The Self-Help Compulsion

The Self-Help Compulsion
Author: Beth Blum
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 507
Release: 2020-01-28
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0231551088

Samuel Beckett as a guru for business executives? James Joyce as a guide to living a good life? The notion of notoriously experimental authors sharing a shelf with self-help books might seem far-fetched, yet a hidden history of rivalry, influence, and imitation links these two worlds. In The Self-Help Compulsion, Beth Blum reveals the profound entanglement of modern literature and commercial advice from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Blum explores popular reading practices in which people turn to literature in search of practical advice alongside modern writers’ rebukes of such instrumental purposes. As literary authors positioned themselves in opposition to people like Samuel Smiles and Dale Carnegie, readers turned to self-help for the promises of mobility, agency, and practical use that serious literature was reluctant to supply. Blum unearths a series of unlikely cases of the love-hate relationship between serious fiction and commercial advice, from Gustave Flaubert’s mockery of early DIY culture to Dear Abby’s cutting diagnoses of Nathanael West and from Virginia Woolf’s ambivalent polemics against self-improvement to the ways that contemporary global authors such as Mohsin Hamid and Tash Aw explicitly draw on the self-help genre. She also traces the self-help industry’s tendency to popularize, quote, and adapt literary wisdom and considers what it might have to teach today’s university. Offering a new history of self-help’s origins, appeal, and cultural and literary import around the world, this book reveals that self-help’s most valuable secrets are not about getting rich or winning friends but about how and why people read.

The Self-Help Compulsion

The Self-Help Compulsion
Author: Beth Blum
Publisher:
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2020-01-28
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780231194921

The Self-Help Compulsion reveals the profound entanglement of modern literature and commercial advice from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Beth Blum explores popular reading practices in which people turn to literature in search of practical advice alongside modern writers' rebukes of such instrumental purposes.

The Healthy Compulsive

The Healthy Compulsive
Author: Gary Trosclair
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2020-02-08
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1538132613

Gary Trosclair explores the power of the driven personality and the positive outcomes those with obsessive compulsive personality disorder can achieve through a mindful program of harnessing the skills that can work, and altering those that serve no one. If you were born with a compulsive personality you may become rigid, controlling, and self-righteous. But you also may become productive, energetic, and conscientious. Same disposition, but very different ways of expressing it. What determines the difference? Some of the most successful and happy people in the world are compelled by powerful inner urges that are almost impossible to resist. They’re compulsive. They’re driven. But some people with a driven personality feel compelled by shame or insecurity to use their compulsive energy to prove their worth, and they lose control of the wheel of their own life. They become inflexible and critical perfectionists who need to wield control, and they lose the point of everything they do in the process. A healthy compulsive is one whose energy and talents for achievement are used consciously in the service of passion, love and purpose. An unhealthy compulsive is one whose energy and talents for achievement have been hijacked by fear and its henchman, anger. Both are driven: one by meaning, the other by dread. The Healthy Compulsive: Healing Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder and Taking the Wheel of the Driven Personality, will serve as the ultimate user’s guide for those with a driven personality, including those who have slid into obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). Unlike OCD, which results in specific symptoms such as repetitive hand-washing and intrusive thoughts, OCPD permeates the entire personality and dramatically affects relationships. It also requires a different approach to healing. Both scientifically informed and practical, The Healthy Compulsive describes how compulsives get off track and outlines a four-step program to help them consciously cultivate the talents and passions that are the truly compelling sources of the driven personality. Drawing from his 25 years of clinical experience as a psychotherapist and Jungian psychoanalyst, and his own personal experience as someone with a driven personality, Trosclair offers understanding, inspiring stories of change, and hope to compulsives and their partners about how to move to the healthy end of the compulsive spectrum.

The Self Help Addict

The Self Help Addict
Author: Daniel Gefen
Publisher: Evolve Global Publishing
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2018-03-16
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1981930450

Break free from the self-help cycle and join the world of successful leaders. IN THIS GAME CHANGING BOOK YOU WILL LEARN: - How self doubt, procrastination and indecision create a cycle of self-help addiction - Why people invest in self-help books, courses, events and come out still feeling unaccomplished - How you can make your fears your friend and achieve anything your heart desires - The importance of always taking responsibility for what happens in your life - How much abundance there is in this world and that there is enough money, love and happiness for everyone to have a lifetime supply - How to go from a consumer to a creator - The art of taking action, because without action nothing gets done - How to become accountable so you avoid putting things off - The power of decisiveness and how to avoid feeling overwhelmed - The secret to getting high and staying high (without drugs) - Why you have already won - How the real hero, that you have searched so long and hard for, is you.

I Shop, Therefore I Am

I Shop, Therefore I Am
Author: April Lane Benson
Publisher: Jason Aronson
Total Pages: 576
Release: 2000
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780765702425

This volume examines a rapidly emerging public health problem, compulsive buying disorder, characterized by an obsession with shopping and buying behavior that causes adverse consequences. The editor defines the syndrome of compulsive consumption, examines the range and variations within it, discusses assessment and associated disorders, and delineates successful treatment modalities. It offers insights from a broad spectrum of therapies: psychopharmacology, psychodynamic therapy, cognitive-behavioral treatment, couples and group therapy, self-help, and financial counseling.

Overcoming Compulsive Hoarding

Overcoming Compulsive Hoarding
Author: Jerome Bubrick
Publisher: New Harbinger Publications
Total Pages: 211
Release: 2004-07-15
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1608822516

Although the much-satirized image of a house overflowing with National Geographics and infested with cats may make us chuckle, the reality of compulsive hoarding is no laughing matter. The most common reason for evictions in the US and a significant risk factor for fatal house fires, compulsive hoarding is a treatable condition related to obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is characterized by the acquisition of possessions that have little or no value, which the sufferer, often referred to as the saver, has great difficulty discarding. This book, the first ever written for savers and their families, provides an overview of compulsive hoarding and how it relates to obsessive-compulsive disorder. It discusses hoarding broadly, offering readers perspectives on the physical, behavioral, and value-oriented aspects of the condition. You can use its assessment tools to help decide why you or your loved one hoards. Skill-building exercises help you determine how to beat the hoarding problem by addressing issues that often underlie compulsive saving. Even though this is fundamentally a self-help book, it contains a frank discussion about the need for professional help in some hoarding cases, how to find it, and what medications have been proven effective for savers.

The Binge Eating and Compulsive Overeating Workbook

The Binge Eating and Compulsive Overeating Workbook
Author: Carolyn Ross
Publisher: New Harbinger Publications
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2009-07-01
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1572248157

Some people use food to calm themselves when they feel overwhelmed. Others find it difficult to discern between eating out of hunger and eating out of habit. There are nearly as many reasons why people overeat as there are reasons to stop. While overeating can often bring comfort in the short term, it can lead to feelings of guilt later on. If you feel like you're caught in a cycle of unhealthy eating that you can't stop, this workbook can help you overcome it. In The Binge Eating and Compulsive Overeating Workbook, you'll learn skills and nutrition guidelines recommended by doctors and therapists for healthy eating and how to quell the often overpowering urge to overeat. Using a variety of practices drawn from complementary and alternative medicine, you'll replace unhealthy habits with nourishing rewards and relaxation practices. This potent combination of therapies will help you end your dependence on overeating as a way to cope with unpleasant feelings and shows you how to develop new strategies for a healthier lifestyle. This workbook will help you: Identify the trigger foods and feelings that spur you to binge or overeat Determine how stress, depression, and anxiety may be affecting your eating Calm yourself in stressful times with nourishing self-care practices Learn to appreciate and accept your body

Stop Obsessing!

Stop Obsessing!
Author: Edna B. Foa
Publisher: Bantam
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2009-11-04
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0307574024

Newly Revised and Updated! Are you tormented by extremely distressing thoughts or persistent worries? Compelled to wash your hands repeatedly? Driven to repeat or check certain numbers, words, or actions? If you or someone you love suffers from these symptoms, you may be one of the millions of Americans who suffer from some form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD. Once considered almost untreatable, OCD is now known to be a highly treatable disorder using behavior therapy. In this newly revised edition of Stop Obsessing! Drs. Foa and Wilson, internationally renowned authorities on the treatment of anxiety disorders, share their scientifically based and clinically proven self-help program that has already allowed thousands of men and women with OCD to enjoy a life free from excessive worries and rituals. You will discover: • Step-by-step programs for both mild and severe cases of OCD • The most effective ways to help you let go of your obsessions and gain control over your compulsions • New charts and fill-in guides to track progress and make exercises easier • Questionnaires for self-evaluation and in-depth understanding of your symptoms • Expert guidance for finding the best professional help • The latest information about medications prescribed for OCD

Obsessive-compulsive Disorders

Obsessive-compulsive Disorders
Author: Fred Penzel
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 450
Release: 2000
Genre: Obsessive-compulsive disorder
ISBN: 0195140923

Offers advice on how to choose the most effective therapies and medications, and how to avoid relapses.

Needing to Know for Sure

Needing to Know for Sure
Author: Martin N. Seif
Publisher: New Harbinger Publications
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2019-12-01
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1684033721

Powerful skills based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help you break free from the fear of uncertainty and put a stop to compulsive checking and reassurance seeking. “How do I know I made the right decision?” “What if I’m wrong?” “I need to know for sure.” Do you have thoughts like these—thoughts that cause you to second-guess yourself, and lead to anxiety, stress, and worry? Do you find yourself repeatedly checking your email for no reason, asking others for their opinions about something again and again, or lying awake at night overanalyzing and planning ahead in an attempt to feel less anxious? If so, you probably have a problem with compulsive reassurance seeking. The good news is that you can break free from this “reassurance trap”—this book will show you how. In this unique guide, you’ll find proven-effective tips and tools using CBT to help you tolerate uncertainty, face specific worrying scenarios, and gradually reduce the compulsion to incessantly seek reassurance. Most importantly, you’ll learn to deal with those pesky “doubt attacks” and trust your own judgment. Asking for reassurance is a self-reinforcing behavior—if you do it, you’re less likely to handle stressful situations without needing further reassurance. And so the cycle continues. The CBT skills in this book will help you break this exhausting and painful pattern, so you can build self-confidence and improve your life.