Reinventing Your Life: The Breakthough Program to End Negative Behavior...and Feel Great Again [Paperback]

Jeffrey E. Young (Author), Janet S. Klosko (Author), Aaron T. Beck (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1994

Two renowned psychologists offer an innovative approach to solving long-term emotional problems based on the proven principles of cognitive therapy. As seen on Oprah, this guide shows how to effectively change negative thought patterns.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Several of the most painful petards upon which people become hoisted during an unhappy childhood are neatly dispatched here by two cognitive therapists, who attack 11 common "lifetraps"--destructive patterns that underlie a variety of emotional problems. Young, director of New York City's Cognitive Therapy Center and a faculty member of the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, and Klosko, co-director of the Cognitive Therapy Center of Long Island, ably demonstrate how to deal with issues of abandonment, dependence, trust, social rejection, emotional deprivation, failure and vulnerability. They provide meaningful case histories, perceptive descriptions, diagnostic tests and a variety of nugget-sized, easily understood lists detailing the causes, danger signs and effects of negative impulses and actions, as well as ways to short-circuit them.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The authors, both cognitive psychotherapists, identify 11 common "lifetraps," which they define as repetitive, destructive behavior patterns associated with a negative self-image. Using illustrations from case studies, the authors describe each lifetrap, discuss its origins in childhood experience, and provide a questionnaire for self-assesment. They then offer a program for change using techniques ranging from experiential (getting in touch with your inner child) to cognitive (writing a "case" against your lifetrap) and behavioral (identifying specific behaviors to be changed). Recommended for popular psychology collections.
- Lucille Boone, San Jose P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 365 pages
• Publisher: Plume; First Edition edition (May 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452272041
• ISBN-13: 978-0452272040
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Self-Help > Self-Esteem
  • #39 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Behavioral Sciences > Cognitive Psychology

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful, May 14, 2003

By 

C. Smith (NI, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reinventing Your Life: The Breakthough Program to End Negative Behavior...and Feel Great Again (Paperback)

For those of us who have read endless books on Cognitive / Bahaviour approaches to depression, anxiety and personality disorders, this one is most welcome: First of all, it is not simplistic, naive and patronising, like it often is with self help books. Second, the authors can empathise and demonstrate knowledge of 'what it feels like'. Third, the book is not solely based on the main principle of cognitive therapy that changing your thinking is the first step to changing your emotions. The authors describe how learning patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving in childhood can affect adult life; these patterns, often hidden under totally different circumstances, appear again and again. The authors make this pattern abstraction and repetition very clear, and suggest ways that this can be broken. This is the popular book version of the authors' research on schema theory; it is a very balanced book, addressing emotions and thoughts in a way that the dry cognitive therapy approach cannot achieve. It has been the most helpful book to me to date, and I strongly recommend it to anyone who has had enough of naive readings and is seriously looking for explanations, answers and suggestions.

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent self-help book to recognize and alter limiting life traps, September 10, 2005

By 

Fred P. Gallo (New Wilmington, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reinventing Your Life: The Breakthough Program to End Negative Behavior...and Feel Great Again (Paperback)

Even though this book was originally published in 1993 and Schema Therapy has evolved further (which is what this book covers), the information is just as valuable today. This is an easy-to-read book that helps you identify limiting patterns or life traps (schemas) that originated in childhood and adolescence. Are you extremely anxious in social settings? Do you worry unrealistically about your health? Do you feel that you are essentially flawed, worthless, or incompetent? Do you become extremely upset when someone close to you disagrees with you? Do you find it difficult or impossible to form healthy relationships? Do you repeatedly get involved with people who abuse you? Do you avoid relationships? These and many other patterns are covered in this book, along with a technology for identifying yours and how to heal them. The first step is to recognize your life traps, which this book assists you in doing through detailed questionaires. You also learn about your misguided attempts to cope, which actually maintain the life traps. Then the author assists you in challenging these limiting patterns via various cognitive, behavioral, and experiential strategies. Highly recommended!!! --Fred P. Gallo, PhD, author of Energy Psychology: Explorations at the Interface of Energy, Cognition, Behavior, and Health, Second Edition (Innovations in Psychology), Energy Tapping, and Energy Tapping for Trauma: Rapid Relief from Post-Traumatic Stress Using Energy Psychology

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A helpful guide to emotional health!, September 23, 2005

By 

Samantha N. "selfhelpbeliever" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reinventing Your Life: The Breakthough Program to End Negative Behavior...and Feel Great Again (Paperback)

I love this book. I have read many books in my efforts to heal from anxiety/fear/paranoia, depression, and a poor self-image. There are many books that have helped me, and this one is in the Top 10. I am happy to say that I no longer suffer from those problems! I credit the books I've read, changing my thought patterns, my voyage of personal inner growth/soul-searching/discovery, making changes in my lifestyle, and getting away from people in my life who were toxic/negative/abusive. This book made me realize that some "old wounds" I thought I had recovered from ... had not fully healed yet. It also illuminated some wounds I hadn't thought about before, and provided ways to try to heal from them. I found this book to be very touching. The authors' insight and empathy is commendable.