When Love Meets Fear: How to Become Defense-Less and Resource-Full [Paperback]

David Richo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1997

Examines the deepest roots of fear and how it limits our ability to act and fulfill our greatest potential.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Richo is a psychotherapist in private practice in Santa Barbara, CA. He earned his PhD in clinical psychology from Sierra University in Santa Monica. Dr. Richo has been a teacher at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur. He has also written How to Be an Adult (Paulist Press).

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Paulist Pr (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080913702X
• ISBN-13: 978-0809137022
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Richo, PhD, is a therapist and author who leads popular workshops on personal and spiritual growth.

He received his BA in psychology from Saint John's Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts, in 1962, his MA in counseling psychology from Fairfield University in 1969, and his PhD in clinical psychology from Sierra University in 1984. Since 1976, Richo has been a licensed marriage, family, and child counselor in California. In addition to practicing psychotherapy, Richo teaches courses at Santa Barbara City College and the University of California Berkeley at Berkeley, and has taught at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, Pacifica Graduate Institute, and Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. He is a clinical supervisor for the Community Counseling Center in Santa Barbara, California.

Known for drawing on Buddhism, poetry, and Jungian perspectives in his work, Richo is the author of How to Be an Adult in Relationships: The Five Keys to Mindful Loving and The Five Things We Cannot Change: And the Happiness We Find in Embracing Them. He has also written When the Past Is Present: Healing the Emotional Wounds that Sabotage our Relationships, Shadow Dance: Liberating the Power and Creativity of Your Dark Side, The Power of Coincidence: How Life Shows Us What We Need to Know, and Being True to Life: Poetic Paths to Personal Growth.

Richo lives in Santa Barbara and San Francisco.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you live in fear order this today!, June 18, 2004

By 

2mal (Los Altos, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When Love Meets Fear: How to Become Defense-Less and Resource-Full (Paperback)

I cannot say enough good things about this book. I have tried a lot of self-help techniques but the ones contained in this book are unlike any I've encountered.

The biggest lesson I got out of this book is that so many of our problems nowadays occur because we had painful experiences earlier in life but instead of facing them and accepting the ramifications - we chose to lie to ourselves instead. Richo explains the most common lies: life is just, suffering is avoidable, things don't change, etc.

I understand from this book that it is much better to just experience those original painful feelings instead of spending your life overanalyzing every minute of every day trying to make the world something it is not.

60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richo's best book, November 26, 2006

By 

Tony "tonyw1538" (Olympia, Washington USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: When Love Meets Fear: How to Become Defense-Less and Resource-Full (Paperback)

Having first read Richo's "How to be an Adult," calling When Love Meets Fear: How to Become Defense-Less and Resource-Full his "best book" is quite a statement. The former is a wonderful and life changing tome that teaches the keys to meaningful relationships with others.

When Love Meets Fear builds on that message with a book expressly on the subject of fear. The root of anger, frustration and stonewalling in relationships, understanding and accepting our fear is our greatest journey in life.

One caution: This book takes many sittings to read properly. I was able to read only a few pages then I needed to put the book down and spend a day or two thinking about what I had just read. Almost like magic, I found myself time and again reading just the few pages I most needed to hear as I worked my way through.

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The key to life., December 16, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: When Love Meets Fear: How to Become Defense-Less and Resource-Full (Paperback)

This book simply explains the key to happiness. It is to let go of our fears, which is at the root of unhappiness, hate, aggression, apathy, and everything negative in the world. Once we are able to do that, we can open our hearts and embrace each other with love, respect, empathy, hope and forgiveness. It is a simple idea but something very difficult to do because our fears run very very deep within us all. Once we are able to do this to some extent, we try to help others do the same. It is simply the mission of all of our lives, whether we are aware of it or not. When you think about it, nothing else really matters as much. This is what this book tries to help us understand. It is a wonderful message! In another excellent book called "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato, the author explains how this works in relation to human development and evolution. It shows us how we consciously begin living this life when we are naturally ready for it. These books are absolutely exquisite!