Looking Toward Recovery with Sharon Hastings

Back in early 2020, IVP published debut Northern Irish author, Sharon Hastings, whose beautifully written memoir of mental health and faith was published as Wrestling with my Thoughts, featuring both haunting prose and expert advice drawn from Sharon’s own qualification as a Doctor, and other medical professionals. 

Of course, the COVID Pandemic meant that the launch period for Wrestling with My Thoughts was not normal – and at the same time, the need for books that carefully consider mental health and faith holistically has never been greater. 

As we emerge from the restrictions of 2020 and 2021, we move into a different phase. So to, does Sharon, in her new book. Tentatively titled Tending to My Thoughts, this book explores the complex yet beautiful language of ‘recovery’, weaving in updates on her own journey with careful biblical and medical reflection on what it means to ‘recover’. 

Sharon writes:

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with IVP again to publish my second book, ‘Tending to my Thoughts: A Doctor with Severe Mental Illness Finds Recovery’.   

In Wrestling With My Thoughts I wrote about finding glimmers of hope in God’s goodness during a period of severe illness; with Tending to my Thoughts I am looking forward to sharing my story of finding life beyond such illness, as well as information about what recovery entails and how to work towards it. 

My recovery has not meant that I am ‘cured’, but I have been able to rebuild a life truly worth living.  I believe that this is a possibility that should be open to all who suffer from mental illness – regardless of its severity. 

It has been a privilege to be in contact with many of my readers and I am so glad to be able to update them on my journey of faith and recovery.  I am also hopeful that Tending to my Thoughts will have wider relevance, since every one of us is in recovery from something! 

I’d like to thank IVP for their commitment to bringing light to the lives of those affected – directly or indirectly – by mental illness, and for giving me this platform from which to impart true, living hope!” 

Thomas Creedy, Senior Commissioning Editor at IVP, said “Sharon’s first book was one of the most moving things I’ve read recently – and her warmth, compassion and honesty have impacted people in print and also in person, for example at her Keswick seminar last year. It’s an honour for us to be able to publish Sharon’s next book, giving us all, no matter our mental health, a glimpse of the recovery that Jesus ultimately offers”. 

Tending to My Thoughts will be published in 2023. Sharon’s first book, Wrestling With My Thoughts, is available now.