Something to Hold Onto by Kate Robson

From the title to the introduction by Sarah Polley, to the size, layout and readability of this book, a therapy session is created, and a friend is made. Something to Hold Onto: Simple Metaphors, Images, and Practical Tools to Transform Your Life is a personal and relatable look at life, struggles and the grief we all endure to come out on top.

Robson’s style of writing captures the reader with its ability, like Polley says, to befriend you. It makes the reader feel like they are walking with the author as a friend, having a simple yet powerful conversation. Each chapter is accompanied by a drawing by Sebastian Frye that adds an element many similarly intentioned books leave out. From an old trunk to a medicine cabinet, a stable of hours and a baseball, the reader is invited to pause and reflect without being told to.

Robson gently asks the reader to break down their thoughts into bite size morsels more easily digested. She has lived through trying times and brings her experience into the narrative to ensure the reader she is being authentic, personable and speaks from a place of her own challenges. While doing so she lifts the reader up, providing a hand into a future of forgiveness, faith and acceptance of a past that may not look exactly like one expected it to.

At the end of each chapter is a simple request to try something which summarizes the events she spoke to in the previous pages. Basic actions that will help shift perspective and build strength assuming the reader follows through. Not all steps will be easy or create an immediate habit to live by, though every one of them gives the reader a lot to think about and consider trying.

Robson, a Registered Psychotherapist in Toronto, is a testament to the idea of practicing what you preach, hosting workshops and events that help many people beyond her friendship circle, this book will help her heal a wider audience who hold onto what she writes. As Polly mentions in her introduction, Robson is insightful and uses that ability to dig deeper in the kindest way possible. This book, like her, asks the questions that go beyond the perfunctory answer of ‘I’m fine’ to find the root that is malnourished and ensure it gets the attention it needs to grow or be left behind.

With clear metaphors, actionable tools, and a friendly style, this book contains creative prompts and powerful, personal messages that provide permission to pause and places of possibility to prosper in.

The perfect time to read this book is now, and the next perfect time is when you are struggling.

For those who do not lead an easy life filled with joy, this is something to hold onto and carry with you in your heart, your hands, and to gift to friends you care about. The perfect time to read this book is now, and the next perfect time is when you are struggling. If warmth, heart and soul can be contained in a book, this proves how.

Kate Robson is a registered psychotherapist in Toronto, Ontario. Inspired by her own experiences with her children in a neonatal intensive care unit, she worked with babies, parents, and families for more than twelve years as a NICU family support specialist. She’s travelled all over the world educating parents and clinicians about family-centred care and trauma informed care practices. Her workshops focus on cultivating attachment in relationships and creating emotion-friendly homes and workplaces. In her private practice she supports individuals and couples experiencing infertility, high risk pregnancies, NICU hospitalizations, and bereavement. She manages Canada’s largest support community for NICU families and runs a weekly support group for parents and caregivers. She has degrees from McGill University and OISE/UT, completed her psychotherapy training at the Toronto Institute for Relational Psychotherapy, and has also studied modalities such as ACT, the Internal Family Systems Model, EMDR, PACT, and Somatic Embodiment.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster (January 6, 2026)
Paperback | 240 pages
ISBN: 9781668091876

Sarah Butland

Website

I am a struggling artist, a challenging and challenged mother who always thinks she is failing, an emerging freelance writer and reporter, an author with my name on several books crossing genres and always hoping to find more readers who enjoy them.

I am also a successful artist, a wonderful and thriving mother of one, a reacher towards both people and dreams despite all of the turned backs and obstacles in my way. I am a thriving freelance writer and reporter, an author loved by enough readers to make it worthwhile and a discombobulated conundrum who loves to hear new music, tell new tales and meet new authors. And I’m doing something I always dreamed of doing – reviewing books to support others as well as myself and my family.