Synopses & Reviews
You can’t love someone until you learn to love yourself.” Being healthy means being in touch with your feelings.” Never lose hope." These are self-evident truths, right?Wrong charges best-selling psychologist Paul Pearsall in this provocative new book. Though everyone from talk show hosts to politicians mouths these platitudes, and self-help bibles are a dime a dozen, their advice simply hasn’t helped us live happier or more satisfying lives. Pearsall cites scientific evidence to challenge what he calls the McMorals of self-potentialism: the unsubstantiated prescriptions, programs, guarantees, and gurus that define our pursuit of The Good Life.His message is timely: we’re fed up with truisms masquerading as truth, and hungry for self-help that really helps. Filled with groundbreaking research and inspiring true stories from Dr. Pearsall’s clinical practice, The Last Self-Help Book You’ll Ever Need offers a powerful antidote to the mindless mental languishing that characterizes so much of modern life.The solution is not just to get tough and suck it up.” Instead, Pearsall offers powerful if counterintuitive strategies. By abandoning the mandate to stay hopeful,” for example, we can begin to savor today rather than focus desperately on tomorrow. By allowing ourselves the natural process of grieving instead of relentlessly treating grief as a disease, we can recover from tragedy.With Pearsall’s lively and informative roadmap to psychological health, we can say goodbye” to our inner child and hello” to a better life.
Synopsis
Self-esteem. Highly overrated. In fact, an inflated sense of self-worth has been found to be the hallmark of criminals and bullies.
Guilt. Highly underrated. Research shows that the happiest, healthiest people are guilty worriers.
Perseverance. Winners often quit and quitters often win. Know when to engage in enlightened surrender.
Blame. To err may be human, but to forgive isn't always divine. Blaming the right person is essential to mental health.
Personal power. You don't have as much of it as the experts would have you think. Focus instead on your interpersonal weaknesses.
Synopsis
A best-selling psychologist shows why pop psychology’s most beloved bromides are wrongand offers heartening, scientific strategies for coping through healthy denial, repression, and pessimism
About the Author
Paul Pearsall, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized neuropsychologist, and is an adjunct clinical professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is also a popular writer and speaker, and has appeared on national television and radio programs. His previous books include The Beethoven Factor and the best-selling The Pleasure Prescription. He lives in Honolulu, Hawaii.