Review
In Maintaining the Self in Communication, the cover says it best. It shows a naked man and woman left with nothing but their self and communication.Barrett maintains that people have lost their willingness to trust that results in a lack of connection and make then more self protective. This book is about protecting the self and still being able to communicate clearly.He believes effective communication is to hear and be heard accurately and what gets in the way is shame, insecurity and fear. We have fierce conflicts because of our need to connect and our genuine fear of separationSo Barrett begins with what keeps us from effectively communicating from infancy on, to the nuts and bolts of how to communicate.It's an intricate and deep book about the wholeness of communication.This is not an easy read. Barrett is a scholar and author of many books. While he talks about understanding our vulnerability and the cosmopolitan model, "Put maturity, effectiveness, and civility together and you have the basic shape of the cosmopolitan," many of his words obscure the message. "A communicator's personal ideology ever-ready for active service: It gives purpose and meaning to a message and supports self-maintenance activity."There's a scholarly book here well worth the energy it takes to read it. -- From Independent Publisher
