The human side of human beings: The theory of re-evaluation counseling [Paperback]

Harvey Jackins (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 105 pages
• Publisher: Rational Island Publishers; 2nd edition (1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0911214607
• ISBN-13: 978-0911214604
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,329,786 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Skeptic Who's Grown to Believe in and Support the Theory, March 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The human side of human beings: The theory of re-evaluation counseling

This theory, at first, seemed to wrap up too neatly the complexity of human emotional distress and its relation to irrational thinking and acting. It's a small book and I've re-read it a few times, and I have a very, very hard time coming up with specific criticisms.

This book was recommended to me by a practicing re-evaluation counselor and very likely the most intelligent AND most genuinely happy person I've ever known--as well as a dear and trusted friend. My limited experience with co-counseling in my own life and his decades of positive, life changing experience with the theory have grown on me and turned me into a supporter.

Another reviewer mentioned similarities to L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics/Scientology. Not coincidentally, Jackins and Hubbard worked together on this theory (allegedly), and Hubbard saw an opportunity to spice the theory up at the expense of its integrity and package it for the marketplace.

In short, the book is a 30-minute read that offers an interesting theory on the human mind and what separates us from other living creatures. It promotes tolerance, listening, the building of strong interpersonal relationships, and offers hope for drastically improving your life by making reasonable efforts and self-bettering sacrifices. And unlike Hubbard's theory, it doesn't claim to be able to remedy all of your current and potential psychological and emotional problems.

Come into reading it with an intelligent, critical, and open mind and it can only help. Needless to say, this is only my own humble, yet genuine and informed, opinion.

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful, no-nonsense perspective, December 6, 2000

By 

Patty Wipfler (Palo Alto, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Human Side of Human Beings: The Theory of Re-Evaluation Counseling (Paperback)

I happened upon this book about 25 years ago, after reading lots and lots of psychology books. The ideas presented here are simple, but profound. I've used the idea that rigid behavior results from moments of distress, and that the emotional damage done to people can be healed by listening to them, in a wide range of ways since then. Jackins takes a refreshing departure from psychobabble, and I use his perspective daily in my work with parents and children, to explain why we parents have to make such an effort not to repeat the behavior of our parents when we're under stress, and why children seem to get upset over the smallest things over and over again. Overall, it's a generous attitude toward human nature that is taken, one that offers hope and simple things one can do to help oneself and to help others in a practical yet significant way. It's worth a read!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Big Bang for the Buck (and your time), November 14, 2010

By 

Dawn M. Davidson "Life catalyst & alternative... (San Leandro, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Human Side of Human Beings: The Theory of Re-Evaluation Counseling (Paperback)

This is a little book that packs a big punch, in terms of important information. Describing the underpinnings of what developed into Re-evaluation Co-Counseling, this book provides clear information about how early childhood experiences can get locked into place in our psyches, influencing our reactions to situations far into our future, long after we've forgotten the original event. Jackins' politics and ideas may not be for everyone in the end, but this book provides a great deal of food for thought packed into a very small package. Well worth the time of any counselor or coach to read, for sure, and probably worth the time of nearly everyone else as well.