The Courage to Love: Principles and Practices of Self-Relations Psychotherapy [Hardcover]

Stephen Gilligan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393702472 | ISBN-13: 978-0393702477 | Publication Date: May 17, 1997 | Edition: 1st

This is a book about how psychotherapy may be used to cultivate the courage and freedom to love.

In a time when love seems to be fading and hatred and despair rising, it presents love as a skill and force that can heal and invigorate, reconnect and guide, calm and encourage. In Gilligan's self-relations approach, psychotherapy is a conversation about competing differences. When these differences are treated violently or indifferently, problems arise; solutions develop when the skills of love are practiced. Those practical skills are described here, with an emphasis on postconventional ethics, Buddhist and aikido principles, and ideas of human sponsorship.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stephen Gilligan, Ph.D., lives in Encinitas, California. He is a well-known workshop presenter, and the editor of Therapeutic Conversations (Norton) and the author of Therapeutic Trances: The Cooperation Principle in Ericksonian Hypnotherapy.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (May 17, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393702472
• ISBN-13: 978-0393702477
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #446,260 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars his voice will go with you, December 3, 2003

By A Customer

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This review is from: The Courage to Love: Principles and Practices of Self-Relations Psychotherapy (Hardcover)

I don't believe enough can be said about the high quality of this book. Obviously you have to be already within a certain frame of reference in order to jive with this material, but if you are somebody who practices counceling or therapy and who is interested in the landscape where depth psychology meets the art of brief therapy, I would invite you to go nuts about his materpiece.

Gilligan beautifully weaves his model of Self-Relations into a serious conversation as to the dynamic that exists between and within both the client and the therapist. He points to ways we can embody ourselves as we help our clients reembody their lives, finding the balance that allows them to gently touch their center.

This book can be a meditative read in which you dwell within certain sentences and let your wisdom open up and sneak out in surprising new ways.

It really is a masterpiece. But don't purchase this book if you are looking for a practical self-help book or a precise manual in applying psychotherapy in various clinical contexts...

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Theories to think about, learn, feel, and contemplate, January 26, 2000

By 

Charlie Badenhop "charliebhop" (Nakano-ku, Tokyo Japan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Courage to Love: Principles and Practices of Self-Relations Psychotherapy (Hardcover)

Stephen Gilligan is a loving, playful, and sometimes fierce therapist, who is highly skilled in what he does with clients, and in his teaching as well.He is also a tremendously talented hypnotherapist, and a pretty nice guy to boot!

I think that his book offers a great deal of wonderful ideas for people to contemplate and try out. I sometimes suggest it to my clients to read so that they have a clearer idea of how I am hoping to help them.You do not need to be a professional to get a lot out of this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderfully insightful book for healing, August 23, 1998

By 

Anthony Padgett (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Courage to Love: Principles and Practices of Self-Relations Psychotherapy (Hardcover)

After you think you know what hypnotherapy is all about, this book will give you a larger perspective into ourselves and how the skills and concepts of hypnosis, aikido, and human sponsorship can help us.