Based on her cutting-edge research and extensive experience with patients suffering from chronic illness, Patricia Fennell has created a comprehensive long-term coping model that readers can use to navigate the physical, psychological and social impact of their illness. Readers learn to recognize the crucial differences between acute and chronic illness, and come to terms with trauma and cultural stigmatization associated with chronic illnesses. They also learn strategies and skills to improve their day-to-day lives, to develop more effective relationships with family and friends and to integrate the experience of their illness into a positive life.