The Age of Overwhelm
Strategies for the Long Haul
A field guide for staying grounded, decent, and clear when the world feels like too much.
In the face of epic overwhelm, this thoughtful, generous, and inspiring book offers a path forward and a ray of hope for all of us.
Dr. Vance Vredenburg
Professor of Biology, San Francisco State University; University of California, Berkeley; and the California Academy of Sciences
About the Book
Whether you’re overwhelmed by school or work, your family or community, the state of the world, or the weight of caring for others—this book offers a way through.
In The Age of Overwhelm, Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, bestselling author of Trauma Stewardship, offers a practical and compassionate guide to living with more intention, integrity, and stamina in an increasingly chaotic world. Drawing on decades of experience in trauma work, community organizing, and systems change, she shows how a few subtle shifts—in perspective, habits, and decision-making—can help ease our burden of overwhelm and strengthen our ability to care for ourselves and others.
This book is for anyone feeling the cumulative weight of too much: too many needs, too much news, too many demands. With clarity and warmth, Laura provides tools for stepping back from distraction, metabolizing stress, and reconnecting with what matters most. Rather than offering quick fixes or empty motivation, she invites readers into thoughtful, sustainable changes that allow us to keep showing up without shutting down.
In the book, you’ll find:
- Guidance on recognizing how personal, relational, and systemic forces fuel overwhelm
- Concrete practices to reduce distraction, reclaim intention, and restore stamina
- Tools for metabolizing exposure and saturation—and for acknowledging your limits
- Strategies to shift habits of attachment, depletion, and disconnection
- Support for navigating burnout, whether in caregiving, school, work, and all around life
- Honest reflection on when to move forward, when to step back, and how to know the difference
- A grounded approach that is accessible and practical
Praise for The Age of Overwhelm
Currently, we live in a world where most people are experiencing significant amounts of stress every day… This book is an invaluable addition to our personal tool kit.
Dr. Arne Graff
Division Chair, Child Abuse Pediatrics, Mayo Clinic
With this profound and critically important book, Laura shows us how to maintain hope, well-being, and integrity when faced with challenges greater than we can solve on our own.
Françoise Mathieu
Author of The Compassion Fatigue Workbook
Watch
The Age of Overwhelm Book Launch
See clips from the 2018 book launch.
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