How to Be an Adult: A Handbook for Psychological and Spiritual Integration (Paperback)

by David Richo (Author) "We are born with inalienable emotional needs for love, safety, acceptance, freedom, attention, validation of our feelings, and physical holding..." (more)
Key Phrases: assertiveness skills, negative excitement, appropriate guilt, Maintaining Personal Boundaries (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Richo uses the metaphor of the heroic journey to describe the process toward psychological and spiritual maturity. First he discusses "personal work" and the three challenges to adulthood: fear, anger, and guilt, as well as the self-esteem that comes from meeting those challenges. Then he discusses relationships and the dual problem of maintaining personal boundaries and establishing appropriate intimacy. Finally, he discusses the techniques of integration: flexibility, befriending the shadow, using dreams, and developing spirituality through openness to the self and unconditional love. This guide contains useful quotations, summary reflections, and affirmations, as well as other techniques that give concrete advice on the process of growth. Recommended for seminary and public libraries.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Using the metaphor of the heroic journey--departure, struggle and return--the author shows readers the way to psychological and spiritual health.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Paulist Press (May 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809132230
• ISBN-13: 978-0809132232
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,367 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

137 of 139 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughts from a professional., December 14, 1999

By A Customer

I am a clinical psychologist and am loathe to recommend self-help books as most of them are just ways for the author to make money by tapping into the reader's anxieties about themselves. Most offer superficial and simplistic solutions that offer little more than false hope but will keep the reader "coming back for more" from the self-help industry. NOT SO THIS LITTLE GEM! It is one of the two most solidly written and thought through books on personal growth I know of (the other is The Road Less Travelled, by Scot Peck). It's the kind of book you will need to read slowly and meditatively, perhaps even only a page at a sitting. It's also the kind of book you can expect to benefit from reading through again after a year or two on your shelf.

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, beautiful!, April 28, 2005

By	J. Marui (Belgrade, SCG) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought two books by this author: How to be an adult, and How to be an adult in relationships. Both are excellent.
Even though their titles begin with How to... these are not self-help books.
This is a little book, but it will take you quite some time to read it - I still haven't finished my copy. You will want to read a single page and contemplate what is said there and how you can implement it in your own life.
UPDATE Feb 19, 2006: Read it 3 times so far. I find something new to work on every time. This book describes exactly the person I want to become. The most important book I have ever read!

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding and Highly Recommended, January 5, 2002

By	Robert Crayhon (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A superb, to the point book. Its advice is cogent, wise, and the distillation of many years of practice by an excellent therapist. This book outlines so many of the areas of life we need to take responsibility for in our own personal growth as adults in order to be happy. Of particular value is the emphasis on our need to "self-parent." This book is so densely filled with useful advice that you cannot read more than a page without putting it down to reflect on how applicable it is. It's that good.