Customer Reviews

The Do-It-Yourself Psychotherapy Book

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The only thing I didn't like about this book is the title, which for some reason screams snake oil salesman. The rest of the book however, is terrific.

Shepard touches on a number of topics where people might have certain "hang ups" or misconceptions about themselves. Examples include: secrets, rejection, sex, parents, alone and people with people and work.

Each topic is thoroughly covered by an easy to read chapter. The book does not use technical language and is targeted at the layman. Each chapter finishes with a number of provocative exercises. For example, the chapter entitled "Secrets" concludes with:

1. Think of the thoughts you are ashamed of right now. Write them down.

and question 4 asks the reader to tell a stranger these things.

The overall message of the book is about achieving balance in life. Although not explicitly stated, the underlying theme that Shepard preaches revolves around moderation in all things. There is no need to become distraught because one considers oneself "abnormal". More likely than not, this perceived abnormality is simply a figment of the imagination. For example, Shepard states that it is simply a fact that most men orgasm within 10 seconds to 3 minutes and most women do not orgasm at all.

Overall a great book for anyone suffering from the feeling that there is something "wrong" with them.

I'll be darned. Just this week the yellow bookjacket of this book was calling to me from my bookshelf. My copy is from 1973. It's an awesome book that helped me thru extremely difficult times regarding my family of origin and then an ugly divorce in the early 90's.

I'm thriving these days, and just wanted to skim it. I was looking at his picture in the book wondering what he was doing now, wishing I could thank him for making a difference in my life.

Then today I was telling 2 friends about the book. I went to see if it would pop up in Amazon, and it's been published again in 2006 with a new bookjacket.

This book is timeless, easy to read and extremely useful.

I think I'll send a copy to each of my adult kids. I'm finally thriving in my relationship with all of them too.