Guilford Press Offers Free Resources For Coping

Guilford Press, a leading publisher of psychology, education, parenting, and wellness titles, many of which are written by clinicians and top researchers, wanted to help those struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We realized that we could provide people with information and content that could potentially help them cope during this crisis,” Senior Communications Manager Lucy Baker said. “We have approximately 70 employees. Even though we are all working remotely right now, we’ve really come together as a team on this project.”

The firm is owned by founding partners, President and Water Mill resident Bob Matloff and Editor-In-Chief Seymour Weingarten, and much of the staff has been working with the company for more than 20 years. The press has more than 1400 titles in print, and typically publishes 90-plus new books each year.

A guiding part of its mission statement, as seen on its website, is priding “ourselves on publishing top-quality information that is evidence-based, hype-free, and geared towards improving lives.”

To that end, according to marketing director Marian Robinson, an East Hampton resident, the company decided to provide free content through its website, at www.guilford.com/covid-resources.

“In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, we at Guilford decided we want to do everything we can to help out,” she said. “We’ve created a special resources page . . . that includes tons of helpful, free content from our books and authors, including audio mindfulness meditations; sample chapters from books about stress, anxiety, and OCD management; parenting, including tips for children with special needs; art therapy exercises; and special resources for professional educators and psychologists. This page will be updated continuously, as so many of our wonderful authors feel moved to contribute the knowledge.”

She said the Guilford team’s morale has been high.

“It feels really good to roll up your sleeves and dive into a project that has the potential to really help people,” she said. “I think a lot of us at Guilford are finding real solace in our work at this particular moment in time.”

Baker described a positive reaction to the resources page from readers.

“It’s currently the most popular page on our website,” she said. “Many staffers have been sharing it with friends and family, so we feel like it’s really growing organically. People are coming to us because they know Guilford produces mental health content that is really effective.”

Baker said at times it’s hard to narrow down content.

“We really wanted to focus on content that was accessible — resources that people could use right now to improve their lives during this crisis,” she said. “We also wanted to include a balance of resources for everyone.”

What’s next in this evolving project?

“Currently, we’re working on producing some short videos with authors, offering strategies for coping with specific challenges, such as emotional eating, parenting special-needs kids, or being a caregiver for an elderly family member,” Baker said. “Across the board everything has been of interest, but people do love mindfulness and this is especially so in times like these. We hope our readers will reach out on social media to let us know if there are any particular topics they’d like us to address.”

This can be done on Twitter @guilfordpress or via the company’s Facebook page.

kfredericks@karenfredericks.com