Out of the Box for Life [Paperback]

PhD, Warren Berland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 20, 2000

In this radical approach to psychological wellness, psychotherapist Dr. Warren Berland proves that no matter how stuck you feel or how deep your psychological wounds, you can be free.No training is necessary. It doesn't even have to take a lot of time. In Out of the Box for Life, you are given the keys to a happy, healthy life.

Berland's box is a metaphor for the way many of us live our lives--trapped in a prison of our own making. Through a series of remarkably simple exercises, Berland shows you how to almost immediately break free of your psychological prison, essentially by taping over that annoying negative voice that plays in many a head on a continuous loop. He shows us how to accept that the thoughts and feelings we identify as ourselves, and which we hold so dear, are not us. The feelings of fesr, worry, and insecurity reflect a mechanistic response to life rather than an expression of our true self. When we embrace this realization, our emotions lose their power over us.

Out of the Box for Life will show you how to find freedom and possibility in each moment. Surrender to this inner knowing and strengthen your resolve, and your confidence will grow.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a simple step-by-step program that will move you rapidly to a state of freedom and choice..." -- Robert Shaw, M.D., Medical Director, the Family Institute of Berkeley

"...a touching, practical and innovative guide for healing our emotional lives... An invaluable tool for self-discovery and self-love." -- Mitchell L. Gaynor, M.D., author of Dr. Gaynor's Cancer Prevention Program and Healing Essence: A Cancer Doctor'S Practical Program for Hope and Recovery

"...teaches people how they can facilitate deep, long-lasting changes in their self-esteem, their relationships, and their lives... Excellent, provocative, and practical..." -- Stanley Krippner, Ph.D., co-author, The Mythic Path, and co-editor of Broken Images, Broken Selves

"A liberating, clear-eyed, and open-hearted approach to peace of mind, body, and spirit..." -- Henry Dreher, author of The Immune Power Personality

"Among all the books on self-care and health, [this book] is a stand-out... Sure to make a difference in many lives." -- Dr. Dennis T. Jaffe, author of Healing From Within

"If you feel as if your life should be fuller, richer, and more joyful, ...read [this book]." -- Larry Dossey, M.D, author of Be Careful What You Pray for, Prayer is Good Medicine, and Healing Words, Executive Editor, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine

"Warren Berland has learned what it takes to live an authentic life. Read his words of wisdom..." -- Bernie Siegel, M.D., author of Prescriptions for Living and Love, Medicine, and Miracles

About the Author

Warren Berland holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. He has a private practice in New York City and has been widely recognized for his work with couples, individuals, and those who are seriously ill. Dr. Berland has worked closely with Bernie Siegel and is one of three therapists in New York City trained by Dr. John Gray. He has worked at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, and his work has appeared in the premier mind-body journal Advances.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (June 20, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060930519
• ISBN-13: 978-0060930516
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,482,137 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gaining Control and Feeling Good : A Simple Technique, July 27, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Out of the Box for Life: (Being Free Is Just a Choice) (Hardcover)

After reading Warren Berland's book, Out of The Box For Life: Being Free Is Just A Choice, I tried his technique the next time I felt very anxious over my inability to overcome one of life's difficulties. I could hardly contain my excitement over being able to gain control over a lifetime of negative thinking. How wonderful it was for me to discover that something as simple as getting out of my metaphorical box and imagining what it would be like to be free--what I might be doing, asking, feeling, and experiencing in that state -- actually worked! And I could do it alone, without my therapist, every day, at any moment, whenever I felt the need. I practiced his simple technique regularly over a very short period of time. I took it to heart and did the work to master it. I smiled more. I felt good. I got free. And, I bought a copy and gave it to my therapist as a gift.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Exceptional, Effective Book, July 4, 1999

By 

Ed (Jersey City, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Out of the Box for Life: (Being Free Is Just a Choice) (Hardcover)

There are many books available that would guide us in ways to improve the satisfaction we find in life. But I think that Out Of The Box For Life is exceptional in its effectiveness because it not only lays out the steps we need to take, but then challenges us to explain to ourselves why we do not take them. If we answer honestly, and listen to the responses objectively, we reveal to ourselves that we are simply being afraid. From that point on, doors begin opening and barriers begin to crumble.

It is like pulling back the curtain in The Wizard of Oz to find that the things that so terrorized and immobilized us were just make-believe, manufactured out of our own fears. And once we see this, we know what it matter; they are just noisy excuses that have made me into a lion without courage, a straw woman without a brain or a tin man who has given up on ever having a heart.

This book by Warren Berland is very much a Yellow Brick Road to happiness and fulfillment. Berland walks you every step along the way. But be aware the trip is scary nonetheless. It always is when you confront your fears. But keep going, keep believing with your heart and by the time you pull back the last of your own personal curtains, you will be amazed how insignificant the little shrimp is who has been making all the noise that has been keeping you from becoming your whole, happy self

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A paradigm shift in self-help psychology, July 14, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Brookfield, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Out of the Box for Life: (Being Free Is Just a Choice) (Hardcover)

In his book, Warren Berland guides the reader into a mode of consciousness and a way of acting that leap frog over many of the modern maxims for personal growth and problem resolution. He takes profound and seemingly complex wisdom and translates it for a modern age. After reading only a few pages, one begins to experience one's sense of self and place in the world in new and healing ways. As a psychotherapist and author who has waded through volumes of ponderous and ungrounded prose purporting to help the reader toward a better life, I feel reaffirmed by Berland's fresh, unique, and truly effective approach to personal transformation. This is one fine book.