While the advice about dealing with toxic behaviors was solid if unoriginal, I found the focus on HSP cognitive distortions to be confusing and at times troubling. I assume my complete lack of connection with these portions of the book indicate that I am not a highly sensitive person myself, so perhaps other people who identify as HSPs would be better arbitrators of this work.

This book was received as an ARC from New Harbinger Publications, Inc. in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was awaiting the release of this book after reading the highly sensitive person and this is a huge obstacle for a lot of our community including me. The book was very insightful and Shahida Arabi touched on a lot of breaking points that hit me so hard that I started to cry and realize how hard this was hurting. The book really opened my eyes to the possibilities once all the points have been defeated and this will definitely be valued throughout the rest of my life. I know this will circulate very well and have a great home in our Self-Help collection.

We will definitely consider adding this title to our Self-Help collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

In "The Highly Sensitive Person's Guide to Dealing with Toxic People" Shahidi Arabi provides a step by step guide to do exactly that. She begins by differentiating a highly sensitive person (HSP) and an empath. While both bear several similarities ( highly tuned senses, strong intuitive abilities, and can need time alone to decompress), an HSP processes more information about the world around them than others do. Therefore, they are more likely to be taken advantage of especially by narcissists and psychopaths who are at the end of the same emotional spectrum.

Arabi does a wonderful job of breaking down common tactics used by toxic people like stonewalling, gaslighting and addressing various cognitive distortions that HSP go through. She then provides relatable explanations and advises using easy to remember acronyms throughout. One thing that stands out is that she heavily advocates for the journaling practice as a means of self-reflection and also to document one's feelings for future reference.

I believe that this is not only for HSPs but everyone who values mental and emotional health. Because let's face at one point or the other we have exhibited (or will exhibit) some form of toxic behaviour.

This book is a must-read for those dealing with toxic people -especially with the current world scenario, being locked-in with a toxic person can have adverse effects on mental health. I really liked the detailed explanations, the questionnaires and ways to deal with toxic behaviour. This book is an eye-opener for HSPs and empaths.

This book was so helpful! I found myself highlighting many passages for future reference. The book is simply written and easy to understand. I consider myself to be very sensitive and often feel guilt in relationships with others. The book talks about different toxic personalities including: boundary steppers, attention seekers, emotional vampires, sociopaths, psychopaths, and narcissists. I found the suggestions for dealing with these kind of people very practical.

An empowering guide to self-advocacy for the Highly Sensitive Person struggling with a toxic relationship. Journal prompts allow the reader to reflect and implement self-care practices for meaningful change.

Personally, I've read a decent amount of "dealing with toxic people" books. This one stands out because it explains the actual neuroscience of why we put up with toxic behavior in the first place. It explains both how we get out of toxic relationships, but also how we got into them in the first place. The other element that helps this book stand out is the focus on a Highly Sensitive victim, who will struggle even more with escaping from the toxic relationships in their life. Rather than focusing on the negative impact their sensitivity has on their interpersonal skills, the book flips these traits on their head and explains how High Sensitivity is a great tool for identifying toxic people in the first place.

There is a lot of reassuring information both in facts and in recommendations for moving forward. It also strikes a good balance between anecdotal and scientific information. Offering one or two examples of the different kinds of toxic people, as well as the ways Highly Sensitive People are affected by them, makes the situations easier to understand, and harder to dismiss if the reader has experienced similar situations in real life.

The book does lean on acronyms a little too much for my taste. The acronyms are long and the explanation for each letter is also long, which makes them difficult to remember. Some of the advice gets repetitive, like offering yoga and meditation as a solution in multiple places in the book. I think this could be cleaned up by leaving footnotes or references to the final chapter (Refuge and Recover: Healing Modalities for HSPs) instead. I would also like the book to recommend working with a professional earlier on, especially considering it offers journaling exercises that could be triggering, or cause more problems if the entries are found by the reader's toxic partner/family member, etc.

Overall this was a good addition to the genre of Dealing with Toxic People. Highly Sensitive People are so often targeted not just by toxic people, but as doormats or scapegoats for others. To let them know that this is not only normal, but not acceptable, is so important. This book is a good place for them to begin or continue their road to healthier relationships.

This book was just what I needed to read- it was all about how to deal with toxic people. Specifically if you are a highly sensitive person (hsp) as those types of personalities are highly drawn to those with toxic personalities and those with toxic personalities gravitate towards HSPs. The book touches on relationships with parents, family members and co-workers- it does not focus solely on an intimate relationship or significant other. Often times the most toxic people in our lives can be our own parents and family members, so it was nice to read a book that addresses that. The book provided a lot of advice of how to handle a toxic person as well as ending communication with a toxic person. I loved all the different examples and scenarios, that was helpful. This book also provided Journaling and self reflection moments that were workbook like: I found that to be extremely helpful! If you are or know a highly sensitive person or a toxic person, this book is for you. It is filled with so much insight and explanations- there is a science behind your level of sensitivity!

This book is a practical and helpful guide for anyone who is negatively affected by toxic people in their lives.. The author discusses specific types of toxic personalities and behaviors ranging from narcissistic to attention seeking to downright psychopathic. The book offers practical guidance and anyone that is concerned about toxic relationships will benefit from reviewing this material. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this book.

For me this was exactly the type ornament self help book I love. Not only is it relatable for me, as an Empath, it is one of those books you can have and use continually for reference when dealing with toxic people and narcissists. I would definitely recommend to anyone who identifies as an HSP or and Empath or even if they’ve been treated in a less than awesome way in any of their relationships. You gain knowledge as well as reality like tactics to put toward your boundaries. Thank you NetGalley for this read.

This book was so incredibly helpful. It was filled with so much great information and helped me sort out the lingering effects of some past difficult relationships. I would highly recommend this book to anyone trying to deal with toxic people or trying to overcome a past relationship with someone toxic.

This is a comprehensive and up to date look at methods of handling narcissists of all kinds, from the home to the workplace to the friend group. While the information may not be entirely new, I found the author's view into the issue via the lens of a high-sensitive person to be a neat, fresh take. This book works as a front to back read, but is also a handy dip in reference book to come back to for refreshers on certain aspects of handling toxic people. I also liked the author's breakdown of coping strategies and journalling exercises. An interesting read, with lots of relevant information, accessibly written, and the use of human stories as examples doesn't overwhelm the narrative. Good stuff.

The author begins by describing how a highly sensitive person, or empath, can often be victimized by narcissists and manipulators. She discusses benign and malignant toxic personalities; the former includes boundary steppers, attention seekers, and emotional vampires, while the latter includes psychopaths, sociopaths, and narcissists. Practical suggestions are offered, and anyone (not just a sensitive person) who is concerned about toxic relationships could benefit from reading this book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

As highly sensitive person I am almost always sorrounded with toxic people. I've read many books about this theme and I have to say that this is really sistematic and very useful guide for all who has to deal with benign and malign sorts of toxic people.

The author has a very user friendly and also scientific approach to deal with boundary-steppers, crazymakers and attention-seekers, emotional vampires, narcissists, sociopaths and psychopaths. As HSP's we are not responsible for well-being of such people, we have to be strong and care for ourselves. With this book we can quickly learn how.

Great and well written guide, I highly recommend it.