The path Dr. Kendra Lowe has walked as a cadet at the Air Force Academy as an active duty service member, and now as a military spouse, has given her a front-row seat to many of the traumas, setbacks, successes, discriminations, and celebrations that military families experience. These experiences fueled ten years of research aimed at better understanding military spouse stress and how bad the stress really is, as well as the unique contributing factors of the military lifestyle. Most significant were the findings that 27 percent of military spouses report significantly high levels of stress, while 20 percent have a higher, clinically significant, level of stress. In other words, approximately one in four military spouses wake up every day under a heavy layer of stress that builds day by day, week by week, and year by year. Unfortunately, many military spouses perceive this stress as normal, unaware of how dangerously close they are to clinically significant levels of emotional, social, or physical distress.

Wake up, Kick Ass, Repeat was created to help alleviate these significant concerns. This comprehensive and invaluable tool will help you accept the unique nature of military life, anticipate and persevere in the face of social-emotional setbacks, practice effective coping strategies, and learn to thrive on to new possibilities. Dr. Kendra has expertly woven research, personal anecdotes, powerful stories from other military spouses, as well as practical principals of Rational Behavioral Therapy to help individuals work through stressful situations while maintaining better emotional control. This is a must-have book for military and first responder spouses, their family members, professionals working with military and first responder families, as well as anyone seeking to find a way to help themselves to better social and emotional health. Dr. Kendra also includes thoughtful questions and exercises that any individual or group can put to immediate use.