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What You Can Change and What You Can't: The Complete Guide to Successful Self-Improvement Paperback – January 9, 2007

by Martin E.P. Seligman (Author)

53 customer reviews

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In the climate of self-improvement that pervades our culture, there is an overwhelming amount of information about treatments for everything from alcohol abuse to sexual dysfunction. Much of this information is exaggerated if not wholly inaccurate. As a result, people who try to change their own troubling conditions often experience the frustration of mixed success, success followed by a relapse, or outright failure.

To address this confusion, Martin Seligman has meticulously analyzed the most authoritative scientific research on treatments for alcoholism, anxiety, weight loss, anger, depression, and a range of phobias and obsessions to discover what is the most effective way to address each condition. He frankly reports what does not work, and pinpoints the techniques and therapies that work best for each condition, discussing why they work and how you can use them to make long lasting change. Inside you’ll discover the four natural healing factors for recovering from alcoholism; the vital difference between overeating and being overweight; the four therapies that work for depression, the pros and cons of anger—and much more.

Wise, direct, and very useful, What You Can Change and What You Can’t will help anyone who seeks to change.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“So much more sensible and lucid than most self-help gurusÉconstantly rewards anyone interested in individual psychology. Absolutely splendid.” —Booklist

“Extremely well-written. . . . Throughout, Seligman uses outcome studies to identify what works in making change.” —Library Journal

“Enlightening. . . . Seligman’s observations and theories are positive, realistic and sound.” —Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and a past president of the American Psychological Association, is a leading motivational expert and an authority on learned helplessness. His many books include Learned Optimism, What You Can Change and What You Can't, Authentic Happiness, and The Optimistic Child. Dr. Seligman's research has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Aging, the National Science Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation.

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Product details

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Vintage; Reprint edition (January 9, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1400078407
ISBN-13: 978-1400078400
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 53 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,356 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #57 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Addiction & Recovery > Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- #1299 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Mental Health > Happiness
- #1366 in Books > Science & Math > Behavioral Sciences

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Insightful for readers interested in the history of positive psychology and strengths-based leadership

June 3, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

From its beginning in the 1960s cognitive psychology has developed science/evidence based approaches that have proven more effective then drugs and other methods in treating people with depression, phobias, obsessions, addictions, eating disorders, and other life-disrupting problems. University of Pennsylvania professor of psychology, Martin Seligman, established a successful track record researching, developing, and documenting treatment techniques.

In the late 1980s he and his colleagues began exploring how they could build a science-based wellness model to help people who are doing fine elevate their lives to a higher state of well-being. Seligman’s 1990 book, Learned Optimism (highly recommended), laid the foundation for the now fast-growing field of positive psychology.

A cornerstone of positive psychology leading to higher well-being is building on our strengths. As we get ever deeper into helping our Clients implement strengths-based leadership development I’ve been tracing back the foundations of these powerful approaches.

What You Can Change...And What You Can’t was published a few years before Seligman’s presidency of the American Psychology Association and his subsequent founding of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Part of the book’s subtle is “learning to accept who you are.” This resonates very strongly with authentic leadership and playing to your strengths rather than fixing weaknesses. A key exception is a weakness that’s so large people can’t see past it to a leader’s strengths.

Seligman cites research that half of our personality is genetic. He goes on to conclude, “the other half of personality comes from what you do and from what happens to you—and this opens the door for therapy and self-improvement.” That’s what this book focuses on.

What You Can Change… covers a very wide swath of personal growth with focusing on changes to emotional life such as anger, depression, anxiety, and stress as well as changing habits like dieting (which he argues is largely useless) or alcohol, and shedding the skins of childhood. Seligman tells us that research shows “there are some things about ourselves that can be changed, others that cannot, and some that can be changed only with extreme difficulty.”

I found the book very useful to understanding the origins of the closely aligned new fields of positive psychology and strengths-based leadership development. It’s an insightful book for readers interested in the history of these areas or struggling with the topics covered. Otherwise I’d recommend you skip this book and read Seligman’s other books, Learned Optimism, Authentic Happiness, or Flourish.

4 people found this helpful

Comment

Pretty Good, but Not a Complete Guide

June 12, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I liked this book so much that I finished it and immediately ordered Learned Optimism, another book by this author. I wish it was better news for losing weight and overcoming alcoholism, but after watching people relapse again and again with alcoholism, I'm not surprised how incurable it is. I feel for communities on the reservations that struggle with alcoholism, because you need a lot of social support to overcome it, and you probably aren't going to get it if everyone around you is alcoholic. I think there are times that Seligman's writing is not very clear. For example, his explanation of depth in the last chapter doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Are my phobias too deep to be cured? Just am not sure after reading his explanation. I also wish he had covered more neurotic conditions and things about personalities that people may want to change. For example, if I want to become better humored, is that possible? I think the book could have covered more conditions and give people an idea as ot whether or not we need to accept these things about ourselves and just move on.

3 people found this helpful

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WHAT YOU CAN CHANGE - IF YOU ARE DEDICATED

October 30, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

You've probably heard someone utter the statement, "People can't change." Is it true? And if it is true, what are the conditions and factors that make it so?

Those are the questions that Martin Seligman, co-founder of positive psychology, attempts to answer in this book. He tackles many sensitive subjects including child abuse, sexual dysfunction, sexual orientation, and depression, all with an eye toward change - when possible.

At times at seems as if he is having a fireside chat with colleagues to share fascinating research findings, refute long-held beliefs, and get a few things off of his chest; like the erroneous belief one's childhood (or parents) are legitimate reasons for mental anguish as an adult.

I found his theory on why women experience depression twice as much as men to be plausible. According to Seligman, women are first conditioned (learned helplessness) to be less competitve than men, and then forced to compete with men, where they are often undervalued and undercompensated, and they tend to ruminate over stressful situations more than men, and then - if that's not enough - they are preoccupied with their appearance, weight, and underlying issues of attractiveness, every single day.

This book offers great scientific insights into the phenomenon of cognitive restructuring (the process by which change occurs), and yes, it offers some tools on how you can change - if you have the dedication to do so.

2 people found this helpful

Comment

Finally, a consumer's guide to therapy

January 3, 2011

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

So much has already been said about Seligman's book, that I think what needs to be emphasized is that this is a book based on studies of the effectiveness of various approaches to mental illness of all sorts in an attempt to give the would be patient some guidance about what to expect in the way of "cure" from any of the available therapys. Seligman is not overly optomistic, as he adhers to a belief in the gene based origin of many disorders, but he presents an honest, if not overly optomistic assessment. In many cases, the answer is to adjust to the condition as best you can, using the medications available, and accept some measure of discomfort as in inevitable. Bottom line, accept and love yourself, and let Seligman point you toward the possible therapies available.

5 people found this helpful

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Long term customerTop Contributor: Star Trek

One of the few I won't throw out

July 22, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Truly a great read. While there are possibly some biases here, the chapters on depression, sex, dieting and alcohol were just terrific, in my view. They resonate with what I have observed in decades of mental health practice and give some realistic hope based on research. Top notch!

One person found this helpful

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