Getting Real: Ten Truth Skills You Need to Live an Authentic Life (Paperback)

by Ph.D. Susan Campbell (Author) "I was giving my first coaching session to an executive from a Fortune 100 company..." (more)
Key Phrases: Thirty Years War, Jane Ellen, Self-Assessment Quiz Here

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Campbell, a relationship counselor who has worked with international companies and small businesses and as an individual counselor for the past 32 years, defines "getting real" as providing totally honest communication in order to live in the moment. Achieving carpe diem is harder than it may seem because, as children, people adopt false beliefs (e.g., "If you express your wants too strongly, you'll get punished") for protection. To reverse the damage done by that thinking, adults need to re-evaluate their personality. Campbell offers ten "truth skills" one per chapter that allow for more honest communication at home or in the workplace. Using the self-assessment quizzes at the beginning of each chapter, readers can easily evaluate their experiences. The author then details each truth skill, displaying numerous personal and client life issues as examples. A good title for group therapy, this is recommended for most self-help collections. Lisa Wise, Broome Cty. P.L., Binghamton, NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Everyone values honest communication, yet few people possess the requisite skills. Susan Campbell provides simple yet practical awareness practices — culled from her 35-year career as a relationship coach and corporate consultant — that require individuals to “let go” of the need to be right, safe, and certain. Such questions as “In what areas of my life do I feel the need to lie, sugarcoat, or pretend?” help guide the reader toward self-realization. The ten truth skills include Letting Yourself Be Seen, Taking Back Projections, Saying No, Welcoming Feedback, Expressing Taboo Thoughts and Emotions, Revising an Earlier Statement, Holding Differences, Sharing Mixed Emotions, and Embracing the Silence of Not Knowing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: HJ Kramer/New World Library (May 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0915811928
• ISBN-13: 978-0915811922
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,590 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars real speaking in an uncertain world, October 30, 2001

By	Rebecca Brown "rebeccasreads" (Clallam Bay, WA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Dr. Susan Campbell explains how we can get honest communications in a world of superficial chatter & white lies. In the Aftermath of September 11th, Getting Real has a lot to say about effective awareness practices.

This book provides a set of simple & effective awareness practices that give you ideas on how to discover the freedom that comes from relating more & controlling less.

Having said that, Getting Real will make you work - packed into 231 pages is a trunkful of baggage we carry about, shielding us, distracting us. From "How to Stop Being Right and Start Being Real" to "Experiencing What Is: To get Where You Need to Go, Be Where You Are"; from "Being Transparent: Freedom's Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Hide" to "Noticing Your Intent: Is It to Relate or to Control?"; from "Welcoming Feedback: It's How We Learn" to "Taking Back Projections: Discovering Your Other Side." & so on, Dr. Campbell works us through each process with sidebars, quizzes, examples, explanations, a good Resource Guide & Index.

There's so much to work on - so much to learn, some you might already know - most you won't have given a second thought to until you turn the page & find yourself murmuring: "Ahha!" I felt decades & pounds lighter after I'd worked the exercises & read the book! While Getting Real is hard work - it is good medicine!

I just wish Getting Real had been bigger in size - along the lines of a cookbook with wide margins - so I could lay it flat & make notations!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect match, December 11, 2001

By	M. J Lane (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I cannot speak to how this book will impact others but for myself I found that with each passing chapter I found MYSELF in those pages. I kept thinking over past relationships and how I had done almost every single thing WRONG. This book does not come off as some "new agey" kind of "I'm OK, you're OK" cra*. It just asks you to look at yourself; Look at how you are relating to the world and then suggests a different way of relating.

Ask yourself, "Am I happy with my life, my relationships?" If the answer is no I think this book is worth a read. It gets especially useful if you can get family and friends to participate. That can really help you get through barriers you thought were sealed for life.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Life-Changing Book, April 10, 2002

By	Amy (Maryland) - See all my reviews

After reading Radical Honesty I quite accidentally came across this book in the library! And while I found Radical Honesty compelling and challenging, I also felt uncertain of my ability to truly practice the skills Brad Blantoon proposed.
Susan Campbell presents many of the same challenges to her readers, but gives such powerful concrete examples that I found it easier to understand and begin to apply in my own life.
The Truth Skills are clear, very comprehendable, and while simple in that way, for me living them will be a challenge.
I scored high on all of her self-assessment quizzes - and yet I did not read the book and come away feeling like I am some sort of failure as a person, just that I am indeed like most of the people roaming this earth. What makes me different is my desire to change and grow. Where I see myself failing most significantly in my life is in the area of communicating and relating in healthy ways. Learning to live in "what IS" and not what I imagine, learning to relate and not control, and to listen closely to my self-talk, to feel free to communicate and to be ABLE to communicate and to be real, for example, for me will be life changing.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough!