Getting Unstuck is a groundbreaking first-look at stuckness--the profound inability to move one's life forward. Being stuck is a mental health problem that affects thousands of adults; and yet, it has gone unrecognized and misunderstood by mental health professionals, until now. The author, psychiatrist Don Kerson, argues that adults who are stuck are bedeviled by a complex interaction between depression, attention deficit disorder and dissociation, a consequence of childhood trauma. People who are stuck can't get things done, no matter how smart, skilled, articulate or creative they may be. Their personal and professional lives are often on shaky ground, and depression is a constant problem. Therapy helps, sometimes. Anti-depressants help, sometimes. But they never really feel good. They remain stuck, Kerson argues, because the problem--if recognized at all--is being treated only partially. The key to getting people unstuck is to tease apart the depression, ADD, and dissociation (or whichever of these conditions is present at any one time), and then to address each of them separately. Kerson wrote Getting Unstuck to help people with this problem to lead more productive and satisfying lives and to share what he's discovered with mental health professionals so they can begin to recognize the problem and offer effective treatment for it. Kerson details the successful and efficient method he developed to help his patients get their lives moving again. It includes the innovative use of neo-Ericksonian hypnotherapeutic integration exercises to address the procrastination and disorganization that plague individuals with ADD.

"While Kerson, a psychopharmacologist and psychotherapist with 20 years of experience, doesn't break new ground in this self-help book, he provides a knowledgeable, practical overview, with detailed techniques, for people who find themselves 'stuck' in mental or emotional straits. Looking at three major mental illnesses-attention deficit disorder (ADD), depression and dissociation-and how they overlap, Kern covers lucidly the varied medications available, but puts equal effort into explaining induced trance states ('the therapeutic wave of the future'), guided visualization and time management techniques. Kerson is convinced that the extent of mental illness in the U.S. is hugely underestimated given the expectations of modern American life, sufferers' ability to cope successfully and a 'broken' mental health system that separates 'prescribers' (MDs) from therapists. Undiagnosed ADD patients may have serious trouble with authority and motivation, and have probably 'half-convinced themselves that they're just lazy...and need a good kick in the pants.' Though wide-ranging and at times technical, this is a thorough and easy-to-understand guide for certified patients as well as the worn-down, those who might not consider themselves sick but could probably use the help." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)