I loved Try Softer by this author; and this one was just as good! Kolber has a great voice through her writing. Powerful, yet easy to understand and retain. I will be ordering a physical copy of this book to read again; and gift to friends/family. Thank you!

Thank you so much for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Strong Like Water was such a helpful book to weed through a lot of though processes that were weighing me down and to work through bionically instead of just toughing it out on my own.

I've gone to review this book on a couple of occasions, but yet just wasn't in the right space. If anyone can understand this, it's this author. Aundi Kolber.

I appreciate her approach and her helpful and practical approach. It resonates. There is huge value in looking to be strong, like water.

With many thanks to Tyndale House Publishing, Netgalley and the author for my advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Easily one of the best books I've read all year. This one is one to savor and take your time with. I'm so grateful for the gentle wisdom and reframing that Aundi Kolber offers here. This is truly a life-changing book and has helped me in countless ways since I've read it. Highly, highly recommend.

I absolutely loved Aundi Kolber’s first book and this one is more of a guidebook to go alongside that. I appreciate how “Strong Like Wate” breaks down how to be strong by recognising our needs, and our past hurts through gentleness. It speaks to learning to flow like water and build resilience slowly and thoughtfully.

I have a complex trauma history, as I’m sure many who read it will, so feel I should mention some of the stories of people Aundi has worked with were too much for me and too triggering. I found I could skip over them and still gain an immense amount from the book. I appreciated the practices, rhythms, and resources at the end of each chapter. This isn’t one to rush through but a workbook to be parked in, to be unpacked slowly and put into action.

Love, joy, and connection are what it’s all about, this book takes your hand and helps you start the journey to healing and finding more of that. I highly recommend it, it’s a five out of five on the enJOYment scale.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from Tyndale House Publishers through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Strong like Water: Finding the Freedom, Safety, and Compassion to Move through Hard Things--and Experience True Flourishing by Aundi Kolber. This is a follow up to Try Softer. I personally haven’t read Try Softer and she mentions that it is helpful to read before but not required.

One quote that stood out to me while reading this was “God is teaching me that no matter where I am in the process of healing. I am worthy of receiving love, compassion, care, and support.”

This book has many practical applications while also inviting you to move at a pace you can handle. There are a number of great illustrations and examples throughout the book that make it easy to understand. One thing I wish was different were some of the charts since I was reading a digital copy it was difficult to follow some of the charts since it would cut off and I’d try to scroll back and forth so if you can do a hard copy I’d recommend that!
I would recommend reading this when you have the space to dive in deep and take the time to process and try the different practices suggested.

Overall a great resource to go through! I’ll end it with a quote from the book “Now I know what it’s like to be strong like water; to gather aching parts of my story and support them with compassion and hope. Now I know, and I can never not know again.”

The author has a tremendous gift of taking clinical ideas and relating them in story form, making them highly understandable. This book is full of practices to try as one deals with things like trauma, anxiety, and other mentally inhibiting conditions. She's always encouraging readers to do only what they're ready for, and seek help when needed. Most of all, she writes beautifully about how Jesus walks alongside us in the process.

One of the things I appreciate about Aundi’s writing is the non-shaming way she acknowledges people who currently don’t have safe relationships or community or places to pull from to resource. In fact, this is what makes this book stand out.

There’s a section in the book where she writes about the positive impact her relationship with her husband has had on her journey. Reading this section I felt myself tensing, concerned that, like many other books I’ve read, she would write about the importance of relationships and those of us without that experience would be left wondering what about us. However, this is not the case. Instead, she not only clearly and compassionately acknowledges this she also provides a variety of practical ideas on how to start building a sense of safety if a healing relationship isn’t a part of the reader’s story yet.

This is one of those rare books that I feel confident recommending and will be coming back to again and again.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley

Aundi writes with gentleness, compassion, and safety. As a trauma survivor herself, she knows what it is like to be in the deep end. Strong Like Water replaces the narrative that we have to be strong, always, and that we are strong when we are not weak. Aundi speaks light into the idea that maybe honoring our pace, our bodies, our stories is strength, too. As a therapist, I am taking this read into work with my clients and into my own personal life. She does a brilliant job at providing psychoeducation, storytelling, and making the content feel applicable and personal. If you're a survivor, a human, a therapist, a person of faith...you need this book. Aundi writes from a trauma-informed perspective (truly!), and is gentle when discussing difficult topics. Her words remind readers that: you are safe here.

The very last way I would describe myself is strong. Strong Life Water has helped me realize that perhaps I have been/am strong in ways I would never have recognized as strength. I appreciate Aundi Kolber’s use of God’s Word and Jesus example as our ultimate security and source of strength throughout the book. Reading this book helped me identify occasions of physical trauma responses in my body that at the time they occured I had no idea what they were.
The book is somewhat technical but definitely written so the average person can understand and use. The practices explained are not just tools for those who have experienced chronic trauma but beneficial for dealing with one time traumatic events that left scars. Chapters end with questions and guided exercises to help the reader put concepts into practice. The book is a well-written compassionate guide, full of hope and tools to help turn hurt and trauma into strength.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tyndale for the opportunity to read for honest review.

After reading Aundi's first work, Try Softer, earlier last year, I was eager to receive an ARC of Strong like Water and to savour the rich journey of learning more about freedom, safety, and what it truly means to be strong. This is an important work that truly emphasizes the truths known in the world of psychology, particularly that of trauma-informed and somatic focused therapeutic work, and connects them to the Christian experience in a deeply meaningful way. Strong like Water certainly goes deeper into topics introduced in Try Softer, so I would recommend starting there before picking up this read. Nevertheless, this is a deeply compassionate resource that I will be purchasing for myself to implement further personally, professionally, and spiritually. I highly recommend this resource for counsellors, leaders, pastors, and anyone carrying hard things (ps - that's all of us. :)
Thanks to NetGalley and Tyndale for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Strong like Water: Finding the Freedom, Safety, and Compassion to Move through Hard Things--and Experience True Flourishing by Aundi Kolber is a beautiful, important work. The author writes with such tenderness, wisdom, and specificity. This book is important for all to read, because all of us hold on to hard things. This is a book to read again and again, an amazing resource for how to move past our hurts and turn them into strength. This book is lifegiving and full of hope. I highly recommend it. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

With Strong Like Water, Aundi Kolber solidifies her position as an authority on trauma, embodiment, and Christian healing. Building on the concepts in her powerful first book, Try Softer, Kolber guides us from crisis-centered surviving to wholehearted strength and thriving. The tools and resources she offers are both psychologically sound, based on cutting-edge therapeutic techniques and evidenced based research, and applicable to a general audience. Kolber's voice as both a trauma expert and fellow survivor is one that I will trust and turn to for both my own growth and my clients' care.

Strong like water was loaded with information and it was one that needs time to digest.
I like how it pushes you from your hurts and instead of staying there, you can move to healing and its worth it in the end!

What I love about Aundi Kolber is that she is a gentle space for those of us who both hold a Christian faith AND struggle, whether with anxiety or any trauma related issue. Where some faith based teachings on mental health over spiritualize and over simplify healing, making it seem as though we must not be doing it quite right, since we aren’t getting the right results - her approach is grounded in research, knowledge and real-life examples from her practice as a professional counselor.
I loved Try Softer and found it revolutionary in its approach, so I can’t thank NetGalley and Tyndale enough for the chance to read an advanced copy of Strong like Water.
This is a book to make your way through slowly and gently with pen and journal in hand. Each chapter has exercises at the end, some where she has posed questions, some where she takes the reader through physical practices that aid the strengthening process she’s writing about.
I know I’m going to need to get a paper copy of this book and revisit it at the pace it deserves. I’m really looking forward to the difference some of the practices may make in my life.
If you’re interested in the ways trauma stores itself in the body, in attachment theory, regulation, and why we are the way we are (a good companion book is “What happened to you?” By Oprah and Bruce Perry) then I highly recommend this book. While Kolber does reference faith and spirituality regularly that by no means makes the work unrelatable to someone who does not share those beliefs. This book is packed full of helpful, practical, loving advice. Thank you Aundi ❤️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5 stars. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review (I may or may not have read Try Softer 3 times)! Aundi has done it again in weaving together sacred spirituality with neuroscience to be accessible as a resource (but not substitute for counseling, which she makes quite clear) for those doing the hard work of of being more attuned to their bodies and all the emotions, thoughts, and beliefs which may follow. Strong Like Water utilizes resources backed by science to help people be compassionate with themselves in hard times, recognizing we're all stronger than we think we are. There are simply different kinds of strengths and some types may be harder on our physical bodies, mental work, or even operate out of a place of peace and goodness. She doesn't assign value judgements to where people are and doesn't assume all readers will find the same benefit from the Bible or prayer as she does (but does point out the helpfulness that often accompanies breath prayers, sacred text reading, etc regardless of where the reader is spiritually).

Aundi uses a generous variety of English translations/paraphrases of the Bible, so please remember all this scripture is being used and interpreted in a way that benefits the author’s own spiritual journey and a way she believes may benefit readers. ALL English Bibles are interpretations in themselves with many interpretive bents already chosen by the theology of the interpreters (ESV for reinforcing patriarchal purposes stemming out of the GrecoRoman era, NRSV for word for word Greek/Hebrew to English even if some of the thought/poetry is lost, TPT for charismatics). It’s all getting ripped out of context and often we try to make the Bible into things it’s actually not. If certain verses worked towards healing for Aundi or you, kudos, but they can’t be equally and liberally applied to all across cultures, contexts, and especially mental health struggles. I appreciate that Aundi more often than not recognizes this, and gives her audience a chance to use and claim scripture which is helpful for them.

Wow! Strong book! Very similar to her first book but still excellent content and great personable writing. She was very easy to connect with and the stories she shared were relatable. The exercises and practical tips were well-explained and easy to implement. Thank you Aundi for your wisdom and your vulnerability in sharing some of your own journey with us. I will definitely be using some of the ideas in this book as I continue to journey towards health!

After reading (and loving) Try Softer by Aundi Kolber, I was excited for the chance to read her next book.

Our society is bombarded with an often unhealthy message about strength; who has it, what you need to achieve it, and how to use it to “control” people and circumstances. But what if we could look at strength and resilience in a completely different way? What if we could find strength through traits and systems that are normally thought of as “weak” or “passive?”

I found this book to be thoughtful, sound and extremely encouraging. It’s in-depth analysis of the “flow” of strength was fascinating. I highly recommend this wonderful book!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In full disclosure, Aundi is a friend and a client of mine. That being said, I put Strong Like Water on my list of the best books I read in 2022 and emailed her immediately to say, "I got an ARC from NetGalley of your new book and WOW I needed it. It's stunning, and such a perfect follow-up to Try Softer."

Strong Like Water is exactly what the world needs now: gentle, encouraging strength for these strange, lonely pandemic days. Highly, highly recommended.

Aundi Kolber, you tender hearted genius. This book is a beautiful invitation into the depths of our weakest moments. Between her expertise and experience, Aundi allows readers to explore the ways they’ve struggled, grown, and learned to embracei their becoming. I will read this year after year.