How to Hug a Porcupine

Easy Ways to Love the Difficult People in Your Life

By: Sean Smith, Debbie Joffe Ellils

Narrated by: Julie Briskman

AS SEEN ON TIKTOK: Discover 101 easy communication strategies for dealing with difficult people—at home, at work, and in your community!

Learn to calm the quills of difficult parents, children, colleagues, and even strangers.

Most of us know someone who always seems to cause problems or irritate others. The truth is these troublemakers haven’t necessarily asked to be this way. Sometimes we need to learn new approaches for dealing with the difficult people who are harder to get along with or love.

This concise guide explains that making peace with others isn’t as tough or as terrible as we think it is. In 101 useful tips, it shows you how to love and manage the “prickly” people in your life—whether you want to calm the quills of difficult parents, children, siblings, or even strangers.

Since going viral on TikTok, thousands of people have discovered the power of Dr. Debbie Joffe Ellis’ practices. With a forwored by Ellis herself, How to Hug a Porcupine is a modern classic that will help you resolve conflicts, communicate effectively, and lead life with greater patience, empathy, and kindness!

Very nice advice and tips

I really liked the quotes and some helpful advice, but is mostly just over generalized and didn’t like hearing the importance of empathy repeated when there are so many toxic relationships and no mention of codependency, narcissistic partners/parents, dealing with trauma and attachment styles, etc.

the title implied it

not to be dismissive of how strong and motivational this book is but the title implied it and the author made sure that it would stick in your head I believe that each one of us can and will be a porcupine porcupine porcupine porcupine

Easy read with lots of value

I took copious notes! So much value in the simplistic strategies of loving those who may present as more difficult.

How to hug a porcupines

I love it. I really understand more about the porcupines people and even in me.

Subpar 

Teaches you how to walk on egg shells. This may have been more useful in the 1950s, it’s interesting when the author uses female/male pronouns within examples. This book breezes over so much but when it does get detailed, it is decent information.