Thriving Through Crisis: Turn Tragedy and Trauma into Growth and Change [Paperback]

Bill O'Hanlon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2005

Most of us see a crisis as something to be avoided at all costs. But to solutions-oriented therapist Bill O'Hanlon, a crisis is an opportunity to get reconnected to happiness and well-being. In this bold and lively book, he brings to bear more than 30 years of clinical experience (and his own challenging life crises), showing readers:

- How avoiding, denying, and minimizing sets us up for breakdowns and crises
- The three powerful internal signals most of us ignore at our peril
- How old traumas can be viewed in a new light

The sensible and inspiring guidelines in this book show how to use a crisis to recover and reconnect with a life of meaning, passion, and purpose.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bill O'Hanlon is a licensed Mental Health Professional, Certified Professional Counselor, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. His 21 books have been translated into 15 languages. The author of Do One Thing Different and Love is a Verb, O'Hanlon has appeared on Oprah and The Today Show, has created nine audio and video tapes on individual and couples therapy, and has taught nearly a thousand seminars worldwide on psychotherapy, spirituality, and relationships.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Perigee Trade (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399530738
• ISBN-13: 978-0399530739
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 4.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,478,792 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bill O'Hanlon, MS, LMFT, has authored or co-authored 30 books, the latest being Quick Steps to Resolving Trauma (W.W. Norton, October, 2010), A Guide to Trance Land (W.W. Norton, 2009); Pathways to Spirituality (W.W. Norton), Change 101: A Practical Guide to Creating Change (W.W. Norton, Fall 2006), and Thriving Through Crisis (Penguin/Perigee; winner of the Books for a Better Life Award). He has published 57 articles or book chapters. His books have been translated into 15 languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Finnish, German, Chinese, Bulgarian, Turkish, Korean, Indonesian, Italian, Croatian, Arabic and Japanese. He has appeared on Oprah (with his book Do One Thing Different), The Today Show, and a variety of other television and radio programs. Since 1977, Bill has given over 1500 talks around the world. He has been a top-rated presenter at many national conferences and was awarded the 'Outstanding Mental Health Educator of the Year' in 2001 by the New England Educational Institute. Bill is a Licensed Mental Health Professional, Certified Professional Counselor, and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Bill is clinical member of AAMFT (and winner of the 2003 New Mexico AMFT Distinguished Service Award), certified by the National Board of Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists and a Fellow and a Board Member of the American Psychotherapy Association. He is known for his storytelling, irreverent humor, clear and accessible style and his boundless enthusiasm for whatever he is doing.

Find him at billohanlon.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Warning - Reading this could move you beyond your pain!, March 21, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Thriving Through Crisis: Turn Tragedy and Trauma into Growth and Change (Hardcover)

This book is a generous and compassionate offering that has much to offer anyone struggling with pain and crisis in their lives. The author invites readers who are dealing with a crisis to consider it to be an opportunity for personal growth and service to others.

Unlike many "self-help" books, this book does not seek to deny a person's pain. It does not seek to explain it or offer any reason "why" trauma happens in a person's life. It honors each person's pain and challenges the reader to move through it.

I find this book asks a person in crisis two powerful questions; "Who do you choose to be in the face of your life-pain and how do you want to respond?"

The reader is not just left with these questions, however but is shown how to answer these questions for themselves. This book respectfully guides the reader through a journey of discovering their own answers and challenges the self-limiting answers of victim-hood along the way.

I find this book to be a highly readable (but not simplistic) guide from a person who has "been there" and is still on his own path. The wisdom contained in Thriving Through Crisis are the very things I have learned through years of being in therapy and being a therapist.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must say that I consider myself a colleague of this author. I have benefited from his seminars and have worked with him on a number of projects. I have found his creativity, respect and compassion to be authentic.

I intend on recommending this book to anyone who is struggling with a crisis in their life. I gladly recommend it to you.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A keeper, April 2, 2004

By 

Ms. Crankypants (Chicago IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thriving Through Crisis: Turn Tragedy and Trauma into Growth and Change (Hardcover)

As a therapist for thirty years, I have seen a lot of self help books come and go. This practical guide for getting through trauma is a keeper. It has wisdom, reassurance and inspiration, and demonstrates that crisis can open the door to transformative change.

Peppered with great quotes, exercises and stories of clients and friends who have survived all manner of traumatic experiences,this book is the perfect thing to put in the hands of someone still reeling from one of life's blows. It is accessible, respectful and concrete. I am recommending it to my clients enthusiastically.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for therapists, August 15, 2006

By 

Jane Lewis (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thriving Through Crisis: Turn Tragedy and Trauma into Growth and Change (Paperback)

I am buying this to give to many of my clients. Most come into therapy with a crisis. Mainly I treat sex offenders and have dound this book very useful. I enjoyed an upbeat presentation by Bill O'Hanlon 2 months ago and am overjoyed that the little book is so practical for my clients. Most of my clients have little money so pay low fees and I can afford to give them this book and supervise their working the book. Thank you Bill.
Jane Marchand Lewis, MFT
885 No. San Antonio Road, Ste.A
Los Altos, CA 94022