Have you ever felt overwhelmed by your emotions or the thoughts churning ceaselessly in your mind? In this practical guide, clinical psychologist Dr. Julie Smith explains human psychology, and offers practical strategies and tools to improve your well-being. In this free summary of Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before, you’ll learn several concepts, strategies and tools for navigating mental health challenges and improving your emotional well-being.
Background to Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before
After 10 years’ experience as a clinical psychologist, Dr. Julie Smith realized that many of her clients don’t actually need therapy. They just need to understand how their minds and bodies work, and to equip themselves with strategies and know-how to manage their mental-emotional health.
This book is a compilation of the insights and tools that Dr. Smith applies in therapy. It was originally written in 8 sections over 36 chapters, so you can zoom in on any area you’re struggling with or wish to get more resilient at. In this free summary, we’ll give an overview of the concepts and strategies that cut across all 8 sections, before outlining the ideas in the 8 specific areas of mental-emotional health.
Overall Concepts for Improving Well-Being
Self-Knowledge is Key
Mental-emotional challenges like bad moods, anxiety and negative thoughts, are all normal. They’re not a sign that something is wrong with you. To improve your well-being, it’s crucial to understand how your mind and body work, then practice the strategies and tools in this book until they become second-nature to you.
Remember: thoughts and feelings are not facts. They’re just your brain’s interpretations of internal and external cues, mixed with biases, assumptions, memories, and opinions.
Specifically, your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and actions are all interconnected. For instance, dehydration and poor sleep can make you feel irritable. The way you interpret physical experiences also shapes your emotional and cognitive responses.
Don’t try to suppress or avoid negative thoughts and feelings, as it only makes things worse. Instead, seek to become aware of the sources of your mental-emotional challenges, so you can consciously manage those sources and your responses. For instance, you might be thinking “I’m so useless!” You sense a tightness in your chest, feel frustrated with yourself, and feel the urge to isolate yourself. These factors can reinforce one another to make you feel worse. Ask yourself: How can you adjust each component to start feeling better?
General Tools and Strategies
Across the 8 mental-health sections in “Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?”, several tools and strategies surface repeatedly. They include:
• Journaling frequently about your experiences, thoughts, feelings, and responses, to cultivate self-awareness.
• Practicing mindfulness, which is about being fully present in the moment and observing your inner world without judgment.
• Applying metacognition to notice your thoughts and how they affect you, then make a conscious decision to choose your thoughts and responses (rather than let them control you).
• Create some distance between your thoughts/emotions and your identity and reality. Label your thought biases and emotions, and use distance language by saying “I am having thoughts that…” or “I am noticing these sensations…”
• Share your observations with a trusted friend, and get him/her to point out unhelpful patterns real-time.
• Choose self-compassion, not self-criticism. Encourage and support yourself the way you would a close friend or a loved one.
• Practice gratitude: write down at least 3 things you’re grateful for each day, to train the mind to focus on positives.
Managing Specific Mental-Emotional Challenges
Here’s a quick overview of the 8 common mental-emotional challenges and what they entail. In our full 17-page version of the Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before summary, we’ll be explaining each of these 8 sections in detail, along with the underlying psychological concepts and the strategies/tools to be adapted or tailored for each challenge. 
Low Moods
Moods are influenced by both internal and external factors, such as physical health or environment. Often, they signal unmet needs.
Beware of unhelpful responses that worsen your mood (e.g. seeking instant relief or engaging in unhelpful thought biases). Learn to break the negative thought patterns, and turn your bad days around using journaling, gratitude, and other various other tools.
Lack of Motivation
Motivation is created through action, not the other way around. Don’t wait for motivation to act. Learn various strategies to spark and maintain motivation, and take action even when you don’t feel like it—this will trigger biological and emotional shifts to make you feel motivated. Your ultimate goal is to repeat the desired behaviors until they become automatic, effortless habits.
Emotional Pain
Emotions are neither good nor bad. They’re your brain’s interpretation of what’s going on and what you need. They’re transient and will pass naturally. The key is to embrace all emotions (including the unpleasant ones) in order to understand and manage them using the range of emotional management strategies provided.
Grief
Grief is a natural part of the human experience, not a disorder nor a sign of weakness. It’s the sense of deep yearning when you’ve lost something meaningful, e.g. a loved one, a job, or a sense of security (as many experienced during the Covid pandemic). Allow yourself to go through its natural process, including: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
Self-Doubt and Criticism
Humans are social creatures and we naturally care about others’ opinions. Criticisms are stressful because they suggest that we’ve failed to meet others’ expectations, and might risk rejection or abandonment. Remember: the only approval you need is from yourself. Learn only from criticisms that align with your personal values, and let go of the rest. Cultivate self-acceptance, practice self-compassion, build confidence and overcome the fear of failure. [If you suspect you have a self-esteem issue, do also check out our summary of The Imposter Cure.]
Fear and Anxiety
Fear and anxiety alert you to potential dangers. They can be triggered by both real and imagined threats. Anxiety involves excessive worry, even without an immediate threat. Learn to avoid unhelpful responses that amplify anxiety, recondition your brain’s response through controlled exposure to the fear stimulus, manage anxiety in the moment so it doesn’t escalate into panic, and confront the universal fear of death.
Stress
Stress is a natural response to help us cope with external demands. It’s usually in response to specific tasks or situations, such as a busy schedule or a competition. Replenish yourself periodically, and learn to use stress to improve performance without overwhelm. [Deep dive into this topic with our summary of The Upside of Stress.]
Living a Meaningful Life
Don’t pursue happiness, which is a fleeting emotion. Focus on living a fulfilling, values-focused life. At the same time, nurture meaningful relationships, which are vital for happiness, mental and physical well-being.
Getting the Most from Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Ready to learn more about the mental-emotional insights in Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? For detailed insights, examples and actionable tips for the ideas above, do check out our full book summary bundle that includes an infographic, 17-page text summary, and a 27-minute audio summary.
The book is written in a modular fashion to allow you to zoom in on any of the 8 thematic sections outlined above. Each section includes key psychological concepts, practical tools/strategies, examples, and relevant research references, to reinforce the ideas and applications. You can purchase the book here or visit drjulie.uk for more details.
About the Author of Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before was written by Dr. Julie Smith—a clinical psychologist, author, and content creator. Dr. Smith holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. After running her private practice for almost a decade, she began sharing videos on social media to make psychological concepts accessible to a wider audience. She often addresses topics such as emotional resilience, mental health coping strategies, and the application of therapy techniques in everyday life.
Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? Quotes
“Trying not to think about something tends to make us think about it more.”
“The best strategy for motivation is to take motivation out of the equation.”
“To build self-acceptance we first need to understand who we are and who we want to be.”
“To fight fear you must first be willing to face it.”
“To build confidence, go where you have none.”
“All the things that give us that instant relief tend to keep us stuck in the long term.”
“Acceptance is…giving up the struggle against the parts of our reality that we cannot control.”
“Stress is not always the enemy. It is also our most valuable tool.”
“The words we use can powerfully determine the meaning of a situation and our approach to it.”
“Happy moments are just one flower in a very large bouquet…Emotions come as a whole bunch.”
“When we shout, scream, cry, withdraw and stay silent, we are all asking the same thing, just in a different way…‘Are you there for me? Do I matter enough for you to stay? When I need you most, what are you going to do?’”
Click here to download the Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before infographic & Text summary
