say that it has left me feeling a whole lot calmer, and with a much clearer picture of what I need to do daily, and also forward thinking. I think the calmer aspect is down to the content forming autopilots that I didn’t have before and my chimp staying settled! I would recommend reading the Chimp Paradox first to gain an understanding of the Chimp model. This book then goes into a lot more detail, with examples in each chapter which supports the learning. The exercises at the end of each chapter are also very good and I recommend taking the time to do them. I read a lot of neuroscience based books, but after reading this I’m not sure where I go next, as it has everything that I need to improve my mental wellbeing and keep it on track. This will truly become my go to reference book!

This should have gotten five stars for content but the formatting of some of the diagrams and illustrations is so bad that the text itself is obscured. Otherwise, an eye opening read with some great exercises and psychological cues, thank you.

I've found the author's 'Chimp Model' to be an excellent therapeutic model and I've been looking forward to this release for the best part of a year. The author's first book, The Chimp Paradox, introduces a model for understanding and managing unwanted emotions, thoughts and behaviours, and contains lots of guidance for living a healthier and happier life. This book expands on this with more detail, more examples and a programme structure - in effect a course in self-help mind management and life coaching. The book is peppered with neuroscience insights. These attempt to illuminate the mechanics of the mind and give some background to why certain therapies may work. References are provided for these. I have a strong interest in cognitive science, so I'm looking forward to reading these and the referenced papers. I've spent a couple of days with the Kindle and paperback versions and started an Audible trial for the audiobook. The Kindle version was released with formatting problems and has been delisted while the publishers fix these. The physical book looks great and I'm sure this time next year it will be my dog-eared companion. The author has adapted his content for the audiobook, as he did for The Chimp Paradox audiobook, and I can use these as unit lectures when on the go or exercising. Good stuff!

I have read a lot of books, many even in the self-help space. This is completely different from every other book you will ever read and with this you can make real changes. Even psychologists who I know have said the same. The key reasons are: - Unlike other books it is grounded in science and written by an actual renowned practitioner in the field. There are literally hundreds of scientific references for practically every statement in the book - It does the one thing that most people struggle with: explain why we do the things we do rather than the things we wish we did, by explaining how the human mind - ALL our minds - really works - it provides a systematic and structured step-by-step approach to making personal improvements, based on real understanding of what can - and what cannot- be achieved. In all honesty, despite being a pretty successful person, this is the first time in my life I have truly understood myself and better understood others. Put every other personal development book aside until you have read and implemented the requisite parts of this one, because in this approach you will finally be able to master and understand the most important thing you need to manage - your own mind.

Heard so much about this man and book lately. Makes Neuroscience a little easier to understand!

Albeit the book is a tomb at over 400 pages the information within is a real gem. Most of us do not understand the mechanics of our mind and how we then live our lives. I have read about 130 pages and learnt so much. Highly recommend.