Albert Ellis (1) (1913–2007)

Much of what was in this book really doesn’t apply to me. For instance Ellis mentions and spends quite a bit of time using fear of public speaking and insecurities in people’s love lives as a springboard to coping with anxieties. Well, I taught school for 40 years, so getting up in front of an audience doesn’t bother me a bit. And at the age of 72 and having been married for almost 50 years, I have not anxieties in my love life. I did find much of what he said about “Irrational show more Beliefs” helpful. I wish he had had a section of geriatric anxiety, anxiety for old folks, because it is a pretty unique kind of anxiety. It often doesn’t include much of what he covers in the book (love life, speaking publicly, money problems, etc.). Maybe there are books devoted to exactly that topic. This book is very prescription and will undoubtedly help many people who try to cope with anxiety on their own. I recommend it. show less

I like stubbornly refusing to do things so this book appealed to me. Undoubtedly one of the better books of its kind (in my opinion) and I will be attempting to incorporate some of the strategies it contains into my everyday life. This book is blissfully devoid of psychobabble and centres around the notion that it is our irrational thinking that causes us to become psychologically unsettled. The book contains exercises to follow to help analyse and (hopefully) eradicate your own irrational show more beliefs. In a typically irrational move, I haven't yet tried them... show less

I found pages 91-100 of this 1960 (!) marriage manual neatly sequestered in the back of my Penguin edition of Pascal's Pénsees, and I found it to be both straightforward and nuanced –an unusual combination.

The authors - two established doctors of psychiatry who pioneered the "Rational-Emotive Technique" of dealing with and changing behavior - have a clumsy, ham-fisted way of getting their ideas across in this book. The ideas presented are basic; and the many examples of generic patients suffering conveniently generic problems can get tiresome.Even still... if you are holding this book, chances are you are looking for some help, and if this book is what you've got handy, give it a whirl. The show more ideas, themes and suggestions will probably seem mostly familiar to you, but having it all laid out and connected does help quite a bit to put things into perspective. There is lots of repetition; I often felt that the authors were trying to beat simple concepts into my head like I was a five-year-old. But, as annoying as that was, I think it helped drive some key concepts home. Simple ideas are all-too-easy to brush aside ("Yeah, of course I know that. Who doesn't? I don't have to think about that stuff.."), so sometimes it's beneficial to be hit over the head with some common sense. I have to say that this book helped me more than I initially thought it would, and I'm glad I read it. (Even if it was written in the manner of a stuffy doctor trying very hard to seem human. But maybe that was just me. To be fair though, this was written in the '70s. Maybe the author was totally hip back then, and i'm the square.)All things considered, though, I would imagine there are better written books out there on this subject, probably even based on the knowledge and techniques of the authors of this one. I don't have any suggestions, but I'm sure you can find a gook book easily enough. I would give it a shot before delving into this one. But if you DO happen to pick this one up... well, you could do much worse. show less